Nearly one-quarter of small to medium-sized enterprises question whether their employees would disclose mental health concerns, according to a world-wide study.
In a recent survey involving 79,000 businesses across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, a concerning discrepancy was revealed between employee needs and employer perceptions regarding mental health in the workplace. Bertrand Stern-Gillet, CEO at HA Wisdom Wellbeing, noted that while 55% of leaders have observed more open discussions about mental health, only 48% have noticed employees prioritizing work-life balance.
The survey findings highlight a gap in employee disclosure of mental health concerns, despite a significant increase in reported sickness absence due to mental health. This gap arises due to persistent stigma, fear of negative consequences, and insufficient supportive workplace initiatives.
Key reasons for this include the stigma and fear of disclosure, limited specific support and prevention initiatives, lack of psychological safety and culture, and underreporting of disabilities and mental health issues. Negative perceptions and stigma around mental health cause employees to hesitate in disclosing issues to employers, with concerns about discrimination, job security, and being treated differently at work.
While some suicide prevention and mental health awareness programs exist, targeted interventions and support structures are often insufficient or underdeveloped, limiting employees' trust that disclosure will lead to help rather than harm. Organizations may not have cultivated a psychologically safe culture where employees feel comfortable sharing mental health challenges without worries about judgment or retaliation.
Studies show that only about half or fewer employees disclose disabilities or mental health conditions to employers, reflecting ongoing disclosure barriers. In Canada, employees are least likely to speak up if they are struggling with their mental health.
Some employers, unfortunately, perpetuate the stigma around mental health. Comments like "Mental health has become a bit of an excuse..." and "Obsessing over mental health creates insecurity, fearfulness and is also emasculating" have been made.
Canadian employers are most likely to offer mental health days in addition to personal leave entitlement, but only 20% of employers globally offer mental health days. Worryingly, 51% of respondents have no plans to introduce support measures such as mental health training, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), or mental health first aiders to their workplace in the next 12 months.
Alan Price, Chief Operations Officer at Peninsula Group, stated that employers have a duty of care to safeguard the wellbeing of their people. One in seven UK SME owners and managers have experienced mental health issues in the last 12 months, and one in five UK workplaces have a mental health first aider in place, compared with one in eight globally.
The UK is leading the way when it comes to mental health support in the workplace, but one in three employers globally saw increased sickness absence due to mental health over the last 12 months. Stern-Gillet suggests that the measures being put in place by employers to help manage mental health in the workplace may not be fully embedded, and it remains to be seen what impact this lack of support will have.
One positive note is that around one in ten workplaces globally plan to introduce mental health first aiders within the next 12 months. Seventy-six percent of respondents say they are not fully confident that their employees would disclose mental health concerns, but Stern-Gillet questions why leaders are not confident their employees would disclose mental health issues if conversations are more open and work-life balance is on the rise.
Sixty-nine percent of employers surveyed have an EAP in place, but only 5% of those who experienced mental ill-health over the last 12 months sought support from their EAP. This lack of support measures could have significant implications for employee wellbeing and productivity in the future.
- While there's an increasing number of observed discussions about mental health in the workplace, the survey results indicate that employees are still hesitant to prioritize work-life balance, contributing to a concerning discrepancy in promoting workplace wellness and health.
- The lack of trust in disclosure leading to help rather than harm is a major barrier preventing employees from revealing mental health conditions, which is further exacerbated by insufficient supportive workplace initiatives and the persistence of stigma and fear.
