It’s always important for a company to set policy and provide resources to help support the mental well-being of their employees. Particularly now.
The number of people leaving their job for mental health reasons is soaring, according to Mind Share Partners’ 2021 Mental Health at Work Report. In 2020, 68 percent of millennials and 81 percent of Gen Zers left roles because of their mental health. In 2019, those figures stood at 50 percent for millennials and 75 percent for Gen Z. What’s more, 91 percent of respondents said a company’s culture should support mental health.
It’s not enough to simply support your employees’ mental well-being, however. You need to effectively communicate your self-care benefits if you want to win the war for talent. Here’s how.
Set Your Company Apart to Attract New Employees
Employees change jobs for a variety of reasons. Self-care benefits may not always be top of mind, but they can be a decisive factor when choosing a new employee.
The Great Resignation isn’t just about employees seeking better benefits packages, says Lindsay Cook, cofounder and CEO of digital fitness company FitOn, but you can use self-care benefits to attract and retain employees. “It’s the responsibility of your company to provide a range of well-thought-out benefits, display supportive and engaged leadership and foster a company culture that encourages everyone to live a healthy lifestyle.”
The problem is that many companies which go to great lengths to care for their employees don’t always make a big deal out of it during the hiring process. This is always a mistake.
Self-care benefits are a powerful way to differentiate your company from the competition in the hiring market, says Maggie Wooll, senior thought leader at BetterUp.
“This allows you to attract talent by offering more annual sick days than other similar businesses, or unrestricted time off, an educational stipend, or covering 100% of health insurance costs,” she writes.
“The types of benefits offered as well as the details of each can send a message about what the company values and how in touch it is with the workforce. Are the benefits the bare minimum? Are they serviceable or compelling?”
When workers are leaving jobs for mental health reasons, you need to be upfront in showing you care about your potential employees’ needs.
Keep Existing Employees Healthy and Loyal
Clearly, it’s not just potential new employees that companies need to think about when communicating their self-care benefits. You naturally want current employees to take advantage of the benefits you offer. In doing so, you can improve their engagement and increase the likelihood they remain.
Health and wellness rewards can be an effective way to make current employees more loyal, writes Debra Wein, CEO and founder of Wellness Workdays. “As a wellness program provider, I know that when wellness is woven into the foundation of an organization’s culture, employees feel that their well-being is important to their employer and they become more productive and engaged,” she writes.
“Employees who are more engaged make a personal investment in their employer and are less likely to leave for another position.”
The data backs it up.
In a different article by Wein in Forbes, she writes “87% of employees consider health and wellness packages when choosing an employer.” She also reports that “67% of employees who work for organizations with wellness programs are extremely or very likely to recommend their employer to others.”
Listen to Employees to Deliver Self-Care Benefits They Want
If you’ve been convinced to better communicate your self-care benefits, then spend some time thinking about how you can improve those benefits, too.
When it comes to choosing the self-care benefits your company adopts, don’t make the mistake of taking a top-down approach. Companies often lack clarity when it comes to self-care rewards, and make assumptions about their employees’ wants and needs, says executive coach and consultant Teresa Ray, who has a doctorate in human performance improvement.
“Gaining clarity around the employee’s definition of self-care, work-life balance and what rewards them in their job can be a game changer,” she writes. “When companies start asking and listening, they are presented with gold—an understanding of what employees really want and a roadmap on how to provide it.”
Be careful not to create self-care rewards for the sake of it and neglect the kind of rewards that really improve the mental health of your employees, says Alison Green, a work advice columnist at Ask a Manager.
“What’s perhaps most frustrating about the workplace self-care lip service is that often the employers espousing it aren’t doing the things they actually could do to improve employees’ lives and mental health, like providing good health insurance, reasonable workloads, and plentiful vacation time,” she explains.
“Those are things they’re uniquely positioned to offer … but it’s easier (read: cheaper) to send out emails about yoga or bubble baths.”
In other words, think carefully about the types of self-care benefits you offer and promote. While potential employees may be delighted to hear about an annual mental health day, they will also value the security provided by comprehensive health insurance and unlimited sick days.
Images by: Brook Cagle, Adam Winger
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