8 in 10 employers report more staff disclosing mental health issues

During the pandemic, employee experience and engagement have become a growing priority for businesses in all industries.

As a result, many companies made significant investments during COVID-19 in mental health and wellbeing.

In fact, Benefex, an employee experience platform, found in a recent report that 96% of HR leaders reported that employee experience has become more important during the pandemic, and employee wellbeing is seen as the primary driver for this. 

Benefex attempted to get a picture of wellbeing investments and the current climate by conducting 213 online interviews with more than 200 employers from different regions and industries across the world.

It found that 87% of HR leaders have experienced more employees disclosing issues around mental health, and 82% have more staff are feeling lonely. 

Fortunately, Benefex found that 83% of HR leaders are planning to continue to ramp up investments around employee wellbeing. Additionally, HR leaders also expect to increase spending on diversity and inclusion initiatives (70%), as well as employee benefits and HR analytics (65%).

Speaking about the findings, Gethin Nadin, Director of Employee Wellbeing at Benefex, said: “Wellbeing has emerged as a critical part of the employee experience, and the pandemic has clearly accelerated this trend. 

“Many employers have, for the first time, realized their responsibilities in preventing and supporting poor mental health as much as they can. 

“But there is still a long way to go – how you support and care for your people will increasingly become a key, critical factor in the overall employee value proposition.”

Interestingly, 71% of HR leaders pointed to having ‘a commitment to employee wellbeing’ as the most critical feature of employee experience.

This was followed by ensuring employees feel connected to company values (66%), recognition for work achievements (62%), the provision of intuitive workplace technology (62%), and effective internal communications (61%).

Technology and wellbeing 

Technology can allow companies to communicate with staff remotely and also understand the feelings of employees. As a result, wellbeing technology has been leveraged by firms en masse.

Benefex, naturally, has an interest in employee experiences, as their software is designed to engage staff and provide insight to employers. Benefex enables employers to use OneHub as a single platform to address benefits, the recognition of employee achievements as well as reward and communicate with staff. 

On top of that, the likes of Peakon and CultureAmp, enable companies to survey employees and visualize where the issues are. This means employers can see how they can improve their wellbeing offerings and find out precisely what employees want and need. 

While wellbeing initiatives are managed uniquely by every company, it is evident that wellbeing is vital to employees and companies will need to analyze this area as priorities for workers change, particularly during the ‘Great Resignation’.