Only one-quarter of organisations (26%) have a formal strategy committed to their employees’ mental health, confirmed a new report.
While 67% of senior leaders express a commitment to workforce mental health, most employers are not approaching it strategically, according to new research from One Mind at Work, dedicated to workforce mental health. To date, most workforce mental health initiatives are ad hoc and reactive, according to the latest insights from its latest research.
The latest findings from the Mental Health at Work Index revealed that only one in three organisations (35%) have a process to identify psychosocial hazards that may pose risks to worker mental health. While more than nine in 10 respondents (93%) indicated that they provide resources and benefits to address mental health issues, less than half (48%) are redesigning the work environment to improve psychological wellbeing.
MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING
It also found that less than one in 10 organisations (9%) that offer mental health training are measuring subsequent behaviour changes. While 74% of organisations offer mental health training, employers have no way of knowing whether their actions are having the desired outcomes. Organisations scoring at or above the Mental Health at Work Index target reported that nine out of 10 employees would recommend the organisation as a good place to work.
“In today’s work environment and amidst unprecedented challenges, a thriving organisation relies on the collective mental health of its workers,” commented Dr Kathy Pike, President and CEO of One Mind at Work. “The Mental Health at Work Index serves as a compass for organisations, providing a diagnostic tool to ensure worker mental health remains strong, fostering resilience, empathy and sustainable performance while nurturing a culture of caring.”
ADDRESSING WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH
The Index is a standardised assessment of organisational-level initiatives to address workforce mental health. It helps organisations measure their mental health efforts, prioritise areas for improvement, and strategically invest in evidence-based practices for improved outcomes.
Developed collaboratively by One Mind at Work, Columbia University’s Mental Health + Work Design Lab and Ethisphere, the Mental Health at Work Index landed One Mind on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies List. In the first year of the Mental Health at Work Index, 46 organisations completed the self-assessment. Firms included AXA, Bank of America, Prudential, Aon and HCA Healthcare.
The Index is a self-assessment tool for business leaders committed to being data-driven to improve workforce mental health. Using the Index, organisations establish the baseline maturity of their mental health programmes, pinpoint priority areas that will accelerate the impact of their efforts. It also taps into evidence-based resources for optimising their programmes to achieve better outcomes, both for their employees and for their organisation.
The findings also underscore the critical need for organisations to take a comprehensive and strategic approach to workforce mental health efforts. Research consistently demonstrates that investing in mental health initiatives not only enhances worker satisfaction and engagement but also drives innovation, resilience, and overall individual and organisational performance.
MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK
“Senior leadership needs to realise that mental health at work is more than an HR responsibility. It directly impacts personal and organisational performance. In addition to providing benefits and resources, protecting and promoting the mental health of workers needs to be integrated into the core business strategy,” stated Craig Moss, EVP-Measurement at Ethisphere. “Completing the Mental Health at Work Index is a process that provides leaders with the data they need to do it.”
Adding to his comments, Helen Wray, Global Mental Health & Energy Lead at Mars said: “The Mental Health at Work Index allowed us to not only identify areas for improvement across the protection, promotion, and provision landscape, but also clarified the importance of the programmes we’ve had in place to support workers. Seeing the impact of that work reflected in our results, while learning about additional evidence-based areas we could focus on to go further, was a valuable experience.”
MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK INDEX
The Mental Health at Work Index is rooted in science and research. The Index’s 3 Ps framework of protection, promotion and provision is applied to a wide range of organisational practices. The Index captures these practices across 10 categories. They include strategy, leadership, culture, workforce involvement, work design, communication, training, resources and benefits, related practices and measurement.
“The Mental Health at Work Index provides a vital framework for organisations to assess and improve their mental health initiatives, ensuring the well-being of employees and the success of the organisation,” said Gordon Watson, Founding Corporate Council Chair of The Mental Health at Work Index and Chair at AXA Asia.”
Ryan Sledge, Vice President of Workforce Health & Safety at HCA Healthcare, added: “The results that we’ve gotten back from the Index helped us to bolster some of the things we do internally already, such as our Mental Health and Wellness Colleague Network, which is the fastest-growing network across the company. The assessment provided us with an opportunity to do more and do better as an employer and as a health care system.” Click here to access the full report.
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