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Lately, there have been indications of greater attention to mental health in the workplace. This is welcomed by many employers who understand that improving mental health in the workplace is good for business. It is estimated that businesses lose more than $190 billion each year because of absenteeism and lost productivity related to employee mental health problems.
There have been two important and noteworthy developments acknowledging the problems of mental health in the workplace. In April, the California legislature passed a bill authorizing the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission “to establish a framework and voluntary standard for mental health in the workplace that serves to reduce mental health stigma, increase public, employee, and employer awareness of the recovery goals of the Mental Health Services Act, and provide guidance to California’s employer community to put in place strategies and programs, determined by the commission, to support the mental health and wellness of employees. (California Senate Bill 1113).”
While some critics complain that the voluntary nature of the bill prevents it from having real teeth, to date several large companies have signed on, including Sutter Health, Bank of America, Walgreens, and Levi Strauss and Co. The initial task of the commission is to create a set of standards for promoting workplace mental health. This includes developing human resource education and training programs, identifying innovative programs in mental health, and identifying and developing prevention and early intervention programs.
In May of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) included “burn-out” in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon in the section of factors influencing health status or contact with health services. This is not a diagnosable disease, but it is a syndrome resulting from chronic work stress. Previous versions of the ICD mentioned burnout, and the new revision more specifically defines burnout as characterized by three dimensions:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
- Reduced professional efficacy
In further defining occupational burnout, the WHO increases the likelihood that medical personnel will recognize the syndrome, and researchers may focus more on the problem. As a next step, WHO has announced that they are about to embark on the development of evidence-based guidelines on mental health in the workplace.
Last year, Gallup polled 7,500 workers and found that 23 percent of workers reported feeling burned out very often or always, while another 44 percent reported feeling burned out sometimes. A survey by Deloitte of 1,000 U.S. professionals found that 77 percent of employees reported having felt burnout at their current job. They noted that burnout was a problem even with employees who were passionate about their work. One-fourth of respondents indicated that their company did not offer any programs to prevent or reduce burnout.
The three largest drivers of burnout according to respondents were:
- lack of support from leadership
- unrealistic deadlines or results and expectations
- consistently working long hours and on weekends
One clear conclusion is that most of us either have or will experience workplace burnout. Modern “conveniences” we depend upon may be fueling increases in workplace burnout. Cell phones, text messaging, and email can create an expectation that we are available for workplace questions and concerns 24/7. Our technology has created a digital leash to our job. Readily available internet answers and digital tools have created an expectation for instant results, creating unrealistic expectations of how long a task may take or what results might reasonably be expected. These expectations are just as often self-imposed as imposed by bosses and supervisors.
While we are waiting for the results from the California Commission and from WHO on evidence-based guidelines for workplace mental health programming, there are many steps employers can take to improve the workplace environment and the mental health of their employees. Most companies offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), which are helpful and provide a resource for employees who are having mental health problems. Often these are viewed by employees as a resource only for people with serious mental health problems. As a result, utilization is often quite low. An effective mental health and burnout prevention program works best when it includes a full spectrum of services:
Environment and Culture
- Review office culture: Are boundaries around employee availability in place and reasonable? Does feedback include both positive and more critical aspects of performance? Is communication among employees effective?
- The office culture encourages openness about mental health struggles and encourages help-seeking.
- Employees’ responsibilities make the best use of their personal strengths
Prevention
- Wellness programming is a regular offering within the business including mindfulness meditation, coping with disappointment, stress management, effective communications, challenging unhelpful thought patterns, dealing with perfectionism, and so forth.
- Employees have access to screening and self-assessment instruments.
- Employees have readily available self-help tools to address common problems in coping and resilience. One example is TAO Connect, which offers help with well-being, stress management, and problem-solving.
Intervention
- EAP programs are available for employees who are struggling or in crisis.
- Evidence-based online self-help programs are available for common problems such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
- Refer resources for more ongoing treatments that are easily accessible.
An effective and comprehensive approach to employee mental health can be affordable, take little time, and result in a high return on investment as absenteeism and lost productivity go down and as overall employee mental health and well-being improve.
