What does 'meaningful action' on mental health look like?
Meaningful action on mental health from employers remains limited despite greater awareness of the issue, leaving employees to deal with the consequences, according to a new report from the Employers Mutual Limited (EML).
A new poll from EML among 4,065 workers and 831 managers and leaders revealed a "paralysis" in employers' actions in addressing workplace mental health.
It found that 58% of managers and leaders expect their organisation's investment in mental health to stay unchanged over the next year, while just one in five expect it to increase.
This is despite only 56% of managers and leaders agreeing that workloads in their organisation are sustainable over the long term, while one in five expect psychological injury claims to increase.
This indicates that the lack of meaningful action from employers is unlikely due to a disconnect in perception, according to the report.
Daniel Walton, Group Executive, Strategy & Growth at EML, also believes it's not because of ill intent from employers.
"I don't think workplaces are holding back on action because they're mean-spirited," Walton said. "I think there is just paralysis about how to attack such a seemingly complex situation."
Consequences for employees' mental health
But the lack of systemic action from employers is leaving employees to suffer the consequences, according to the report.
The EML findings showed that two in five workers have taken at least a day off in the past year due to their mental health, with only 25% being able to explain why.
Another 41% of workers said they sometimes worked while struggling with their mental health because they felt they could not take the time off, as around 45% of employees do not feel comfortable talking about their mental health condition to their employer.
Even among middle managers, the report found that 22% of them lose sleep because of work often or very often, compared with 14% of employees without management duties.
"Much of the discussion has been about frontline workers. And while it is undoubtedly a high priority, the research shows that what goes unrecognised is the burden carried by middle management, who are responsible for the mental health of others while carrying a huge amount of pressure themselves," Walton said.
The consequences of declining mental health are also affecting turnover. A quarter of employees said they have "seriously considered" leaving their current role in the past year due to mental health pressures.
More than a third (34%) of employees also said they had left a job because of its impact on their mental health.
These consequences come despite Australia having already come "quite a long way" in addressing mental health issues at work in recent years.
"There is now much, much better awareness of the problem," Walton said. "The problem now is that it is not translating into meaningful employer action. And while the consequences are genuinely toxic, they are also quite well disguised."
What does 'meaningful action' look like?
Walton said "meaningful action" from employers doesn't necessarily have to be complicated.
"Granting as much autonomy and control as practical is pivotal," he said. "Simply asking people in regular catch-ups whether they have the knowledge and the resources to succeed, and whether their work feels less meaningful, can make a real difference."
The report also advised employers to design healthier work by identifying and addressing where high demands combine with low control and where hazards stack up.
It also advised employers to utilise claims data together with information on workforce exposure, absence, turnover, disclosure and recovery to see where risk concentrates, and then take action on it.
Managers should also be equipped with the authority, tools, systems, and support to intervene early, according to the report.
