Out of the shadows: Sustainably improving workplace mental health

Unveiling the often overlooked aspect of workplace wellness, we delve into the realm of mental health. We explore sustainable strategies for improvement, shedding light on the importance of mental well-being in fostering a productive and harmonious work environment.

Building organisational resilience

Programmes focused on psychological safety and broad-based mental health awareness have proved to be effective, especially when paired with leader training

Examples
Mental health promotion
Leaders publicly shared their commitment to supporting and improving mental health, often through storytelling
Leader capability
Many organizations provided access to additional mental health training for leaders

About the Author(s)

Alistair Carmichael is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Sydney office, Fiona Lander is a consultant in the Perth office, and Richard Steele is a partner in the New York office.

The authors wish to thank Prasun Agrawal, Priyanjali Arora, Ben Fletcher, Margot Franklin-Hensler, Zaana Howard, Cameron Leitch, and Sam Pickover for their contributions to this article.

Solve with your community

As a leader, you must maximize the engagement and performance of your employees, and that means seeing the whole person

Look beyond your workplace and engage with your communities to build an even stronger and more mentally healthy workplace
Recent research shows how and where action can be taken

Building individual resilience

Employers provide a range of interventions, including stress-management programs built around cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

CBT aims to change an individual’s specific misconceptions and maladaptive assumptions and to teach new skills for handling stressful situations.
Examples include resilience training, mindfulness programs, physical activity, and virtual physical challenges.

Supporting recovery and return to work

During the pandemic, leading organizations have developed additional tools and services to assist their people

Direct access to psychological support
Increased leave
Improved leader training
A number of employers have offered five days of additional “pandemic leave” on a no-questions-asked basis

Workplace Mental Health Best Practices

Many companies think that taking action on workplace mental health means setting up a collection of programs owned by HR.

This approach and mindset is not sufficient to generate the real, sustainable change that is necessary now more than ever
Workplace mental health best practices should be integrated into all elements of a company’s operating model, including its organisational culture
Doing so means bringing together workforce mental health research, deep organisational design and change expertise, and a value-first perspective

Mental health conditions profoundly affect individuals, employers, and society

Common mental health conditions can have a major impact on work performance and career trajectories.

They cost Australian workplaces AU $17 billion (US $13.6 billion) annually through absenteeism and lost productivity
The impact of poor mental health is also a significant and growing challenge for society, especially for individuals.

Designing workplaces to minimize harm

This domain involves addressing core risk factors

Many mental health risk factors are well known, but the majority of workplaces still fall short in proactive monitoring and awareness and in taking consistent action
Examples
Community building
Enhanced flexibility
Workload monitoring and dynamic rebalancing

Understand how core risks play out in your workplace

To take effective action to sustainably improve workplace mental health, an organization can start by understanding the factors that have been shown to contribute to the risk of diagnosable mental health conditions.

Risk factors include a low level of support provided in completing work, an imbalance between effort and reward, and a low degree of autonomy in the use of skills and expertise.

Be integrated and holistic in your actions

Consider the entire operating model and cultural system: people, process, structure, culture, and leadership

Integrate mental health work into broader organisational change, maintain a strong organisational imperative, and ensure broad-based and visible leadership support

Five Principles to Sustainably Improve Workplace Mental Health

The development of a comprehensive programme of mental health interventions across an organization’s entire operating model and cultural system can sustainably address the issues across these domains

Listening to leaders from across geographies, industries, and the public, private, and social sectors-and leveraging the most up-to-date research-we have identified five core principles that can help leaders to build and sustain this comprehensive programme

Facilitating early help-seeking

During the pandemic, some organizations provided the following: Tailored mental health awareness, mental health-focused events, expanded employee assistance programs (EAPs), and expanded access to include the family members of employees or small-business suppliers or customers

Use data to personalize interventions

One size does not fit all when it comes to improving workplace mental health. Individuals experience each workplace differently and bring different elements of themselves and their personal life into the mix.

Demographic and other data can help you to identify different cohorts or personas that inform the suite of interventions necessary to build a more mentally healthy workplace.