Promoting Mental Health Improves Workforce Resilience

JFF felt it was especially important to recognize World Mental Health Day this year, because so many of us are struggling to maintain balance and manage stress during this incredibly tumultuous time in our history.

Mental health is an increasingly important concern not just for individuals, but for companies as well, because it has a big impact on how productive and engaged employees are on the job, and it even affects their ability to make it to work in the first place.

The role mental health plays in every employee’s overall sense of well-being has surfaced as an important issue in JFF’s Recover Stronger initiative. Many of the Impact Employers we work with in this program have identified “workforce resilience”—the ability of employees to persevere through chronic shocks and stresses—as a necessary investment.

A resource that may prove valuable to employers that want to promote workforce resilience is WorkLife Partnership’s Complete Guide to Supporting Employee Mental Health. Featuring a list of steps companies can take to foster positive mental health throughout their business, the guide explains how supporting individual employees and investing in early interventions can help a business by curbing the cost of benefits and reducing sick days, employee turnover, job-related accidents, and disability claims. It also includes advice for managers who want to learn how to navigate sensitive conversations about mental health in a way that makes employees feel safe, valued, and supported.