Workplace Mental Health: Three Big Challenges

williammcpeck@gmail.com

When it comes to addressing mental health in the workplace, I see three big challenges facing employers.

The big three are:

1. The definition and meaning of the term mental health
2. Causation
3. Choosing strategies and tactics

What Is Mental Health?

Currently, there is no widely accepted or agreed upon definition of mental health. While there are multiple published definitions, there is no consensus surrounding a definition. This is problematic on two fronts.

One is that lacking a consensus based definition means that everyone establishes their own meaning to the term. In an organization, this is problematic as you want clarity around the terms you use for programming and evaluation purposes. Everyone needs to be rowing the boast in the same direction.

Secondly, the most common use of the term mental health today is as a proxy term for mental illness. But in reality, mental health means more than mental illness. In fact, mental health and mental illness are not the same thing. Multiple researchers have concluded that reducing or elimination mental illness does not enhance mental health. Mental health and mental illness each exists on the own continuum or spectrum.

So What’s An Employer To Do?

This lack of consensus means that the first thing the employer needs to do is decide what they want the term mental health to mean in their organization. This is a necessary and important first step as it sets the stage for everything to follow.

The employer can readily adopt an already published definition, adopt a modified published definition, or create one of their own. Each employer must decide which of the three options is best for them, but decide they must.

The nature of the exact definition sets the stage for the meaning the organization attaches to the definition. If the organization decides that mental health is just another term for mental illness, then its meaning within the organization is just that. It doesn’t matter what others outside the organization think or believe the term mental might mean. The meaning of mental health within the organization sets the stage for the strategies and tactics the organization will implement.

Causation

Employers have a long and proud history of addressing mental illness in the workplace dating back to the 1940’s when employers first started to address employee alcoholism. No matter how broad a definition of mental health an employer today chooses to adopt, employers will need to continue to address and support employees who unfortunately experience a mental illness.

Historically, employers have provided support to employees by offering an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and maybe also providing health insurance benefits. But thanks to the research, we now know there is a role for employers to also play when it comes to preventing mental illness.

The challenge faced by employers is that researchers have yet to determine exactly what causes mental illnesses. The current state of the research suggests that mental illnesses are caused by a host of biological, psychological and social factors.

Researchers have been able to identify many different factors that can contribute to the development of mental illnesses, including specific physical illnesses, stress, drug and alcohol use, family history and chemical and hormonal balance within the body. These factors are commonly called risk factors. As noted by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Palmer (MD): “The problem is that although we know of many such risk factors, not one of them is present in everyone with a specific disorder, and not one of them is sufficient, in and of itself, to cause any specific disorder.” (Palmer, 2022) In addition to these general risk factors, researchers have also identified specific workplace risk factors.

The best list, in one place, of workplace specific factors I have seen is the list of 13 specific workplace psychosocial factors contained in the Canadian standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Their list consists of:

1. Organizational culture
2. Employee growth and development
3. Psychological and social support
4. Recognition and reward
5. Balance
6. Clear leadership and expectations
7. Involvement and influence
8. Psychological protection
9. Civility and respect
10. Workload management
11. Protection of physical safety
12. Engagement
13. Psychological demands

Research into the science of prevention has yielded that prevention is best approach through not only risk reduction, but also through increasing protective factors. Protective factors are commonly described as conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that help people deal more effectively with stressful events and mitigate or eliminate known risk factors.

So What’s An Employer To Do?

If you don’t know what is causing something to happen, prevention becomes a real challenge. Since we don’t yet know what specifically causes mental illness, the best an employer can do is to reduce the known risk factors and increase the known protective factors.

Since you can’t prove a negative, employers need to be comfortable with not being able to prove you reduce the incidence of mental illness through the processes of risk reduction and protective factor strengthening. As a colleague Dr. Craig Becker (PhD) is fond of saying: “What do you get when you prevent something from happening? Nothing.”

The wise employer today will review the 13 known workplace psychosocial hazards or risks, identify those already being addressed and determine how well they are being addressed. The employer will prioritize the remaining hazards not yet being addressed and develop a plan for when and how they will be addressed. The employer will also utilize the same process for the known protective factors.

Strategies and Tactics

Knowing about mental health does nothing to improve workplace mental health unless action is taken. Strategies and tactics are all about taking action. To have the best chance of effectiveness and success, strategies and tactics must be aligned with both what the organization means by the term mental health and the organization’s culture.

If the organization chooses to only reactively respond to mental illnesses, strategies and tactics will be very different than those of an employer who views mental health more broadly. For the employer with a broad view of mental health, the 3 P Framework will serve them well,. The three P’s are: promotion of mental wellness/wellbeing, prevention of mental illness and providing treatment related services and supports.

So What’s An Employer To Do?

When it comes to the implementation of strategies and tactics, the wise employer today keeps two key words in mind: integration and impact. Whatever the employer chooses to do should be align and be integrated with existing benefits and services and with the organization’s mission, vision, values, etc. Good things happen when everything is integrated across the organization.

Given the nature of the hazards, risks and protective factors associated with mental health, employers must address mental health at two levels: the individual employee and the workplace or organizational level. Not addressing both is only doing half the job that needs to be done.

As I think about programming and intervention implementation, I think the research backed comprehensive delivery model for the delivery of physical health strategies and tactics can just as easily be applied to mental health related strategies and tactics. This model has five components:

1. Awareness Building
2. Knowledge and Skill Enhancement
3. Lifestyle Management
4. Organizational Level Change and Development
5. Monitoring, Measurement and Evaluation

Knowing the impact of your efforts is also important. Impact can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively by several different means. Ideally, mental health is measured with both leading and lagging type indicators. But no matter how it is done, impact must be measured.

In the intricate landscape of workplace mental health, employers stand at a crucial juncture where choices and actions define success. Addressing mental health means more than just reacting to mental illnesses — it encompasses a proactive stance on promoting mental wellness/wellbeing and integrating supportive practices throughout the fabric of the organization. By adopting clear definitions, focusing on causation and executing strategic actions, employers can truly enhance the mental health and ultimately the wellbeing of their workforce.

As we navigate our evolving understanding of what it means to be mentally healthy, the integration of comprehensive strategies that address both risk reduction and the bolstering of protective factors becomes imperative. Ultimately, measuring the impact of these strategies ensures that the efforts are not only thoughtful, but also truly effective, leading to a healthier, more productive workplace environment. This commitment to mental health is not just a corporate responsibility. It is really a strategic imperative that benefits employees, teams, leaders and managers and the organization as a whole.

Reference:

Palmer, Christopher. 2022. Brain Energy. Dallas: BenBella Books, Inc.