Research from global health care company Otsuka Pharmaceutical and the Society for Human Resource Management has discovered that only 32 per cent of HR professionals report that offering mental health resources is a high priority for the organisation. Despite this, the survey, Mental Health in America: A 2022 Workplace Report, revealed that almost eight in ten organisations plan to offer mental health resources including EAPs in the coming year.
Of those companies that did not offer any resources, a third of HR professionals reported that their organisation has not even begun to consider providing access to these resources whilst 27% indicated they were unsure as to which benefits to provide. Most alarming was that over a tenth of professionals believed that mental health was not an issue in their organisation or industry whilst the same amount also believe that their employees were not interested in mental health resources.
The survey also showed that the pandemic was a tipping point for many organisations, with more companies offering mental health resources over the past few years. An additional 11% of employers introduced mental health benefits since the onset of the pandemic whilst 83% provided EAPs prior to or since the start of the pandemic. As such, 94% of HR professionals now see the value in providing employees with mental health resources and that it can positively impact employees’ overall health as well as increase their productivity and retention.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
