10 ways to help employees manage their mental health

May 18, 2021 10:00 AM

Employers have had to find innovative ways to help employees deal with mental health challenges during the pandemic.

Telehealth, virtual wellness programs and online therapy programs have all skyrocketed in popularity and utilization during COVID-19, yet a large percentage of employees are still struggling with increased rates of anxiety, depression, stress and burnout.

What else can employers do to help employees take care of their mental well-being and bring their best selves to work? Benefits professionals and workplace experts share their wisdom on these topics for Employee Benefit News’ Views column. Find advice, insight and more from our most popular entries on mental and behavioral health:

How to spot depression and anxiety in the remote workplace and help your employees

It's imperative that employers be aware of the warning signs of mental health issues in their employees and respond proactively by promoting initiatives to prevent and respond to the emotional well-being of employees. Yet, in virtual work environments, the challenge so many employers and managers are facing is how to identify and “spot” the warning signs of those employees in need.

Many in the general population are aware of tried and true warning signs of depression — like social withdrawal, changes in mood or increased irritability, absenteeism, decreased productivity, or even anxiety. Yet, these subtle cues are much harder to spot in employees working remotely, so here are some things employers and colleagues should be on the lookout for this coming year as employees continue to work from home.

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How to spot depression and anxiety in the remote workplace and help your employees

Businesses need to double down on mental health post-COVID

A company cannot be successful with unhappy and unhealthy employees. The events of 2020 shined an even brighter light on this reality, forcing companies to think in an agile way about how they could best support their teams amidst unimaginable upheaval.

All of the changes made by companies in 2020 are important. But short-term fixes are easy. Any company can add a PTO day here or a remote work day there. The changes necessary to advance us forward in 2021 and beyond are deeper. They are structural, institutional and foundational.

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Businesses need to double down on mental health post-COVID

Employers must address how stress and burnout impact their female employees

One in four women — and three out of four Black women — are thinking about downshifting or leaving their careers, citing lack of flexibility, feeling like they always need to be “on,” and heavier burdens at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a challenging moment for benefits leaders as we seek to stem the tide, but a holistic approach to benefits can help move the needle on many of the societal issues driving this burnout. The need to engage employees with a platform of relevant solutions is more vital than ever.

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Employers must address how stress and burnout impact their female employees

The business of mental health

For employers whose EAP utilization is low, there is one key variable that can raise utilization significantly. Promotion of EAP services varies significantly between employers, with some employers doing little to promote these services and others using strong promotional campaigns to get the word out. This lack of promotion has contributed significantly to the less-than-optimal usage of EAP benefits and employees left unserved.

Traditionally, EAPs don’t have access to employee contact information, so promoting these free and confidential services and benefits is left in the hands of employers — who don’t always prioritize these communications. Most EAPs are more than happy to promote their services but need a partnership with an employer to make it happen. Without it, less than optimal utilization can and does occur.

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The business of mental health

Do employees get enough sleep? The answer could impact your bottom line

Corporations are enhancing mental health benefits and physical safety measures in the hopes that workers will return to corporate offices and regain a sense of normalcy. The focus on mental health is a positive development. In tandem with this more holistic approach to health, employers have an opportunity to allocate greater resources to another often-overlooked health catalyst: sleep.

Sleep disorders also contribute to workforce health and productivity and can be a key factor in whether employees are sharp, creative and able to perform or exhausted, sick and absent. As productivity is the lifeblood of business success, sleep is subsequently tied to an organization’s bottom line.

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Do employees get enough sleep? The answer could impact your bottom line

A valuable wellness program must change the employee experience

Employee well-being matters; every HR person has an inbox full of offers for mediation apps and other services to improve the mental health of their workforce. But apps alone won’t move the needle on mental health. If they don’t deliver meaningful results, mental health apps are just another overhead cost. A valuable wellness program, on the other hand, needs to change the employee experience.

While apps and online tools can certainly help, employers need to build robust policies and programs that improve their employees’ mental health and productivity. Increasing vacation time, job sharing and flexible work hours are all policies that could benefit employees. But do you have the time and budget for guesswork? A mental wellness program that works for one organization won’t necessarily produce the same results for another.

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A valuable wellness program must change the employee experience

How to evaluate digital mental health solutions for your employees

Mental health has rapidly become a priority in the workplace, and according to a recent study, 88% of employers will offer virtual mental health care for their workforce in 2021 (growing from 69% in 2020). As such, more organizations are implementing treatment for mental disorders as part of their employee benefit options.

However, employers should not turn to telemedicine or other digital solutions blindfolded. They should carefully assess what they aim to achieve and how these solutions will help them get there.

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How to evaluate digital mental health solutions for your employees

Addressing addiction care with HDHPs

Many employers have chosen to continue to make full use of the CARES Act and offer telehealth and remote care services as first dollar covered for the 2021 plan year. This includes virtual care programs for issues like substance use disorders, a treatment category that has been completely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Barriers to addiction care, including a lack of available virtual treatment options, and high costs, are responsible for producing the low utilization rate of only 7.9%. While COVID-19 will begin to fade with the distribution of a vaccine, it is clear that the behaviors of today will become the addictions of tomorrow, and of course, there will not be a vaccine for substance use disorder.

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Addressing addiction care in HDHPs

Empathy: A business imperative

Empathy is something organizations have been talking about for decades. As a result, some can truly characterize their culture as one grounded in empathy, while others, perhaps not as much. Suffice it to say, the pandemic has forced organizations to reflect on their workforces — to better understand their employees’ myriad of needs, expectations and overall well-being. As we continue to move through this pandemic, employees’ behavioral health have become top-of-mind for many organizations.

Those who continue to navigate these conversations demonstrate the courage — empathy — needed across the workforce. Admittedly, they’re not easy-to-have conversations, hence the need to have more of them. But in addition to having those conversations, there are other ways organizations can exhibit more empathy.

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Empathy: A business imperative

What employers can do about the threats to employee mental health

Our always-on workplace culture and the blurring of boundaries between work and home have been enabled by technology that makes workplace responsibility ever-present. And it’s not just leadership and managers who have felt the effects: research has found that two-thirds of employees report struggling with chronic workplace stress and burnout.

There is good news: the right support for mental health matters. Treatment is effective for as many as 80% of employees and leads to increased levels of workplace efficacy and satisfaction. Research also suggests that investment in mental health yields a threefold return. In response, many employers are expanding access to mental health with effective plans and solutions. The most robust include a full spectrum of resources for a range of mental health needs and on-demand, in-the-moment access to support.

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What employers can do about the threats to employee mental health