The cumulative financial effects of growing medical expenses and deterioration of productivity make mental health conditions one of the most costly issues among employees in the US. It also continues to be one of the primary reasons behind increasing disability absences. Despite realizing its impacts, majority of employers still struggle to create effective strategies to augment the mental health of their employees.
Many employers invest heavily in assistance programs for their employees, assuming that if they have access to high quality resources, they will utilize these resources to address and overcome their problems. Sadly, that’s rarely the case.
Most employees are reluctant to seek treatment for mental health disorders due to the stigma attached to it. Therefore, helping employees treat their mental health conditions begins with educating the workforce and overcoming the associated stigma.
Here’s how you can create the right strategy using three simple steps:
Normalizing Mental Health Conditions
Normalization begins when people start seeing mental health conditions in the same way as they see physical diseases. Even if employees use foul language of mildly humorous against mental health conditions, it reinforces the stigma and may drive affected individuals away from seeking treatments. Fixing this should be done strategically.
Pro tip: Remember not to do it in a preachy manner and minimize use of moralistic messages. In many cases, when told to suppress negative point of views, people are more likely to resist or dwell on the issue negatively.
Tackling Stereotypes
Next, focus on correcting false, erroneous perceptions of mental health conditions. One way to do this is by organizing a mental health awareness month.
You can also focus on creating a series of short communication sessions that defy stereotypical views and beliefs. Take the examples of organizations like Time to Change and Heads Up both of which are focused on creating awareness about mental health conditions.
Guiding Employees To Helpful Resource
If you’ve executed the above-mentioned steps strategically, there’s a good chance some employees are now willing to come forth and seek help. Address their concerns by providing consistently updated resources for education. Let them know where these resources are, how they can access them and what your role in this program is.
The system should be designed while focusing on providing easy access to help and also while ensuring confidentiality.
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