Opinions and feelings are important, but we also wanted to explore the nuts and bolts of driving engagement with mental health benefits. As we all know, talking the talk doesn’t mean anything unless you walk the walk. So what are HR teams and employers actually doing to help employees enroll and utilize benefits and resources? 

On top of that, do employees agree that those strategies are in place and working? 

The short answer? No.

When we asked about strategies to educate on mental health benefits, 30% of employees said their organization doesn’t have one. Compare that to only 8% of HR folks who said they don’t have a strategy. Ouch.

What HR thinks they’re doing vs. what comes across to employees

When asked about the strategies used, employees say the strategies their organization use to educate are very passive, especially when compared to HR’s responses. 

Now, we’re not trying to accuse HR professionals of not doing their job. We talk to you every day… we know you’re working hard! We just want to shine a light on the unfortunate fact that many of these efforts are falling by the wayside. You don’t want to invest time, resources, and energy, only for your employees to completely forget or ignore those efforts. 

Kathie Patterson, CHRO at Ally Financial notes, “When you look at the statistics of employees who have some type of challenge, whether anxiety or depression, it was just something people don’t discuss.”

Employees: How do the managers or HR leaders at your workplace educate you on available mental health benefits, resources, or programs?

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HR: What is your organization’s current strategy to drive usage or engagement with your mental health benefits?

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