In a World of Flexible Work Models, You Need Flexible Benefits

The coronavirus pandemic has taught businesses a thing or two about the importance of being flexible. In fact, agility has taken on a whole new meaning. Practically overnight, businesses around the world learned to function with individuals working from home, or if they were in the workplace, wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

Companies also learned that traditional employee wellbeing programs were totally incapable of meeting the emotional, physical, and mental damage caused by the stress, uncertainty, and fear that COVID-19 caused. Holistic employee wellbeing moved to center stage. More and more companies began redesigning their wellbeing strategies to meet the demands of a more flexible, post-COVID-19 workplace.

“Employee expectations are changing, and we will need to define productivity much more broadly — inclusive of collaboration, learning, and wellbeing,” Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft, said in their recent report on 2021 global work trends, based on a survey of more than 30,000 people in 31 countries. “All this needs to be done with flexibility in when, where, and how people work.”

To put a finer point on it, it’s critical too that companies apply the same level of flexibility to help employees stay better connected with their mental health.

Roughly 40 percent of U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder during the pandemic. That’s a huge increase from the 10 percent who reported those symptoms in the first half of 2019. Sadly, the problem is even worse among essential workers (42 percent have suffered anxiety or depressive symptoms during the pandemic) compared with nonessential workers (30 percent).

Yet up to 40 percent of employees say their organization has not yet communicated any vision for post-pandemic work, which is very likely increasing confusion, uncertainty, and stress. Another 28 percent of employees say they received only vague information.

Perhaps even more disturbing, a recent study by Unmind and WELCOA found that:

• Only 37 percent of employers feel they have a strong understanding of the mental health and well-being of their people
• Only 64 percent have a strategy in place for specifically managing employee mental health and wellbeing

The irony is that companies can reap significant benefits from supporting employee mental wellness. Employer investment in what one study called “effective mental health initiatives” can return an average of just over 400 percent. And there’s a more subjective yet equally important statistic that supports a more holistic and flexible approach to supporting employee mental health. A recent employee benefits survey found that if people had to choose between a high-paying job and a lower-paying one with quality health benefits, 88 percent of employees would consider the lower-paying job.

Two Goals to a Successful Employee Mental Health Program

This all begs the question: How can leaders ensure their employee mental health programs are truly flexible — that they meet all of their workers, on their own terms? It’s important to strive to meet two goals:

1. Improve and expand existing wellbeing resources by adding a variety of tools that can be accessed through channels employees already use
2. Adopt resources and communication strategies that will engage and be accessible to non-desk and service workers, as well as to computer-based employees

Four Mental Health Considerations

To reach those goals, employers should consider an employee mental health solution built on these four pillars:

1. A whole-person, whole-organization approach: The platform needs to be flexible enough to meet the needs of the hybrid workforce, starting with recognizing that every employee’s mental health matters.
2. No employee left behind: A truly flexible mental health platform needs to offer tools that allow everyone to navigate their own mental health situation. It can’t just provide reactive, treatment-centric options for the one in five U.S. employees who report mental health concerns.
3. Empowers employees and supports HR and wellbeing leaders: A successful, flexible employee mental health platform will empower employees with tools that include self-guided programs, in-the-moment exercises, daily diaries, and the receiving of gratitude and praise. It will support HR with critical insight through (1) outcome measures, (2) a variety of programs and tools, and (3) accessibility for everyone.
4. Solid science, human touch: The optimal employee mental health solution will first and foremost be built on solid science. But it will also have experienced, dedicated client service specialists to support HR and employees, to support you to reach people where they are — physically and emotionally.

Because the world of work has suddenly gotten more flexible, the programs to nourish and support employees need to be flexible too. It’s the only option for staying competitive and building a great employer brand.