It is fair to say that approaches to mental health in many workplaces have taken a step forward in recent years. More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents’ organisations have specific benefits and strategies in place to support their employees’ mental health. While narrower in scope, it is telling that when respondents to Employee Benefits’ Healthcare research between 2001 and 2013 were asked if they had a specific strategy in place to address workplace stress, positive responses fluctuated between 28% and 52%, peaking in 2012.
However, with 33% of respondents in 2017 stating that they do not currently have a mental health strategy, there is still work to be done. Encouragingly, among those respondents that do not have a strategy, 41% are planning to introduce one but do not yet know what form it will take, and 35% are in the process of designing a strategy to support the mental health of staff.
Mental health in the workplace also falls within the scope of the government’s proposed package of mental health reforms. In January 2017, the government announced that a review, led by Lord Dennis Stevenson, a mental health campaigner, and Paul Farmer CBE, chief executive officer at Mind and chair of the NHS Mental Health Taskforce, would examine how best to improve support for employees with mental health problems.
The review will involve best-practice sharing, practical support and tools to enable organisations to address mental health in the workplace, as well as recommendations around workplace discrimination on the grounds of mental health.
Of those respondents that already have a strategy to support the mental health of their workforce, an employee assistance programme (EAP) is the benefit that most commonly forms a part of this (97%). This is followed by flexible-working or work-life balance policies (61%). These mechanisms were also consistent features of employers’ stress reduction strategies in previous years’ Healthcare research findings. Five years ago, for example, 77% of respondents included flexible-working or work-life policies in their strategy to address workplace stress, rising to 80% in 2013.
Line managers are considered by many to play a key role in supporting the mental health of employees, whether that be signposting their reports to appropriate sources of help or the ability to have empathetic conversations about mental health conditions with their team. Yet just one-third (34%) of respondents’ organisations offer dedicated training for line managers in this area.
Other sources of support in the workplace include on-site occupational health (32%), specialist counselling services (36%), and the provision of education and guidance (44%), which might take the form of online resources or employee workshops, for example.
More than a quarter (27%) of employer respondents also have employee networks or champions in place to support mental health in the workplace. These employee-led initiatives can help to open up the conversation around mental health at work and break down perceived stigmas associated with mental health problems.
Do respondents have specific benefits and strategies in place to support employees’ mental health in the workplace?
- They do 67% (NB: updated from original graphs)
- They do not 33%Sample: All respondents (93)
The benefits respondents offer to support employees’ mental health
- Employee assistance programme (EAP) 97%
- Flexible working or work-life balance policies 61%
- Access to education and guidance for staff (such as workshops, online information sources and so on) 44%
- Specialist counselling services (other than EAP) 36%
- Dedicated training for line managers to enable the provision of support 34%
- On-site occupational health 32%
- Employee support networks or employee champions 27%
- Partnerships with relevant charities 18%
- Other 7%Sample: All respondents who have benefits or strategies in place to support employees’ mental health (62)
