We are in the new year now and one of the top workplace wellbeing trends for 2023 is “focus on mental wellbeing at work” and rightly so. In the past few years, mental health has emerged as a new focus area for employee wellbeing driven by the rapidly increasing number of people suffering from mental health because of stress and poor lifestyle choices. Globally, there’s been a 13% rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorders between 2007-2017 mainly because of demographic changes, says the World Health Organization.

According to a study published in 2015, moderate to severe burnout among the global corporate workforce was found to be between 25-75%. And a 2018 report by Gallup highlighted that companies with moderate to severe employee burnout have a 376% decrease in engagement, 87% decrease in retention, and 22% decrease in work output. 

How do we address this elephant in the room? How do we create a workplace that fosters the mental wellbeing of all employees? Talking openly about mental health at work to destigmatize it can be the first crucial step.

Prakriti Poddar, Global Head, Mental Health & Wellbeing, RoundGlass, remarked in an interaction with ABP Live, “More than 75% of employers acknowledge the presence of mental health stigma in their workplaces, but do not prioritise stigma removal as a wellbeing strategy. It is critical to de-stigmatize talking about mental health because stigma creates shame around requesting care, discouraging people from seeking medical help when they most need it “.

“Smart and responsible CHROs and CXOs understand that mental wellbeing is not something that happens outside of work. Organizations that are thriving today are those that are putting their employees’ wellbeing at the centre of their decisions, taking steps to reduce burnout, and fostering healthier workspaces. In fact, RoundGlass Workplace Wellbeing Survey 2020-2021 found that out of the 400 companies it surveyed in India, 34% offered employees access to counsellors and 61% organized awareness events for stress, anxiety, and depression management,” she added. 

While workplace wellbeing programmes have been around for a while, the Covid pandemic put them in sharp focus. “Today, they are no longer a perk but a baseline employee expectation that helps organizations retain talent,” she added. She further suggested some ways to enable mental wellbeing at work. 

Remove Stigma from Discussing Mental Illness at Work

Employees often fear that discussing mental illness at work may negatively impact their growth prospects and even strain their social connections. But If leaders step forward and talk about their own personal struggles with mental illness, this will help cultivate a culture of acceptance and motivate employees to come forward and talk about their own experiences and seek help.  Managers should assure employees of the safety of their health information.  

Sensitize and Train Management Towards Mental Illness

Managers can be trained to recognize early signs of mental illness so that they can help employees seek medical resources at the right time. Creative activities such as plays can be used to offer guidance on how to listen without judgement, offer reassurance and assess the risk of suicide or self-harm. 

Adopt a Wholistic Approach to Workplace Wellbeing

To create a truly happy and productive workforce, improve engagement, and positively impact the company’s bottom line, CHROs and CXOs need to address employee wellbeing with a wholistic approach. This means looking across all eight dimensions of wellbeing – physical, emotional, financial, professional, social, community, and planetary. They can use any number of tech solutions such as apps and web platforms to deliver holistic wellbeing to employees as well as help them connect with their communities and the planet. Prakriti Poddar further suggested some wellbeing practices to get employees initiated into:

• Meditation and Mindfulness: The most rigorous studies have shown that regular practice leads to reduced levels of stress, anxiety and pain. Initiate employees to these practices through meditation apps, personalized webinars, wellbeing challenges, or live sessions with experts. 
• Eating Healthy: There are deep connections between wellbeing and food. Eating seasonal, locally grown food, following plant-forward diets, and eating mindfully can help you stay healthy and happy. 
• Being Active: Encouraging employees to lead an active lifestyle that incorporates daily cardiovascular activities or yoga, standing at intervals at the work desk and taking frequent breaks from sitting while working can help them feel physically and mentally agile. 
• Giving Back: Sensitizing employees about their community and inspiring them to volunteer, raise funds or aid for a cause etc. can help them feel good emotionally and socially. 

Companies that focus on the Wholistic Wellbeing of their employees truly value them as people and want them to thrive both at and outside of work. 

Provide Access to Mental Health Resources

Mental wellbeing operates on a spectrum of severity in which people can be mentally healthy or ill, just like there is a spectrum of physically healthy or unwell. There are several authentic online mental health resources such as apps now available that are positioned to help by providing resources and guidance to improve successful mental function, fulfilling relationships, work productivity, and resilience to work and life stress. Leaders and managers can enable employees’ access to such resources as well as introduce health insurance that covers mental illness. 

Create a Work Culture with Wellbeing at its Core

When employees are satisfied at work, productivity increases by 13%. Employees feel appropriately compensated and pleased at work when they have a better work-life balance, flexible work hours, and timely appraisals. However, experts are now discussing “mattering” at work.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, mentions “mattering at work” as one of the “essentials” for employees’ mental well-being in his report, Mental Health & Well-Being in the Workplace. “People want to sense that they are important to people around them and that their job has an impact on the lives of others… Knowing you matter has been found to reduce stress, whilst feeling like you don’t can increase your chances of depression,” according to the December 2022 report.

In this ever-changing and, at times, unpredictable economy, CHROs and CXOs must maintain a consistent commitment to employee well-being. To secure the mental health and well-being of all employees, they must focus and integrate their efforts across all aspects of wellness. In the long run, this will result in substantial benefits for both individuals and the firm.