Employers Striving (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)
centage of the nation’s workforce reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. Rising Costs Unresolved mental health issues can lead to burnout, anxiety and depression—common causes of absenteeism and poor performance. Employers also incur direct costs in the form of spikes in disability claims and health insur- ance premiums. Finally, high stress levels can result in an increase in resignations at a time when employers can ill afford to lose personnel. “50 percent of survey respon- dents reported leaving their jobs due to mental health reasons,” said Michael Davis, principal of Mind Share Part- ners. Notably, the comparable figures were 68 percent for Millennials and 80 percent for Gen Zers. The after-effects of COVID-19 are the most immediate cause of the public’s increasing stress levels. But while the
pandemic has disrupted lives and created anxiety about the future, psychologists say other factors are also in play. “Shootings and other violence in the news, social jus- tice issues, economic uncertainty, and a sense of political
polarity have all made people keenly fright- ened,” said Bernie Dyme, President of Perspec- tives Ltd., a workplace wellness consulting firm ( perspectivesltd.com ). “They feel the world is not comfortable, safe and secure.” Moreover, these societal pressures are hit- ting employees as they struggle to handle the growing workloads and longer hours resulting from the business world’s continuing drive for greater productivity. Such workplace-specific pressures are only made worse by the tight labor conditions that have been the legacy of the great resignation. When job positions go unfilled, already overworked personnel must handle additional responsibilities. Getting Help Businesses can take steps to enhance the mental health of their employees. The most im- portant one is to create a healthy work environ- ment. “To hold onto people, companies need to build good corporate cultures where peo- ple feel connected,” said Patrick J. Kennedy, co-founder and director of One Mind At Work, a global coalition of organizations committed to the development of a standard for workplace mental health ( onemindatwork.org ). That means creating cultures of psychological safe- ty where people feel respected by a company that cares about them. Opening up about mental health issues is critical. Supervisors need to eliminate any of their own lingering resistance to discussing the topic, and workers need to feel free to commu- nicate when something is amiss. “People have always been very reticent to say they have hid- den disabilities because they are afraid of the reaction at work, of putting their job in jeopardy if they ask for accommodations,” said Maureen CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
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October 10, 2022
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