5 Ways Employers Can Help Employees Reduce Stress & Anxiety

The emotional, physical and financial tolls of a global pandemic—combined with geopolitical tensions and the return to in-person work—have contributed to an incredibly stressed workforce. It’s no surprise that in a recent well-being survey, 86% of employers noted mental health and burnout as a top priority for 2022. Fierce competition for top talent—where great benefits are sometimes more valuable than a big paycheck—has only increased the need for customized, comprehensive employee benefits programs that address mental health and mental well-being at every stage of life.

Employers must now embrace a strategy that appropriately attracts, retains and cares for employees. The stakes have never been higher. Whether employees openly communicate their struggles, all of them experienced some sort of mental health challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even those without an official diagnosis may need help to be fully engaged and productive. In addition to their own anxiety, many employees are also managing their children’s or parents’ emotional needs.

These factors have created greater awareness around mental health and prompted the expansion of core benefits offerings. But there is still so much more to be done. Keeping these five strategies in mind can help employers build a more robust mental and emotional health support system suited to stressful times.

1. Offer more options

As the needs of employees and their families evolve or simply become more apparent, it is important for employers to prioritize budgets in order to tailor benefits to individual situations through a wider array of options. One size never fits all when it comes to mental health and well-being. The support Gen Z employees want will be much different from the resources parents with adolescents might appreciate. How different generations prefer to access support also varies. Whereas millennials are more likely to text a therapist for help, Boomers want to pick up the phone and talk. This means that employers must consider not only what kind of benefits they’re providing, but how employees are most likely to use them.

The types of mental health and well-being benefits available to employers have steadily expanded in the last few years. Among the newer offerings are resources to help parents navigate Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for their child’s unique learning needs and home care benefits to ensure remote employees have a safe, well-equipped place to work. Childcare and eldercare are also increasingly important offerings as parents return to the office or juggle domestic responsibilities. Not all employees will need every benefit, but it’s essential to have them on hand to keep your workforce supported in the right ways at the right time.

2. Reassess your rhetoric

The way we talk about mental health has shifted noticeably in the past decade. A door of awareness has been cracked open, and HR departments have a valuable opportunity to help us manage the stressful situations we are all experiencing. This may require changing the language used around mental health to reflect its importance and severity. Whereas most people know the symptoms of a heart attack, they might not necessarily be able to identify and solve for the symptoms of depression or anxiety. Employees need to be taught the correct language around mental health challenges so they can get the help they need and dispel any associated stigma.

Only by clearly communicating and normalizing the signs of mental health conditions and promoting these resources will employers be able to create a more productive, less stressed workplace.

3. Train the brain

Mental health solutions, which are clinical in nature and are structured to provide access to affordable high-quality care only support up to 40% of the workplace at any given time, but that leaves more than 60% of employees struggling with daily challenges and stressors like burnout with no real support system. Bridging this gap will require employers to also provide mental well-being and mental skill-building solutions that help employees improve their resiliency, self-awareness, emotional regulation, internal narrative and communication skills.

One-hour lunch and learn sessions every few months is not enough to equip employees with the tools they need to dispel stress. Setting aside time for engaging in participant-driven mental fitness training should be a top priority. After all, the brain is like a muscle that needs exercise and training to become healthy and strong, similar to the rest of the body.

4. Eliminate empathy fatigue

The amount of information we receive about devastating events and future threats has been steadily rising. Since the brain has a hard time distinguishing between what the body is experiencing and what we are simply observing, it can feel like being under constant attack from situations in which we have no control. Our sense of empathy kicks in, allowing us to commiserate with those struggling, even if we can’t relieve their pain.

Too much time spent caring for others can cause empathy fatigue and send the brain into defense mode. Leaders can reduce the probability of empathy fatigue by helping employees take action and regain a sense of control. Adding action to empathy transforms the sentiment into compassion, which is much more productive in the workplace. Employers can inspire compassion by giving employees a day off to volunteer or simply reserving the first few minutes of a meeting to talk about how everyone is feeling. It will begin to feel like a burden has been lifted and the negative effects of empathy fatigue can finally dissipate.

5. Tap into tech

Technology has expanded opportunities for mental health care to locations and demographics that practitioners once had a hard time reaching. From guidance via text message to cognitive behavioral therapy in virtual reality, endless options have emerged. Employers should make them accessible, but they should also be aware of potential drawbacks. Technology can be frustrating to use and there are still gaps in its capabilities when it comes to robust mental well-being solutions geared to handle the daily stressors and challenges related to work. Paired with other in-person and digital offerings, however, technology is a powerful way to get more support to more people.

Putting it all together

The dialogue and awareness around mental health has sparked a greater interest in how it relates to the workplace. Employers have a crucial role to play in relieving the stress and anxiety an overwhelming number of people are feeling. Offering an expanded array of benefits, reshaping the conversation around mental health, addressing mental well-being, countering empathy fatigue and leveraging technology can all help employees cope with our increasingly complicated world. The consequences of doing so—improved retention and recruitment rates, a more focused, productive and engaged workforce—are appealing incentives to get employees the support they need.

Deb Smolensky (dsmolensky@nfp.com) is the senior vice president of wellbeing and engagement at leading insurance broker and benefits consultant NFP. She is focused on all solutions in the HR, Benefits, Well-Being and Engagement space. In addition to being a speaker and author on the subject of workplace well-being, Deb has earned numerous certifications as a wellness coach.