Mind Matters: Supporting Employee Mental Health at Work
Posted: May 6, 2025
Every year, millions of people experience mental health challenges with limited access to care. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 8 people globally are affected. Conditions like anxiety and depression significantly reduce productivity, costing the global economy around $1 trillion annually. Despite the rising demand for support, more than two-thirds of those who need mental health care don’t receive it.
When left untreated, mental health issues can deeply impact the workplace—reducing productivity, increasing absenteeism, and driving up healthcare costs. Offering meaningful mental health benefits is a proactive step employers can take to support their workforce and reduce these risks.
Raising Awareness
Employers can help employees feel less alone by developing campaigns that raise awareness. Here are a few ways employers can raise awareness, address stigma, and foster a sense of belonging in the workplace:
- Enhance accessibility. Mental health programs should be inclusive and easy to access for employees from all backgrounds. Employers can explore both digital platforms and in-person options to ensure support is available in ways that meet diverse needs.
- Showcase mental health benefits: Ensure employees are aware of mental health benefits by holding meetings, providing resources, and sharing instructions about accessing care through benefit offerings.
- Integrate wellness into workplace culture: Formal strategies that infuse mental well-being into the company culture focus on providing workplace processes and benefits that help reduce stress and promote mental well-being, including flexibility, time off, added breaks, environmental changes, etc.
- Have mental health conversations in the workplace: Normalizing conversations around mental health in meetings, informal discussions, and one-on-one talks can help reduce stigma and bolster employee belonging.
Encouraging Self-Care
Integrating self-care throughout your daily schedule improves both mental and physical health. Yet, self-care is often reserved for hours outside of work. Employers can help employees practice self-care by changing workplace policies and improving work-life balance. For example, creating flexible work schedules can help employees manage personal responsibilities without missing work. Providing mental health days or time off for self-care activities can give employees more balance and improve morale. Developing a company-sponsored wellness program can provide employees with resources and eliminate cost barriers to services that can improve mental and physical wellness.
Providing Support and Resources
Stigma surrounding mental health often leads to limited knowledge about mental health conditions and ways to prioritize mental wellness. Employers can provide employees with resources about the importance of mental health care and offer frequent, transparent information about the company’s mental health benefits and how to use them.
