Beliefs About Employer’s Commitment

Employee Perceptions on Employers’ Role in Supporting Mental Health

Nearly 9 in 10 Agree

Employers have a responsibility to support employee mental health (88 percent) and support employees diagnosed with a mental health disorder (88 percent), but fewer employers are described as committed to the mental health of the employees (68 percent).


Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Agreement Total* (NET)
Committed to employees’ well-being 50% Somewhat agree, and 29% Strongly agree 79%
Committed to employees’ overall physical health 47% Somewhat agree, and 28% Strongly agree 75%
Committed to employees’ overall mental health 43% Somewhat agree, and 25% Strongly agree 68%
Committed to employees’cardiovascular “heart” health 46% Somewhat agree, and 20% Strongly agree 66%
Committed to helping employees manage stress 44% Somewhat agree, and 20% Strongly agree 64%
Base: All qualified respondents (n=1,041)
Question Q805 – How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about your employer’s commitment to employees?
Strongly Agree, Somewhat Agree, Somewhat Disagree, Strongly Disagree
* Agreement Total refers to the combined total of answers indicating either Somewhat Agree or Strongly Agree.

Employees describe their employer as doing a good job and being fairly committed to their
employees’ well-being and overall physical health, but are slightly less likely to agree that their employer is committed to the overall mental health of employees.

These findings indicate employers can do more to demonstrate they support mental health as much as physical health. For example, employers can emphasize the link between cardiovascular health and mental health and the importance of managing one to address the other.

Employers can do more to demonstrate they support mental health as much as physical health.
Person holding scales on each hand.

 

Supporting work-life balance may enhance employee mental health.

In addition to preventing and treating mental health disorders, employers should be promoting positive mental health. To gauge employer performance in this area, the survey asked respondents to rate their level of agreement with the following statements:

Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Agreement Total* (NET)
Provides resources needed to do the job 43% Somewhat agree, and 42% Strongly agree 85%
Gives clear tasks and organizational objectives 48% Somewhat agree, and 35% Strongly agree 83%
Provides opportunities for career development 50% Somewhat agree, and 29% Strongly agree 80%
Has realistic expectations in terms of workload, timelines, etc. 47% Somewhat agree, and 32% Strongly agree 79%
Compensates employees fairly 49% Somewhat agree, and 28% Strongly agree 77%
Involves employees in decision-making 43% Somewhat agree, and 23% Strongly agree 65%
Base: All qualified respondents (n=1,041)
Q800: How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about your employer?
Strongly agree, Somewhat agree, Somewhat disagree, Strongly disagree
*Agreement Total refers to the combined total of answers indicating either Somewhat Agree or Strongly Agree.

Employers should consider the extent to which they facilitate a supportive work environment and should encourage positive mental health by modeling work-life balance. They should also make mental health resources and information more available to employees.

Aspects related to mental health information were rated somewhat positively, indicating employers can do more to communicate available resources to employees and provide more information about mental health in general health communication to employees. This may help employees feel better prepared, so if the need arises, they are knowledgeable about where to access help from their employer.

Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Agreement Total* (NET)
Communicates to employees the mental health resources available 44% Somewhat agree, and 20% Strongly agree 64%
Includes mental health information in general health communication 43% Somewhat agree, and 19% Strongly agree 62%
Encouraged by leadership to talk about mental health to supervisor, free from fear of stigma 37% Somewhat agree, and 16% Strongly agree 53%
Educates employees that mental health disorders are like other chronic conditions such as diabetes 35% Somewhat agree, and 16% Strongly agree 51%
Provides training to managers and supervisors on how to support employees’ mental health 33% Somewhat agree, and 17% Strongly agree 50%
Base: All qualified respondents (n=1,041)
Q815 How much to you agree or disagree with the following statements about your employer’s culture toward mental health?
*Agreement Total refers to the combined total of answers indicating either Somewhat Agree or Strongly Agree.

Employers can do more to engage leadership in dialogue with employees about mental health.

Only 53 percent of employees agreed that leadership encourages them to talk about their mental health to their supervisors, free from fear of stigma. It may be that employees would like to see their employers do more to encourage open conversations about mental health and, secondly, do more to ensure employees feel safe and comfortable talking about their mental health. To develop such a workplace environment, employers can mitigate the potential stigma associated with mental health issues through employee training and education.

Only 53% feel encouraged to talk about their mental health with supervisors,free from fear of stigma

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Employers should provide more mental health education and training across all levels of the organization.

Aspects related to education and training were rated least positively. Employers should consider providing more mental health training for employees across all organizational levels, including leadership.