If HR doesn’t address the mental health of employees and offer as much assistance as possible, that mass exodus will continue. “Wellbeing is a critical component of our evolving culture and a cornerstone in overall colleague engagement,” Peter Church, chief people officer at Point32Health, a Canton, MA-based health insurance provider, told HRD.
“Our focus has been on access to care through mental health providers and coaches, utilization of digital tools, therapy through telehealth and virtual mindfulness sessions. Given the rich diversity of our workforce, it has become even more important to ensure that we have offerings to meet colleagues where they are at with the needs they have. This has included thinking differently about how and when we use space through flexibility and hybrid schedules, as well as technology aimed at creating high-quality, meaningful connections,” Church says.
California companies scored high in the survey: San Francisco-based Salesforce topped the list with 73% of employees believing the company supports their mental health. The firm was followed by San Francisco-based Splunk (70%), McLean, VA-based Capital One (67%), Mountain View, CA-based Google (66%) and Sunnyvale, CA-based LinkedIn (65%).
“Making mental health synonymous with other benefits is key, alongside identifying the areas of work that may be impacting employees’ mental health,” Buch says. “The lines between working from home and personal lives are increasingly blurred with many employees feeling pressure to be available outside office hours or working while they are unwell.”
According to Beamery’s research, employees are now more likely to continue working through sickness (41%) whilst one in four employees (26%) believe sick days are now a thing of the past. That’s why leaders need to set a good example by emailing or communicating with employees only during work hours or at least be adamant that they aren’t required to respond immediately.
