A poll done in 2020 found that 50% of Canadians reported worsening mental health since the pandemic began. Since then, those numbers appear to have increased.
This means as companies step back into full time work, whether remotely moving forward or in the office, or a mix of both, how leaders choose to support their employees’ health will remain key to moving forward productively and without hurting the bottom line.
Mental health challenges with employees have a serious impact on productivity and costs to the company. Among working adults in Canada mental health costs employers more than $6 billion in lost productivity due to absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover. About 30% of short- and long-term disability claims in Canada are attributed to mental health issues.
There are many ways employers can support their employees to achieve better health moving forward. Here are a few things to consider:
- Host a speaker at a team building or training day for employees to listen and learn about mental health, it’s impacts and that they are not alone.
- Do a survey to see how your employees are feeling, directed at their personal wellness, not focused on their happiness in their jobs and with the company.
- Offer yoga, meditation, or mindfulness classes during lunch or outside of work hours.
- Consider supporting a financial incentive in your benefits package that employees can use towards yoga, fitness, meditation, or mindfulness programs to support their mental health.
- Use a third party to assess needs and implement a mental health program/plan that supports employees, so they trust their needs are being met confidentiality and with integrity.
Talking about the importance of mental health is the first step to addressing the needs of your team.