Almost all (95%) organisations acknowledge mental health as an important business issue, yet only 17% of chief executive officers (CEOs) have publicly signalled a commitment to mental health, according to new research.
Fund manager Churches, Charities and Local Authorities’ (CCLA’s) second annual Corporate mental health benchmark – global 100 + edition is a global investor benchmark of employer performance on workplace mental health that has been released to coincide with World Mental Health Day (10 October). It evaluates how 110 of the world’s largest listed organisations approach and manage workplace mental health and ranks them across five tiers based on their overall scores.
Almost one in five organisations improved their management and disclosure on mental health since 2022, but just 22% reported providing mental health training to line managers.
Despite 78% providing multiple mental health services and support channels, and 60% investing in awareness raising initiatives, only 22% reported on the provision of mental health training to line managers. One-quarter (25%) linked between good mental health and the good work principle of fair pay and financial wellbeing.
Just 17% (19) employers, the equivalent to 2022’s findings, published evidence of a CEO statement promoting workplace mental health. Meanwhile, the analysis suggests that the average benchmark score for those that have a published CEO statement on mental health is 75% higher than for those that have not.
Furthermore, the number of those in the benchmark that cited mental health as an important business concern rose from 90% in 2022.
Amy Browne, stewardship lead at CCLA, said: “The economic case for investment in mental health at work is clear. The results suggest that most employers now dedicate resources aimed at dealing with the symptoms of ill-health. Few, however, are taking preventative action by ensuring managers are trained in the provision of healthy work environments. While there have been notable and encouraging improvements, there is still significant work to be done to enable workers at the world’s largest employers to thrive.”