Why it’s time for employers to shift from crisis response to a culture of mental wellness

As we reflect on World Mental Health Day, there’s a lot of progress to be proud of. Conversations about mental health are becoming much more common and employers are increasingly looking to incorporate mental health support into their benefit offerings. But despite the progress we’ve seen, there’s still a fundamental misunderstanding about the long-term need for mental health support at work.

In the second year of our research with Forrester Consulting, we found a severe disconnect between employers and employees when it comes to the current standards of mental health support at work. While a vast majority (85%) of employers feel they actively listen to the needs of employees, only 51% of employees agree. Along the same vein, only 46% of employees believe their company invests enough in the mental health of employees, while a significant 81% of employers believe they invest enough.

This disconnect reflects a misunderstanding among leaders who are treating mental health support as a crisis response. While the pandemic served as a forcing function, it’s time for employers to treat mental health support as a permanent, values-based commitment to employee wellbeing.

Lead by example

Even employers who offer mental health support to their employees need to do a better job clearing a path for them to take advantage of those benefits. According to our research, more than two thirds (68%) of employees felt like their work culture was a safe place to discuss mental health in 2021, but only 51% agree today. A full 77% of employers say they will provide mental health support to their employees, but think it’s up to the employee to use their benefits and managers shouldn’t be expected to encourage them.

Putting the onus on employees sends the wrong message. Instead, leaders should model the behavior to make employees feel comfortable using their mental health benefits. Leaders need to lead by example, whether that means demonstrating vulnerability about sharing personal challenges in appropriate settings or sharing the ways in which they’re personally using the company’s mental health offerings.

Customize the offering

There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to mental health support. Leaders need to customize the offering based on the needs of the individual and the work they do. For instance, acknowledging the difference between desk and deskless workers. During our company’s annual event, Elevate, we spoke with Johnny Chang, the director of Global Benefits at electric automaker, Rivian, about the challenges he faces offering equitable benefits to his employees. “What we deliver to our employee population is going to be able to meet them where they’re at, whether that is some of those working on the plant floor, or whether that is someone like me that’s sitting in front of a computer every day, and being able to see Slack channels and see emails come through,” says Chang. Acknowledging the nuances among individuals is critically important if you want to provide benefits that actually make a difference in their lives.

Read more: Mental health care must become standard operating procedure in employee benefits

In order to create a workforce that is innovative, adaptive, and resilient, it’s important for leaders to implement a culture that prioritizes employee wellbeing. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s what employees expect and it’s good for the business. Just like the pandemic permanently changed the standards around in-office work, it’s evolved the way we think about employee mental health, and there’s no turning back now.