mental health – Workforce

May 12, 2021

We are in the midst of a public mental health crisis; how employers can help

employers mental health; Millennials and mental health

Consider these statistics, courtesy of the National Institute of Mental Health, which recently examined mental health issues one year into the COVID-19 pandemic:

31 percent of people report symptoms of anxiety or depression.
13 percent report having started or increased substance use.
26 percent report stress-related symptoms.
11 percent report having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days.

These grim numbers tell me that COVID-19 has created a national mental health crisis. At least some of your employees are struggling. Your challenge is what to do about it.

Here are four suggestions.

1. Check the benefits available to your employees. Do you have an employee assistance plan and are its mental health and counseling services are up to date? Are your health insurance plan’s mental health benefits easy to access and affordable? Do your employees know about state-offered resources, such as Ohio’s CareLine, a 24/7 community administered emotional support call service (800-720-9616)?

2. Revisit paid time off policies and consider providing employees the time they need to take care of themselves and their families. And understand that everyone’s situation at home is different. Some only have themselves to worry about, while others have families, older parents, etc. None of this is ideal, but for some, it’s less ideal than for others, depending on how much non-work responsibilities are on one’s plate.

3. Consider holding town halls or all-employee meetings that focus on mental health awareness. If senior leadership encourages education and communication around mental health issues, your employees will be more likely to access care if and when they need it. Leadership always starts from the top, and it’s vital that leadership leads on this issue.

4. Small gestures of kindness can go a long way. An extra day paid day off, a gift certificate for takeout meals or grocery deliveries or a surprise delivery of a mid-day snack can help employees feel appreciated and connected instead of overwhelmed and stressed.

Also, do not forget about or ignore your ADA obligations. The statute covers mental impairments no differently than physical impairments. If an employee is suffering from a mental illness you have an affirmative obligation to reasonably accommodate that employee, which might involve, for example, unpaid time off for the employee to obtain needed treatment.

Finally, do not ignore these issues or your employees who are living with them. Mental health illnesses are no different than other illnesses from which we suffer.

Treating them differently only increases the stigma that surrounds them and pushes individuals deeper into their illnesses and further away from the treatment they need.

November 25, 2020November 26, 2020

How to support employees’ mental health under changing COVID-19 restrictions

mental health, resources, health care, etc.

One of the critical workforce issues during the pandemic is managing mental health as employees deal with the impact of remote work, reduced hours and restriction changes.

Videoconferencing fatigue, blurred lines between home and work life and fear of getting sick are challenges employees contend with as they navigate the pandemic. But as months passed, coping with changing restrictions added up to these issues.

In the U.S. alone, restrictions have changed over time in each state; some tightened while others eased up. Likewise, in the U.K., a national lockdown has been imposed again until Dec. 2 with restrictions likely to continue as the U.K. introduces a new tier system. More than the impact on operations, such changes also affect employees’ mental health. Employers need to ensure that staff can cope with being back at work when these lockdowns and restrictions are lifted.

Encourage employees to take time off

With working dynamics disrupted, employees need to have some space to recharge and cope.

Managers can stay on top of staff time off through a leave management solution. With this in place, approving leave requests and optimizing employee schedules based on who is available becomes easier and more efficient.

Adjust working patterns to reduce overworking and minimize contact

Rotate teams in groups to prevent overworking and minimize infection risks. The Workforce.com platform allows managers to create segmented teams to work on rotational schedules.

Also read: Staying resilient: 10 ways to use Workforce.com to manage the impact of COVID-19

Stay transparent and connected

It’s vital to make everyone feel that they’re part of a team. Transparency is vital to effective workforce management, especially during this time.

Keep your staff informed and ensure that communication lines are always open for them. Workforce.com’s chat feature allows for instant communication between teams or individuals. It can be used to share essential information, celebrate wins and milestones, and allow everyone to stay connected.

Another way to ensure transparency is by setting custom events via the Workforce.com platform. It’s ideal for communicating operational changes to the team, such as reduced business hours or scheduling changes. That information will be visible to the schedule and mobile app, making it easier for staff to stay in the loop.

Implement wellness action plans

A wellness action plan is a way to spot mental health issues and identify the type of support employees need from their managers and leaders. It acts as a framework for staff to recognize the steps they need to manage their mental health. At the same time, it opens up avenues for managers and employees to work through experiences, address issues and support the team’s overall wellbeing.

A wellness action plan should have approaches to promote mental health. It should also have ways to identify poor mental health, stress triggers, impact on performance, support needed from leaders, action steps for both employee and manager, and a regular schedule to review the plan.

Companies can also consider subscribing to wellness apps or services to better support their employees’ mental wellness. Services that offer virtual counseling services can help employees cope and process their feelings and experiences, especially during the pandemic.

Also read: How to recalibrate work dynamics and embrace digital transformation in a post-pandemic workplace

Establish a support system for leaders and managers

Managers and leaders are in a unique position of facing the pandemic and taking care of a team. They equally need a support system that will help them identify best practices for managing their teams. Forming groups or seeking out advice from mentors and other industry professionals is a good first step.

Constant communication and transparency helps bond a workforce, whether in the office or remotely. Keep your employees’ wellbeing in mind and keep in touch with Workforce.com’s Workforce Chat.

August 12, 2020August 12, 2020

Elevator anxiety may be a rising concern among workers returning to the office

Has COVID-19 caused you to have elevator anxiety, as in a fear of being inside of a 7′ x 5′ box with other people? According to a not-quite scientific Twitter poll with over 4,000 responses, more than six in 10 workers will not use an elevator to get to their office.

These results beg the question, are elevators safe despite our apparent (and in my mind perceived justified) reluctance to use them

Believe it or not, the answer is that despite their small size and cramped quarters, given what we currently know about COVID-19 and its transmission, elevators should be safe in most instances.

According to Axios, most elevators are well ventilated, and we’re not inside of them long enough to worry about viral exposure.

Still, if you want employees to feel safe and comfortable riding in an elevator to travel to and from work, you should (or your landlord should) implement some basic coronavirus protocols:

Limit capacity based on the size of the elevator car.
Mark designated and distanced standing spaces on the floor.
Require masks or facial coverings inside the elevator car.
Encourage standing with one’s face to the walls and not the door (or the other passengers).
Discourage speaking.
Install hand sanitizer dispensers outside and inside elevator cars, make sure they stay filled, and encourage their use before pressing buttons.
Stagger shift, break, and lunch times to avoid long elevator queues or crowded cars.

My current office (i.e., home) lacks an elevator. But, if I had to go back to my office office, I’m “Team Stairs” all the way until the pandemic ends.

May 4, 2020June 29, 2023

Handling employee mental health issues in a world and workplace changed by coronavirus

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is as good a time as any to bring up an issue that has been weighing heavily on my mind — the looming mental health crisis that our employees are facing and will continue to face in a world and workplace changed by coronavirus.

Coronavirus has altered all of our lives, and all employees are dealing with stress, anxiety, and isolation.

Social distance has robbed us of the human contact we need from our family and friends, and work-from-home of the connections with our co-workers.

Some have fallen ill with coronavirus. Most of us know someone who has. And sadly there are those of us who have dealt with the loss, unable to properly grieve because of social distancing rules.

We’ve all missed celebrating milestones such as graduations, birthdays and weddings.

Many of us have dealt with the stress of layoffs, furloughs, lost income or closed businesses, and the stress that flows from figuring out how to pay the bills and feed our families.

Parents are balancing the new job of homeschooling (or at least assistant homeschooling) their kids with the old job of their actual paying job.

We’ve all lived with the everyday stress of just stepping out into the world. The simple task of grocery shopping has transformed into a life-and-death game of six-foot distance, anti-bacterial wipes and face coverings. Even the simplest of daily tasks such as walking the dog has transformed into a game of social distancing chicken — who is going to move off the sidewalk first.

And when society starts to return to some semblance of normal, some of your employees will return to work with mental health issues of varying degrees caused by all of this stress, change and loss. Some will be dealing with the exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues, and some will have what I am calling coronavirus PTSD.

The easy part is understanding that coronavirus has caused these mental health issues. The harder part is figuring out what we as employers can do and should do to help employees identify and manage these serious issues.

For starters, Ohio has created a free COVID Careline for people to talk to someone about their concerns. It’s available 24/7 at 1-800-720-9616.

Other than letting employees know about this state-provided resource, what else can employers do to help ensure that employees have the support and resources they need now and in the future? I have five suggestions.

1. Check the benefits available to your employees. Do you have an Employee Assistance Plan and are its mental health and counseling services are up to date? Are your health insurance plan’s mental health benefits easy to access and affordable?

2. Revisit paid-time-off policies and consider providing employees the time they need to take care of themselves and their families. And understand that everyone’s situation at home is different. Some only have themselves to worry about, while others have children to tend to during the workday. None of this is ideal, but for some, it’s less ideal than for others, depending on how much non-work responsibilities are on one’s plate.

3. Consider holding town hall or all-employee meetings that focus on mental health awareness. If senior leadership encourages education and communication around mental health issues, your employees will be more likely to access care if and when they need it.

4. Just because many are working remotely does not mean that employees have to be separated. You can use technology to foster togetherness and a sense of community. Virtual get-togethers, mindfulness breaks and online team-building events all help ease the sense of aloneness and isolation that many are feeling.

5. Small gestures of kindness can go a long way. An extra day paid day off, a gift certificate for takeout meals or grocery deliveries, or a surprise delivery of a midday snack can help employees feel appreciated and connected instead of overwhelmed and stressed.

A business is only as strong (or as weak) as its employees. Those that are considerate, flexible and kind will be in the best position to come out of this on the other side with as vibrant a workforce as possible.

March 31, 2020October 18, 2024

Communicate mental health resources to employees during the COVID-19 outbreak

COVID-19 clearly has severe and potentially deadly physical symptoms. But that doesn’t mean mental health is something that can be sidelined for now.

Parents with children they must homeschool are feeling the stress of working, teaching and having little to no free time to take care of themselves. People who have certain mental illnesses may find themselves especially vulnerable in times of social or physical distancing.

And employees on the front lines like health care workers, delivery people and grocery store employees may find themselves stressed due to the nature of their jobs and having a greater risk of interacting with people who have COVID-19.

“With the workplace a defining part of many individuals’ lives, managing employee morale and mental health, as well as providing resources and support to help them cope, is understandably top of mind with employers,” said Brad Hammock, co-chair of employment law firm Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Safety & Health Practice Group and a leader of the firm’s COVID-19 Task Force, in a press release.

While businesses must manage many other legal and operational issues, progressive employers are also focusing on resources and means of support to help employees cope, according according to a recent report from Littler.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who may respond more strongly to the stress of the COVID-19 crisis include those are especially vulnerable to the virus (older people and those with chronic diseases), children and teens, people with mental health or substance abuse issues and caregivers and health care providers who are helping others deal with health issues.

The CDC provides ways to cope with mental health issues — including taking breaks from watching the news, making time to unwind and connecting with loved ones. But the workplace has a role as well.

Also read: Mental health in low-wage workers

HR plays a central role in tempering employees’ feelings of anxiety, according to Human Resource Executive. “Remind employees that every single person in the organization, including the CEO, is facing unprecedented upheaval, fear and uncertainty — and that the only way to get through this is by pulling together and supporting each other like never before,” the article advised.

Further, while employee assistance programs have generally been underutilized, now is an ideal time to communicate the usefulness of EAPs to employees, according to HRE. EAPs address personal and professional challenges that employees may face, including financial problems, substance abuse issues, grief, family issues and stress. These areas of one’s life are also areas that could be greatly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the article noted.

Nonprofit news organization Marketplace suggests that employers offer and communicate the availability of telehealth mental health care. It also noted that accessible, affordable care is important. For example, Starbucks is offering all U.S.-based employees and their family members with access to 20 free therapy sessions starting April 6. These sessions are available through video appointments as well as in-person appointments.

Also read: The Mental Health Parity Challenge

The Canadian Mental Health Association advises that employers communicate in a reassuring manner. “Know that work will likely be impacted — work will slow down, necessary travel may be canceled. Reassure staff that expectations will shift accordingly, and that’s OK. The company will get through this.”

Organizations can also refer employees to reports indicating that most people who become infected with the virus will recover, the Canadian Mental Health Association noted. They can also emphasize with employees that they know this is a stressful time and that it’s OK to feel anxious.

Mental health in low-wage workers

Mental illness impacts people from every demographic — be it age group, race, job type, socioeconomic group or gender. Still, despite these similarities, low-wage workers face unique challenges to addressing their mental health concerns.

The Midwest Business Group on Health held a one-day conference on mental health access and stigma in the workplace last week, and one theme that came up in a few presentations was addressing mental health in low-wage workers.

Also read: Mental illness cuts across the workplace hierarchy

Bruce Sherman — chief medical officer at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, longtime researcher of health issues, and medical director, population health management at Conduent HR Services — did a presentation called “Do wages buy happiness?” He confirmed that, yes, wages are important in the sense that in the past 15 to 20 years, low-wage workers have gotten the smallest pay increases in relation to their income and high-wage workers have gotten the largest pay increases in relation to their income.

Needless to say, wages do matter.

The conversation goes past that, though. Sherman is currently working on a research project on this topic whose results are not public yet, but he also provided a high level overview of some the issues low-wage workers may face with mental health care and access.

Worsening income inequality is one reason these workers may face trouble. Another major reason is productivity demands, Sherman said.

Rising productivity expectations is not a surprise to me. Research for a few recent stories have led me to data points or findings that support this. For example, according to the 2018 European Agency for Safety and Health at Work report, “Managing Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Workplace: An Occupational Safety and Health Perspective,” workers in low-paid jobs that are not protected under standard labor laws may feel increased pressure to hit certain productivity levels, especially since they are increasingly being monitored by their employers. Not wanting to lose a job they rely on, they may turn to smart drugs. “Electronic means of monitoring employees are likely to be accompanied by an increase in the stresses on workers,” the article noted.

Also read: The workplace is not immune to the impact of social determinants of health

Sherman also informed the audience at MBGH’s event that the perception of mental health stigma may vary by socioeconomic status. There are two types of stigma — public stigma refers to discrimination or stereotyping from other people and private stigma refers to people internalizing stigma in a way that eats away at their self-worth. Low-wage workers often have a greater sense of personal stigma with behavioral health disorders, Sherman said.

This type of personal barrier also exists among cost issues and broader, structural barriers, like the lack of available psychiatrists in their insurance network or the the lack of nearby mental health care based on where they live.

Sherman suggested a few types of ways employers can address these issues. Through benefits design, they can consider eliminating mental health copays for employees so they can access behavioral health services. Ocean Spray is an example of a company who has done this, as of July 2019.

In an article Workforce published last March, Sherman gave more suggestions for changes in benefits design to address mental health in low-wage workers:

“Some employers offer hourly employees a half day every year specifically to see their doctor for preventive care services, he said. Other employers offer paid sick leave to all employees, including hourly workers. And other employers have ditched ‘just-in-time’ scheduling practices and opted for fixed work hours for all employees — a perk for hourly employees since variable scheduling limits predictable income for employees living paycheck to paycheck.”

Organizations can also leverage community social services that employees could take advantage of, Sherman said. Further, they can consider what workplace contributors may add to behavioral health problems and address those workplace issues.

Also read: Business group releases employer guide for managing diabetes in low-wage employees

One final suggestion to address mental health in low-wage workers relates to mental health stigma, and I found it rather interesting. Diversity programs could include information that addresses the negative stereotypes associated with mental health problems. I don’t know of any diversity programs doing this, but I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who is involved with a program like that!

Final takeaways from the MBGH conference:

1. Jeremy Nobel — the founder of The Unlonely Project who currently serves on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine — spoke about the negative impact of loneliness on people. He mentioned that LGBTQ+ employees, minorities and people with major illnesses or disabilities are especially susceptible to isolation, and mentioned some activities to help them feel connected.

This was interesting and valuable in its own way, but what I found was missing from his presentation was what external factors might make some of these groups of people feel isolated at work. These are groups of people that are likely to be discriminated against in the workplace compared to straight people, white people or people without disabilities. If your organization is pushing for these deeper connections between people but not addressing the reality that even casual discrimatation or harassment will stifle these connections, can it really address this issue?

2. What’s the actual definition of a crisis? Any time I attend a health-related conference, most every public health issue is deemed a crisis. While I understand some of this mentality, I also wonder how we as individuals, governments or organizations are supposed to pay attention to so many health crises at the same time and give them all the proper attention.

3. I wrote a little about generational stereotypes about mental health last week. My overall argument was that both older and younger employees have health issues, and only paying attention to how millennials or Generation Z “can’t handle stress” or whatever can be infantilizing. Also, it leaves older people out of a very important discussion about finally getting help for mental health issues.

I want to add one more thought. Business/health conferences tend to have an older crowd. That makes sense; they’re professionals who have a deep history in the industry. But where’s the voice of these “young people” who apparently have so many more mental health issues than generations before them?

What I think would be interesting is if there was a way for teenagers or young 20-somethings to share their perspective on the mental health of their generation versus older ones. It could be an opportunity for people in different generations to share their stories. For every “Kids these days get all their self-esteem from social media and that destroys their mental health!” from a 40-something parent, maybe a 16-year-old could clarify how common or uncommon that actually is. It could be an opportunity to address certain generational stereotypes head-on.

January 23, 2020June 29, 2023

The use of technology in managing burnout in your hourly workforce

Social psychologist Christina Maslach, known for her pioneering research about occupational burnout in the 1970s and ’80s, spoke at a conference for medical professionals in Chicago in 2017. I was lucky enough to attend.

I think about her session every time I read or research something about burnout — which, as most everyone on LinkedIn knows, is an increasingly common subject to come across in the news.

One of her most vital yet obvious points at the 2017 conference was that while the term “occupational burnout” wasn’t coined until the late 1970s, that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist before the ’70s. People just didn’t talk about it.

Not even academia took it seriously in the 1970s. Maslach first published her seminal research on burnout in a non-academic publication, resulting in a large amount of reader feedback from employees who had experienced burnout.

While the conference session focused on burnout among medical professionals, many of Maslach’s findings also apply to a group of employees that receive much less attention than salaried medical staff: hourly shift workers. Just like academia didn’t take burnout seriously decades ago, I wonder if some organizations still have the same attitude toward this hourly, generally less-educated group of employees.

“As technology and automation advance to simplify the lives of skilled laborers, the needs of low-wage hourly workers are forgotten,” wrote WorkJam CEO Steve Kramer in a recent article. He stressed a few reasons why low-wage workers might be experiencing burnout and what their needs are. He also noted that increasing productivity expectations, no predictable hours and chronic understaffing are a few of the major reasons for hourly employee burnout.

Employers are not powerless against this burnout, though, he wrote. He suggested technology as a potential solution for managing burnout.

Some digital tools, for example, allow frontline workers to give feedback and constructive criticism to managers and higher-ups. Other tools allow employees more agency in the scheduling process. Also, digital, personal training exists that can help employees learn new skills.

Also read: Employee Burnout Is No Fairy Tale

I would like to argue that managing burnout among hourly workers is not as simple as “run to the shiny new technology.” If a manager gets anonymous feedback that they’ve created a stressful work environment, what if they’re the type of manager that wouldn’t do anything to change?

If employees express that productivity goals are unrealistic for individual employees, what if the company sees that as employee laziness rather than a valid concern? If an employee has issues with whatever digital tool is used by their manager, will company decision makers actually think about replacing it with something less problematic?

As Vox writer Emily Guendelsberger points out in her essay, “I was a fast-food worker. Let me tell you about burnout,” enhanced technology has improved the lives of many skilled, educated workers. Meanwhile, the same advancements allow employers to track worker productivity down to the second — a reality that helps create burnout in hourly workers.

In 2019, after the newspaper she worked at closed, journalist Guendelsberger decided to work three different hourly jobs (in an Amazon warehouse, at a call center, and at a McDonald’s) to see how tech was now being used and to gauge how working in these jobs had changed over the years.

Here’s one of the changes she noticed:

“When I used to do service work, we still mostly used paper time cards; you could make your case to the manager if you were late, or maybe stay a few minutes beyond your shift to make up for it. At many modern service jobs, the digital time-clock system will automatically penalize you for clocking in a minute after the start of your shift or after a break.”

This is just one example, but it shows how the lack of humanity in digital systems could potentially punish someone for being human and making a small mistake occasionally. Could there be any way for digital tools to treat employees like people and give them some leeway? Not leeway to come in 15 minutes late every other day, but to come in five minutes late every once in a while.

While I don’t doubt that technology has the potential to help any type of employee, I’d encourage company decision makers to think critically about the impact of certain technology on low-wage employees. Rather than romanticize the potential of tech, try thinking about it rationally. Ask yourself a few questions: How are my expectations impacting employees’ stress levels? Could this burnout lead to health problems in my employees? Do I expect my hourly workers to work like humans or machines? Are the hourly wages my company offers keeping up with the rising expectations of how much these people must do on a daily basis?

The modern working class of America are fast food, retail, warehousing, delivery and call center workers, as Guendelsberger noted. “These jobs are not just a source of teenage pocket money; they’re something adults are trying to survive on,” she wrote. Burned-out fast food workers might suffer physically by accidentally burning themselves or suffer mental stress from constantly putting up with rude customers.

Just like we should care that white-collar professionals and medical professionals may make mistakes due to burnout, we should care that working class employees go through the same. Burnout isn’t just an affliction of the middle or high-class employee.

January 23, 2020June 29, 2023

Mental illness cuts across the workplace hierarchy

Money, power and status do not protect people against mental illness.

Executives are affected by mental illness as often and as severely as other segments of the workforce, said Dr. Samuel Ball, director of psychology and executive programs at Silver Hill Hospital. He specializes in treating executives suffering from mental illness.

Alcoholism is one of the most common afflictions, Ball said, followed by personality disorders and mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Executives struggling with depression may have difficulties with productivity and have to force themselves to perform their job due to lower energy levels and interpersonal skills, while some people afflicted with alcoholism can drink heavily while often being functional at work.

A group of high achievers may be initially reluctant to admit the problems they’re experiencing, Ball said. They feel a “different kind of shame about the problems they’re struggling with because they’re on a pedestal. So many people rely on them, [and] so many people look up to them at work and in their family.”

They need to feel secure, he added, describing a patient who felt comfortable speaking up because the CEO gave him a clear message that they wanted him back after treatment.

Home Life Versus Work Life

An executive’s spouse and family play a critical role in convincing them to get help.

“In a number of cases, the problem is not as widely known at work as it is at home. And the spouse has gotten to the end of their rope with [their] concerns,” Ball said.

At work, the executive will “put on the best face or a mask of maintaining their competency” because they’re motivated to maintain their career status. But when they get home, it’s different. Their spouse will usually be the one to convince them to get treatment.

If someone has these health issues, it can negatively impact their spouse and children, especially children in their teenage years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, growing up in a family with mental health or substance abuse problems is considered an adverse childhood experience — a potentially traumatic event that occurs in childhood and increases people’s risk for health problems as adults.

This group of patients generally have the means to afford outpatient treatment, which is a good first step, Ball said. The patients he sees, though, are often the ones too ill for outpatient treatment. Instead of living at home and regularly seeing a psychiatrist, they need inpatient care. Ball will get a phone call from the spouse, who has done the research to find the ideal place for inpatient care — usually somewhere in a different city that’s nearby enough that family can visit.

How Peers and Employees Can Respond

When an executive’s mental health is severe, employees and peers may notice. But knowing what to do or how to express sympathy or concern is different. For those employees who report to this higher-ranking person, it can be difficult to know what to do, if anything.

Also read: The mental health parity challenge

An exception might be if an executive has a trusted assistant who has been with them for a long time, Ball said. This type of direct report may have some ability to do something about the situation, especially if they play a “work spouse” role in this person’s life. But a majority of direct reports are not in this situation.

Typically, these high-ranking people won’t go to HR or contact an employee assistance program, Ball said.

“These executives report to the most senior people in the organization. And when they do finally admit to having a problem, if they do admit it, it’s not clear to them where to go in the organization to get support,” he said.

Usually it’s the one or two people above them — usually the CEO or COO — telling them to go on leave to get treatment that finally makes them get help, Ball said.

“They’ll say something like, ‘You’re incredibly valuable to us and we want you back, but you’re not well enough to work now. Take a month, two months, but we want you to get into a treatment program,’” he said.

Still, HR has power here. Lower-level employees may bring their concerns to HR, and an HR representative can speak directly with the CEO or COO, who typically are not surprised by the information, Ball said. From there, the CEO or COO can lead the intervention with the sick executive, and the HR person can stay in the meeting as an observer, especially if there’s been any sort of wrongdoing or complaints about the executive’s behavior.

It’s especially helpful if their boss can show sympathy in this discussion, Ball said.

“When this has gone well, their boss is either someone who has struggled with depression or alcohol, or it’s in their family. And they’ll have that discussion with their affected employee and say something like, ‘I know what this is like, and you’ve got to take care of this,’” he said.

Fighting Stigma

A prime reason executives fear coming forward with mental health issues is the fear that their progress at the company will effectively stall and that people will wonder when their next relapse will be.

“Even if they don’t lose their job, the reputational fallout of people knowing they’ve gone off to rehab is significant,” he said.

Some workplace experts encourage leaders to be open about their mental health struggles in order to decrease stigma for employees. However, since even these leaders experience stigma, talking openly about mental health at work is a hard but courageous thing to do, according to Ball.

Still, he said that it does have a positive effect on the workplace when leaders are honest and open about their struggles. He mentioned a patient who, upon preparing to leave soon, plans to go back to work and share broadly with the workforce that he’s been on leave treating his depression. This executive said he wanted people to take better care of themselves and recognize the signs that he did not.

“I think it’s courageous when people do that,” Ball said. “It’s helpful to employees when they send that message.”

December 5, 2019October 13, 2021

A Fun Culture Isn’t Enough to Retain and Engage Top Talent

In today’s job market, companies are under pressure to not only attract top talent but retain it as well. The allure of flexible hours, unlimited time off and craft beer on tap may speak to the promise of a fun culture, but don’t hold much weight when an employee considers greener pastures.

Employee benefits programs are a strong deciding factor when people consider staying with or leaving their company. A recent study found that 78 percent of employees would be more likely to stay at their current job because of the benefits they receive. With benefits holding a priority position on employees’ pro and con checklists, it’s imperative for employers to offer coverage that is not only valuable but competitive in the marketplace.

Absence and disability programs are two primary areas of employee benefits that are undervalued in the U.S. workforce. Based on a survey of HR decision makers by The Standard, 23 percent of companies embrace a holistic approach to accommodating disabilities. Further, less than 33 percent of companies have embraced the need for family and medical leave that is more comprehensive than current laws permit. Based on these findings, it’s no surprise that only 1 in 4 employees see their employer as a leader in managing absence and disability. This poses an opportunity for companies to prove they are in touch with employee needs and offer benefits that are both valuable and competitive.

In particular, companies should consider accommodations for employee mental health conditions if they want to retain talent and increase job satisfaction. The rate of millennials experiencing a mental health condition continues to rise and conversations about employee burnout, anxiety and depression are becoming more prevalent. According to Pew Research Center, millennials make up the largest sector of the U.S. workforce with Gen Z following close behind. The impact of mental health in the workplace will only continue to grow as baby boomers and Gen X retire and exit the workforce. Millennials are more open about mental health conditions than any previous generation and expect their employers to both support them and provide realistic accommodations.

Companies are struggling with this shift. The Standard’s research found that 71 percent are not confident in managing employee mental health conditions. Moreover, 63 percent of organizations do not feel prepared to accommodate absence or disability related to behavioral health conditions. It’s time for companies to rethink their approach to employee mental health if they want to be viewed as positive places to work.

Organizations that are committed to improving their approach to behavioral health can incorporate a variety of tactics. First, company leaders can offer explicit support to employees experiencing mental health or substance abuse issues. Public communications, such as email campaigns and company-wide meetings, should aim to address and reduce the stigma around behavioral health conditions in the workplace. A strong wellness campaign backed by manager training on issues such as depression, anxiety and addiction can further bolster a strong behavioral health strategy.

In addition to a company culture that supports and responds to mental health and substance abuse needs, employers can search for a behavioral health benefits program that attracts and retains valuable talent. Organizations should consider implementing a formal wellness program that factors in “mental health days,” flexible work schedules, subsidized employee subscriptions for mental health, parental leave and other key benefits. While accommodating these needs is not always easy territory to navigate, employers who provide workers with the tools they need to address mental health and substance abuse will enjoy the benefits of employees who are far better equipped to meaningfully contribute to the company mission.

Offering absence and disability programs that accommodate behavioral health conditions while destigmatizing workplace discussions around mental health are key to the development and execution of a successful program. Behavioral health assessments can create open discussions about mental health in the workplace, but findings show that only 10 percent of companies are offering them. These assessments can help employees understand if they are likely to suffer from a mental health condition.

The U.S. workforce is undergoing a generational shift, and employers are trying to retain employees in a job market where many new opportunities abound. Companies that come out on top will do so by expanding and improving their employee benefits programs. At the end of the day, people stick with companies that value and support them through life’s ups and downs.

October 10, 2019June 29, 2023

Managing Mental Health Crises at Work

Talking about suicide does not need to be taboo.

Mental Health America’s 2019 “The State of Mental Health” report has some concerning statistics. While adult prevalence of mental illness has been relatively constant, suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, has increased from 3.77 percent in 2012 to 4.19 percent in 2017.

“That’s over 10.3 million adults in the U.S. with serious thoughts of suicide,” the report noted. Meanwhile, more than 10 million adults in the U.S. have an unmet need for mental health treatment.

Companies should understand how suicide could impact not only a person’s family and loved ones, but also their co-workers, clients and everyone around them, said Ali Payne, practice leader for organizational wellbeing at insurance brokerage Holmes Murphy.

“I think the way we make sure people feel connected is having a strategic relationship with leaders and having leaders be open about how it impacts them or how they do business,” Payne said. She suggested creating a work environment where open conversations are encouraged.

Leaders should educate themselves of the available resources and prepare themselves if a mental health crisis happens, she said.

Suicide is a significant public health issue both in the United States and worldwide. Between 1999 and 2016, suicide rates have increased in every state in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Further, the World Health Organization estimates that one person dies of suicide every 40 seconds worldwide.

“Our Global Suicide Crisis,” a 2019 report from Prudential, notes that while it’s understood that depression and anxiety can be precursors to suicide, there isn’t yet enough known about the many reasons behind suicide to prevent it. Still, addressing depression and anxiety can help.

One way to address mental health in the workplace is by adopting best practices such as telehealth for behavioral health and on-site mental health clinicians, the report notes. It also stressed that when an employee takes time off to deal with a mental health episode, managers should remain in contact with them. “This may not only help an employee through depression — it can also reduce their fear of returning to work,” the report noted.

Workplace benefits and policies like this are valuable, Payne said, but employers and managers can also learn about accessible community-based resources that address mental health. These resources include mental health services provided by and crisis hotlines, government organizations, state-based organizations and local hospitals and health providers.

“A lot of employers don’t always know what those resources are, and they sometimes take them for granted until they’re impacted by [a mental health crisis],” Payne said. “Then they might take the initiative to figure out what those resources are. But I always say, let’s be as proactive as we can and really try to get a handle on what [these resources] are even outside of what we’re buying today.”

Co-workers can also benefit from guidance in learning how to address what they think may be a mental health crisis in a colleague. It may not be a comfortable situation, Payne said, but part of the training she does for clients is based around understanding how to help struggling colleagues.

Productivity Expectations

One work reality that may impact an employee’s mental health is rising productivity expectations, Payne said. “Right now we’re all asking our people to do more with less,” she added, saying that employees are more often wearing many hats and pitching in wherever the company needs them. “We need to make sure we’re thinking about how workload impacts people.”

Even though employers understandably want employees to be their most productive selves, that’s difficult for an employee when they are having mental health problems. It’s an added stress as well if they still feel workplace pressure to be at maximum productivity even when they’re not feeling good, Payne said.

“If they’re feeling like this, they’re definitely not going to bring their whole self to work. They’ll leave a majority of what they need and what they want somewhere else,” she said.

She also suggests that team leaders learn to help people recognize when they’re not feeling 100 percent and when they need to take a break.

Personalizing Programs

“We can’t just say that mental health affects everyone the same way,” Payne said. Financial stress may negatively impact one person’s mental health while career stress may cause a similar reaction in someone else. There isn’t one simple solution to address this workplace issue.

“There’s no silver bullet to anything, and that’s what everyone wants,” she said. “Everyone wants this silver bullet that’s going to solve all the problems in mental health, like stress management.”

While stress management programs have some value, stress impacts everyone differently. People can improve their resiliency, but even so they may not be as resilient of a person as someone else, Payne said. Some people are just more resilient than others. Simply investing in programs meant to increase employees’ resiliency is not enough to address stress and mental health, she said.

Payne encourages her clients to consider all the resources they have at their disposal that can be impactful to different people with different needs who are struggling.

“It doesn’t mean that they’re struggling all the way to suicide,” Payne said. “It might just mean they’re struggling in general. How do we make it OK to not be OK?”

Further national, state and local resources: