Improve Mental Health Support to Strengthen Your Workforce

Significant swaths of U.S. workers suffer from mental health problems, and most of them don’t know about the benefits employers have provided to help them address their issues.

Untreated mental health conditions can cause significant and expensive problems. More than 1 in 5 American adults have a mental health condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Meanwhile, mental health costs the U.S. economy more than $280 billion annual, per Columbia Business School.

There are steps employers can take to improve mental health across the board — starting with acknowledging and changing the cultures that create burnout.

Burnout Can Spread Like Wildfire

Unalleviated mental health issues pose significant risks for employers’ bottom lines because experts say that individuals with mental health challenges tend to be less productive, unmotivated, and more likely to seek new employment.

For example, nearly 45% of workers said they are burned out from their jobs, according to SHRM’s Employee Mental Health in 2024 Research Series, and nearly three times more likely to be actively searching for another job than those who aren’t depleted. Only 40% of burned-out workers go beyond expectations in their roles, compared to 56% of those who don’t feel used up from their jobs.  

It’s difficult for burned-out workers to overcome such feelings, says Daroon Jalil, Ph.D., a SHRM senior researcher — that’s why it is important to address mental health issues before they become acute. Almost one-third of employees (33%) said their jobs often cause stress. Major stresses include workload, compensation, nature of their jobs, poor management, and understaffing.

“Workers who are stressed are not bringing their best selves to work, nor are they working to their full potential or pushing themselves,” Jalil says. “How these workers who are burned out approach their work can spill over to their team members, as well — co-workers may have to pick up extra work, which can potentially foster some resentment in a team."

Podcast: HR Pros and Workplace Mental Health

Talk Up Benefits All Year

No job can be completely stress-free, though some taxing aspects can be more easily alleviated than others.

“You can’t really change the nature of the work, but the workload, leadership and understaffing are definitely within control of the organization,” Jalil said.

For example, employers can redesign jobs or better delegate responsibilities to reduce workloads, decreasing some stress. Employers could also offer more time off and flexible schedules — two benefits workers cited in the survey as perks that would help their mental health.

Employees are not taking full advantage of the benefits already being provided. Nearly 70% of U.S. workers said they are unaware (32%) or only somewhat aware (35%) of the available resources. Meanwhile, 50% said they do not feel comfortable using or asking about mental health benefits.

Workers who are often inundated with materials from their employers may not know where to find information about mental health benefits, Jalil said. Moreover, stressed or burned-out employees may lack the energy or enthusiasm to seek what they need. However, she added that employers must be more intentional about highlighting the benefits and not just discussing them during open enrollment periods.

Toolkit: Managing Employee Assistance Programs

Walk the Talk

Leaders must also create environments where employees feel comfortable accessing the benefits and meeting their mental health needs, according to Jalil. That’s not happening. More than 7 in 10 surveyed workers reported that their employers profess to care about mental health, though nearly half said their employers’ actions don’t reflect their statements. Only 2 in 5 employees said their senior leadership models good mental health practices.

Employers should create a workplace culture where practicing good mental health care doesn’t require anyone to disclose any personal or private information, Jalil suggested. Leaders can model good mental health care by telling their team they are taking a few days off to decompress after completing a particularly time-consuming, complex project. They certainly shouldn’t react negatively if an employee makes a similar statement. Additionally, there should be no repercussions for discussing mental health challenges at work.

Toolkit: Creating a Mental Health-Friendly Workplace

Employers should not signal to employers that they care about the issue and then do nothing about it. For example, Jalil said, if organizations survey workers about how they can help with mental health issues, they should be prepared to take action to improve the situation. If employers do nothing, they are reinforcing the employees’ beliefs that their leaders don’t especially care about mental health issues.

“You will lose their trust,” Jalil said. “That becomes very hard to gain it back once you lose it.”

Most HR pros said they take pride in their work (95% and find it meaningful and purposeful (93%), according to SHRM’s Employee Mental Health in 2024 Research Series. Yet, 50% said their jobs have taken a negative toll on their mental health and well-being, while 52% said they wouldn’t recommend the field to someone already struggling with mental health issues. “Sometimes, it’s just the very fact that a job is meaningful that can hurt your mental health, because when you find your job meaningful, you end up being quite invested in the work that you do,” said Daroon Jalil, senior researcher at SHRM who conducted the study. “It makes it difficult to detach from your work when there's a very stressful situation.” Jalil added that HR pros often must deal with employees having problems, so they absorb the tensions and strains of the people they are trying to help. Nearly 40% of HR pros said hearing employees’ stories related to death, illness and workplace experiences negatively impacts their mental health. The HR profession has other unique challenges, such as managing the expectations between employees and executives, that add pressure to their roles. About 80% said they find balancing those expectations stressful, while 77% said they feel caught in the middle of the strategic vision set by leadership and the practical realities employees face.