Employers lack measurements for success as they focus more heavily on mental health issues

Even before the pandemic, traditional face-to-face mental health care was unable to provide support to everyone in need.  (Photo: Shutterstock)

The pandemic has shined a much-needed spotlight on the mental health needs of employees. Behavioral health ranked first out of 11 possible priorities for employee wellbeing, according to a Mercer survey, with 75% of large employers calling it a priority. With discussions around mental health skyrocketing in corporate America, the highest level of company leadership is taking note. In fact, supporting employee mental health is a board-level goal for 57% of large companies. To meet employee needs, HR teams have swiftly rolled out essential mental health support.

In doing so, however, significant gaps in how employee mental health initiatives are discussed, implemented and measured were uncovered. Although businesses embrace mental health support for their workers, they often lack meaningful measures of success.