Workplace mental health policies help to attract employees

It’s official – if you want to attract employees, make sure you have a mental health and wellbeing policy in place.

Research by Legal & General (reported in Employee Benefits) shows that almost three quarters of young employees surveyed would consider mental health policies before applying for a job.

Here are three suggestions to help your mental health and wellbeing policies work.

  1. Policies come in all shapes and sizes, just like organisations, so it makes sense to start with a wellbeing audit. Ask your employees what they need – don’t assume you know. A quick survey may not be enough. Make sure you ask the right questions and benchmark answers against national standards, to get a clear picture of your employees’ state of health.
  2. Wellbeing can be enhanced by offering relevant employee benefits. If your workforce consists of a large number of parents, for example, there’s a high chance that somebody could begin to show signs of deteriorating mental health and therefore performance. Have the measures in place to be able to offer flexible working, whether that’s flexible hours, working from home or even holiday trading. Or if you’re employees have money worries, consider building financial wellbeing products and services into your offering.
  3. Lead from the front. What can your top team do? Legal & General’s research also found that 69% of young employees would be drawn to businesses where where senior-level executives aren’t afraid to speak about mental health. For example, does your board:
    • support mental health awareness training?
    • build in wellbeing to personal development programmes?
    • offer managers supervision to support their wellbeing?

These ideas just scratch the surface. To find out more about how to bring your mental health and wellbeing strategy life, contact us – we’d be delighted to help.