The employee benefits scenario has changed drastically in recent years. Employers have understood the need to build the total rewards and employee benefits packages based on the current challenges and wellbeing requirements. As the working modes have shifted, healthcare costs have risen, and attrition has elevated to an unanticipated level, employers have been forced to make necessary changes to workplace policies to ensure corporate wellness.
Likewise, employee wellness programs have become a vital inclusion of workplace benefits packages. And these employee wellness programs also must be customized to offer the right modules to meet the current health and wellbeing needs.
Of the different corporate wellness trends, mental health concerns have been topping the charts for quite some time. With mental health affecting employee wellbeing, productivity, and overall business, employers have started offering mental wellbeing programs as a part of employee wellness solutions.
Why Prioritize Employee Mental Health?
A new Willis Towers Watson (WTW) survey reported that almost 67% of US employers plan to prioritize mental health programs in their corporate wellness agendas in the next 3 years.
WTW reported the outcomes of the 2022 Best Practices in Health Care Survey conducted with a total of 455 US employers who together employed around 8.2 million workers.
According to the report, 88% of the respondents took measures to address the mental health issues of their workforce in 2022. Also, the percentage of employers who intend to provide designated mental health days is expected to triple from the current 9% to 30% in the coming two years.
Telehealth and digital health solutions have been on the rise since the pandemic, and so, they have become an integral part of the corporate wellness agenda to address mental health concerns. While 83% of employers offered tele-behavioral health services in 2022, another 9% were planning on offering it in the two years.
Another crucial employee wellness element to address mental health issues were Employee assistance programs (EAPs). Almost 69% of employers provided dedicated onsite or virtual EAP resources. Furthermore, 24% were planning on increasing their EAP offerings and benefits in the next 3 years.
Senior executives at WTW agreed that despite the return to normalcy after the pandemic, mental health challenges continue to impact employee wellbeing and productivity. They also felt that sincere efforts by employers to implement the right mental health programs will help improve employee engagement, productivity, and overall workplace wellness.
As per the survey, some of the mental wellbeing strategies that most employers are planning to deploy in their workplace wellness programs are –
- Roughly 44% of employers were providing leadership training at the workplace to help managers and leaders identify employee mental health issues and create awareness. Another 30% were planning on implementing this training at the workplace in the next two years.
- While 38% of employers were partnering with ERGs (employee resource groups) to focus on employee mental health concerns, 27% more intend to follow it soon.
- While 68% of employers were providing support for digital behavioral health, another 16% considered offering access for the same in the next two years.
- Almost 17% of employers were evaluating the cultural competencies within their behavioral health provider network, while 27% more were planning on doing the same soon.
Owing to the significant influence of mental health on employee engagement, health and wellbeing, and productivity, employers are now highly focused on supporting their workforce through it. Also, offering mental health resources and support has been deemed to be a potential tool for employee recruitment and retention. By improving access to digital health solutions that support mental wellbeing, employers can prioritize workforce mental health and deliver much-needed support through their employee wellness programs.