Over the past 19 months, arguably the biggest trend in HR has been the increased emphasis on mental health within the workplace. Beset with pandemic anxieties and work-from-home isolation, to say nothing of the triggering effect of our discordant political culture, employees have grown more and more aware of their own mental health needs, and more and more desirous that their employers follow suit.
The question is, what can HR do to address this need? There’s actually more than one way for HR to promote mental health within the workplace. We suggest an integrated approach that combines each of these methods.
Offering Mental Health Benefits in the Workplace
1) Promote mental health resources to the entire employee base.
There’s a decent chance that you already have some mental health resources in place but have never had much interest in them until now. For example, a lot of employee insurance programs offer employee assistance programs (EAP), which can provide mental health assessments, counseling, and more.
Also make sure you consider options like Teladoc and remote counseling services, which can be an affordable solution for addressing employee mental health needs. FullHR is happy to provide a number of effective solutions.
The bottom line: See what kinds of mental health benefits you can include with your existing insurance setup, and make sure employees are well aware of the options available to them.
2) Host training sessions.
We’d also recommend hosting training sessions for managers and employees alike. The purpose of these training sessions is twofold. One, it will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues in your workplace. And two, it can be an excellent opportunity to speak more in-depth about the mental health resources that are available at your company.
There are plenty of ways to offer these trainings: Bring in an outside consultant, sign everyone up for online training sessions, or have members of HR lead their own workshops or discussion groups.
3) Support healthy work-life balance.
Ultimately, the mental health benefits and training sessions won’t matter much if your business isn’t also supporting healthy work-life balance. There are a number of ways in which HR can play a part:
- Provide flexible scheduling for employees who need it.
- Provide a few extra PTO days.
- Observe more office holidays.
- Lead by example, ensuring you work normal hours and don’t send emails after-hours.
Make Mental Health Benefits a Company-Wide Priority
Employees want to know about the mental health benefits that are available to them. There are plenty of ways in which HR can meet this demand. With any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our team at FullHR.