One-third of employees say they felt more comfortable talking about mental health over the past 12 months than ever before, while 6 in 10 believe people will be more comfortable talking about their mental health in the future. Despite this, just 1 in 10 used counselling services during the pandemic, demonstrating a disconnect in comfort levels between talking about mental health and actively accessing support services.
This was revealed in the latest multi-market research by Ipsos MRBI on behalf of Allianz Partners. The research was conducted amongst expat and local employees in the UK, Germany, Canada, UAE and Singapore to measure the impact of COVID-19 on respondents’ mental health and help employers understand how best to support the mental health of their teams.
The research highlighted the importance of employers investing in health and well-being supports and services to ensure a sustainable and productive workforce, as many staff are still dealing with the mental health challenges of the pandemic. Although it is evident that employers globally have been stepping up to provide support, a lot more can be done to ensure employees are using and reaping the benefits of these supports. According to the Mental health in the workplace paper published by the WHO, depression and anxiety cost the global economy USD 1 trillion a year in lost productivity. Providing appropriate mental health support to employees improves the employee’s quality of life and increases companies’ productivity.
Paula Covey, Chief Marketing Officer for Health, Allianz Partners, commented, “While the health insurance industry always recognised the importance of mental health as well as physical health, in the wider public domain, it felt, to some degree, like the silent elephant in the room that everyone knew was there, but people were sometimes uncomfortable talking about. Our long-term goal is to make talking about mental health as comfortable as talking about a sprained wrist. We want to encourage dialogue and help people to understand that mental health challenges are normal, sometimes frequent, and help them understand when and how to make use of support services.” She added, “It’s clear from the research that awareness of mental health has increased and people are more comfortable talking about it, and this is extremely encouraging. However, not all employees feel supported and there’s still a very low uptake of some mental health services like Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and counselling. I think there’s a real opportunity here for employers to build on their mental health support programmes and make some significant strides forward.”
Over the past number of years, employers have increased mental health support and services to their employees, a trend that is likely to continue post-pandemic. Yet, only 2 in 5 employees feel that resources provided by their employer are sufficient to support their mental health. So while some companies have been stepping up, particularly in the UAE, for most, there is more work to do. Providing a variety of services is essential, both in-person and digitally, as is having a combination of HR sponsored activities like wellness talks and those based around personal relationships because many people only feel comfortable talking about their mental health with friends or family.
Top five mental health support services provided by employers
(most valued by employees)
- information
- digital team get-togethers
- counselling services
- extra time off
- classes
Despite this, less than a quarter of respondents feel comfortable discussing their mental health with a counsellor, which may mean that employees don’t know enough about Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) or exactly what kinds of scenarios counselling can help with. As a result, employers will need to invest in education and awareness campaigns around these services. And as most employees are not comfortable discussing their mental health with their employers, it’s important to emphasise that counselling and EAP services are entirely confidential.
The survey revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health. Whilst some employees value counselling services, other employees value the role of technology in aiding their mental health. Almost half of those working in UAE and Canada claim to monitor their mental health all/most of the time. Smartphone APPs are the preferred method of monitoring mental health, followed by journaling and speaking to a professional. Employers should consider providing employees with information on mental health apps, making them available to employees and encouraging staff to use them to track their mental health.
Now, more than ever, there is an opportunity for employers to add real value to their employees’ lives and contribute to a society that is more open when it comes to discussing mental health and wellbeing. Providing employees with the right tools and supports is key to reducing the stigma that has long been attached to mental health.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
