This is the second of two articles where we answer the question: why are employee counselling programs not the solution to reducing the cost of mental health to your business? Make sure to read the first blog here.
In our first article, ‘Why employee counselling is not the solution’, we established that whilst EAP (Employee Assistance Program) is important and helpful to workers suffering poor mental health, it should not be relied upon alone to manage the risk of poor mental health in your workforce. Rather, you need additional strategies which will help prevent your employees needing EAP in the first place.
But don’t just take our word for it. Research from Deloitte showed that workplace mental health programs can give an ROI of up to $9 for every $1 invested (with early intervention)[1].
So, to help you create a ‘mentally healthy workplace’ we’ve developed a simple ‘Blueprint for Managing Mental Health in your Business’. Here’s a summary of the 5 key components:
- Education – make your workers aware of where and from whom they can seek help
- Mental Health Checks – to identify workers in need of help, and provide insight on mental health trends in the business – allowing proactive management
- Employee Training – to help reduce mental health stigma, provide self-management tools and techniques, and encourage asking for help
- Manager Training – managers cannot be expected to be counsellors, but training on what to look out for and how to help a worker with poor mental health is critically important in creating a mentally healthy workplace
- Employee Assistance Program – for those workers who need to talk with a counsellor. Remember the 2% uptake of EAP we talked about in the last article? This is because many people feel embarrassed or fearful to ask their manager for EAP, so ideally, an easy self-booking system is best
Managing mental health can be challenging, we get it! Our team of experts are trained to help guide you through the complexities and nuances of mental health and ultimately promote positivity and productivity in your business – simply visit our website or contact us at 02 995701300 for further information.
Reference: [1] The ROI in workplace mental health programs – Deloitte 2017