“Mental health issues and their negative impacts on individual well-being, organizational productivity and economic growth are increasingly being recognized in the workplace globally. They are also consistently in the top 10 causes of years lived with disability.
One out of every two people in the world will develop a mental health disorder in their lifetime, according to a large-scale study co-led by researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Queensland.
Interventions by employers to reduce the impact of mental health conditions make sense not only since employees spend a significant proportion of their waking hours engaged in work, but also since there are demonstrable returns on investment from well-placed interventions by employers. With numerous products and services on offer and a global wellness economy predicted to reach nearly $7 trillion in 2025,3 it is not surprising that employers struggle to choose interventions wisely.
In developing effective employee well-being programmes, leaders should seek to answer three important questions to improve mental health: What works? Where should they apply it? How will they know it is making a difference?”
