Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace

There isn’t much good news when it comes to the state of the mental health of America’s workers.

According to SHRM’s Employee Mental Health in 2024 Research Series, based on a recent survey of more than 1,400 U.S. employees, 45 percent of them say their jobs leave them emotionally drained, and 44 percent say they feel burned out from their work.

That can have a huge impact on the workplace. Thirty percent of survey respondents say they are stressed, 26 percent say they feel overwhelmed and 22 percent are anxious. More than a third say their jobs have an overall negative impact on their mental health status.

“Work environment, leadership—or lack thereof—lack of role clarity, team culture, home life—all are significant factors that can impact [someone’s] well-being and performance in the workplace,” says James Peoples, director, HR business partner, for the Washington, D.C.-based National Council for Mental Wellbeing, a nonprofit that serves people living with mental illnesses and addiction. “An employee’s workload is also a critical factor, as overload can be a stress trigger.” These issues, either individually or in combination, can create a mental health crisis among an organization’s workforce.

Mental Health in the American Workplace

U.S. organizations face some unique challenges to adequately address employees’ mental health needs. A lack of trained professionals and the relatively high cost of health care present barriers in the U.S. that aren’t as prevalent in other developed countries, according to research by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York City-based nonprofit that works to promote a better-performing and more equitable health care system in the U.S.

For example, one Commonwealth study found that the U.S.’s relatively low supply of mental health workers, particularly psychologists and psychiatrists, stands in contrast to other developed countries. Just one-third of U.S. primary care practices have mental health professionals on staff, compared with more than 90 percent in the Netherlands and Sweden. And the U.S.’s 105 mental health care workers per 100,000 people compares poorly with other developed countries. Canada, Switzerland and Australia each have double that number of workers.

In response to another Commonwealth survey of the U.S. and 10 other high-income countries, U.S. respondents with mental health needs—particularly Black and Hispanic Americans—were significantly more likely to report cost-related problems accessing health care than residents of other wealthy nations.

“The personal and professional costs to employees when their mental health suffers at work are profound,” says Courtney A. Peterson, SHRM-SCP, senior vice president, chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer at Washington, D.C.-based Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric companies. “On a personal level, individuals may grapple with anxiety, depression and a pervasive sense of despair, impacting their overall well-being. Professionally, the toll manifests as decreased productivity, impaired decision-making and strained relationships with colleagues.”

Compounding the problem, even when employers do offer mental health assistance, many of their employees are unaware of it. SHRM research has found employees in general are not well-informed of their employers’ mental health resources. According to SHRM, 35 percent of U.S. workers are only somewhat aware of those resources, and 32 percent are unaware.

Poor mental health conditions at work can have a significant impact on organizations, resulting in a so-called “productivity tax.” According to SHRM research, employees who feel burned out are nearly three times more likely to be actively searching for another job. They are also less likely to go above and beyond what is expected of them at work (40 percent versus 56 percent of employees who are not burned out).

Gallup concluded in 2022 that workers who rate their mental health as poor or fair have nearly 12 days of unplanned absences annually, compared with 2.5 days for all other workers. Generalized across the U.S. workforce, this missed work is estimated to cost the economy $47.6 billion annually in lost productivity.

Brad Smith, chief science officer at Philadelphia-based meQuilibrium (meQ), a company that helps organizations support their employees’ well-being and performance, says one employee with depression or anxiety “can increase employer health care spending by $2,467.”

Employers can cause or exacerbate employees’ mental health issues when they prioritize short-term gains over the long-term well-being of their employees, Peterson says. And if a workplace becomes truly toxic, companies can compound the situation by putting all employees under additional stress—not just the ones grappling with mental health concerns. “Toxic workplace cultures characterized by excessive demands, poor leadership, lack of psychological safety, and inadequate support systems exacerbate stress, anxiety and depression among employees,” Peterson says.

Managers Matter

A 2023 report by meQ, The Pivotal Role of Managers in Employee Well-Being, Productivity and Retention, found that the greatest protection against poor mental health at work is having a manager who cares about their team’s mental well-being. Just having a manager who asks how team members are doing in one-on-one meetings and listens empathetically can dramatically reduce the risk of an employee showing signs of burnout.

In fact, meQ found that the prevalence of burnout is 58 percent lower among employees who enjoy strong manager support for mental well-being, and such managers can reduce turnover risk by as much as 78 percent.

“Managers, as the front-line representatives of an organization, play a pivotal role in shaping the culture that either uplifts or devastates employees,” Peterson says. “Equipping them with empathy, active listening skills and an understanding of mental health nuances is crucial to preventing harm.”

Indeed, ineffective managers can have a significant impact on the overall health of their organizations. According to SHRM’s mental health survey, employees who say their managers have a negative, instead of positive, impact on their mental health are two times less likely to say they believe in their organization’s mission.

To proactively guard against this, companies should ensure that managers themselves have the mental health support they need. Forty percent of people managers said their mental health declined when they entered a managerial or leadership role, according to SHRM’s survey.

Sola King, SHRM-SCP, chief people officer for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, says that developing supportive supervisors “starts by creating a culture where employees feel psychologically safe to share their concerns and issues, so that they are addressed before it escalates into situations that [hurt] their mental well-being.”

Training Is Essential

“Supervisors must understand the individuals on their teams and recognize changes in attitudes or performance, even small indicators,” King says. “It’s important to address these changes promptly, whether through a conversation, providing resources for personal matters, or by giving the employee some space and time to deal with whatever they may be going through. It’s not an exact science, but rather an art that comes with experience.”

At the heart of creating a safe space at work is cultivating an atmosphere in which employees do not view asking for mental health assistance as a sign of weakness.

“Stigmas and barriers abound when workers seek mental health assistance, often rooted in a culture that stigmatizes vulnerability,” Peterson says. “Fear of judgment, concerns about job security, and a prevailing notion that seeking help is a sign of weakness can deter individuals from reaching out.”

Only about 2 in 5 employee respondents to SHRM’s 2024 mental health survey say they feel comfortable discussing their mental health in the workplace. According to survey respondents, when employees talk about their mental health at work:

• 44% say those employees risk hurting their reputation.
• 41% say those employees are judged.
• 41% say those employees are gossiped about.
• 35% say those employees risk their work relationships.
• 35% say those employees are less likely to get promoted.
• 28% say those employees are trusted with fewer responsibilities at work.

Training managers to counter the prevailing stigma against speaking up about mental health needs is key to changing it. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing works with organizations to tailor mental health training to the needs of employees in their industry, says Tramaine EL-Amin, the nonprofit’s vice president for mental health first aid.

“The training educates employees on how to recognize and respond to signs of mental health or substance [abuse] on the job, and how to connect workers to professional support and services,” EL-Amin says. “[Such] training has helped leaders, human resources and employees at all levels understand mental health challenges on a deeper level.”

The curricula the National Council for Mental Wellbeing use include visuals, statistics and scenarios addressing the concrete challenges employees with mental illness may face. EL-Amin expects her organization to train nearly 1,000 workplace leaders in 2024.

It’s important to note that training people how to recognize and respond to mental health concerns in the workplace should not be solely reserved for managers.

At Bellevue, Wash.-based Puget Sound Energy, employees and their supervisors are both trained how to recognize when their colleagues may need help.

“It’s crucial for supervisors and their workers to recognize that no one is 100 percent ‘mentally healthy’ all the time,” says Jenny Haykin, integrated leaves and accommodations program manager at Puget Sound. “[We have] had great success with training employees and supervisors on how to identify where they are on the mental health continuum.” The training teaches attendees about what to say if someone else appears to not be doing well and what company resources they can offer.

Considerations for Front-Line Workers

In many cases, front-line workers are the most susceptible to the stress and burnout that can lead to mental health issues.

According to a 2023 meQ study of front-line workers’ mental health, these employees—who typically work in retail, food and beverage service, and manufacturing—are less aware of their employers’ mental health benefits and more likely to say they do not have a problem. Even when they do acknowledge an issue they are having, they are less likely to reach out for help than their non-front-line colleagues.

“Front-line workers regularly interact with frustrated customers, work irregular shifts, lack paid time off and have minimal autonomy over duties assigned by managers,” Smith of meQ says, “which can contribute to higher rates of burnout, anxiety, depression and secondary traumatic stress compared to their corporate colleagues.”

According to the meQ study, front-line workers who do recognize that they need mental health support are 62 percent more likely than non-front-line staff to say they have not sought help. That’s not surprising, since meQ also found that awareness of employer-provided benefits was 22 percent lower among front-line staff compared with other staff.

“Given both the elevated risk factors and participation obstacles front-line employees face, organizations reliant on these essential workers must prioritize awareness and access to needed benefits,” says Smith, who adds that using mental well-being benefits to seek professional help should not be a move of last resort only associated with times of crisis. “Unfortunately, the first-line response to troublesome levels of stress, anxiety or burnout among front-line workers is to take time off from the job—which they do only reluctantly, as it represents a decrease in pay.”

It’s important that well-being programs extend beyond traditional interventions, such as employee assistance programs and counseling services, Peterson says. Other benefits and support that tend to be the most helpful for employees struggling with their mental health prioritize flexibility, autonomy and personal care.

The bottom line in helping workers maintain good mental health, experts say, is for both employers and their employees to recognize that all workers—not just those suffering acutely—can benefit from company-provided supports aimed at promoting good mental health.

“It’s helpful to frame mental health issues as part of the regular life experience,” Haykin says, “rather than viewing them as something only some people deal with.”   

Dana M. Wilkie is a freelance journalist living in Panama.