Companies like yours depend upon many partners to help you be the best at serving your mission. While you have expertise in your field, there are times when you reach out to other businesses for specialized services and knowledge. For example, if you encounter a tax or other financial issue, you’ll turn to your CPA. If you’ve been asked to sign a complicated contract, you’ll probably run it by your attorney.
So what should you do when your employees’ mental health issues spill over into the workplace? Like it or not, they bring their problems with them to work. They are stressed, running late, disheveled, or seem preoccupied. If you think that’s something for them to deal with on their own, you need to consider the impact mental health can have on attendance, productivity, and performance. Chances are, you already see the impact, but you might be hoping it goes away with time.
Trouble is, mental health and family issues don’t just go away. And, left unchecked, will affect your bottom line.
For example, there are relationship issues. Statistics suggest that about one employee in ten will go through a divorce in any given year, with a 40 percent drop in productivity during the process, and a 20 percent drop in the following year. Even if employees in troubled relationships don’t divorce, the problems impact their morale and performance.
Common conditions such as depression and anxiety can have similar impacts on your company’s health insurance costs. A recent study reports that people with mental health conditions make six times as many ER visits as the average person. And Aetna Behavioral Health says annual mental health costs are increasing at twice the rate of other medical expenses. The American Institute of Stress says job stress alone costs companies more than $300 billion annually because of increased absenteeism, turnover, lower productivity, and other costs.
Other mental health issues that can affect workers include coping with the care needed by a family member, death of loved one or co-worker, domestic violence, parenting issues, financial problems, and substance abuse.
Companies offer healthcare benefits for two reasons. First, they’re attractive benefits that make it easier to hire the right employees. Second, healthy employees are happier and more productive. Read that again. Caring about your employees by offering them mental health services can produce happier, more productive employees.
Those are the same reasons companies like yours partner with Care to Change. We can work with you to educate your employees and provide support for the challenges they’re facing at a cost far less than employee turnover expenses or lost work time. Our focus is on addressing issues in ways that reflect your interest in and caring for your employees’ lives.
]Through a partnership, we can provide one-on-one, group, marital, and family counseling for employees and mental-health screenings that your employees can use confidentially to determine whether they or their family members might benefit from assistance. We’ll address your employees’ needs with discretion and a focus on the individual that will reflect well upon your referral.
Our professional counselors can also help your employees through workshops or lunch-and-learn sessions on topics such overcoming workplace conflicts, handling stress or finding ways to avoid burnout. We can educate your team on issues such as anxiety and depression, so they can know what to do if they or someone they love are suffering.
And, while no employer wants to talk about this, we can also help in times of crisis – like unexpected loss and tragic events.
What are your specific needs and what can our team do to help? Let’s start with a conversation. Please contact us today so we can start helping you and your employees.