How to create an inclusive global mental health strategy that addresses local needs
As a result, organisations across the world understand the need for a robust global mental health strategy for their employees. Already we can see efforts being made with the introduction of hybrid working models to help support employee work-life balance. But are employers doing enough or not? The latter, according to employees.
Our study of more than 58,000 employees across Europe reveals that 32% of employees in Germany, 29% in France, 23% in the UK, 20% in Denmark and Sweden, and 12% in the Netherlands say they believe employers are not doing enough to support their mental health and wellbeing.
Meeting your employees’ needs
With multiple generations working together, each with different needs depending on their life stage, could it be that employers are missing the mark by offering benefits that are not inclusive and do not meet the current needs of the individual? It’s very likely. Only 18% of UK employees, 17% in France, and 15% in Germany strongly agree that the benefits their employer offers them reflect the current situation.
When devising a global mental health strategy, it’s crucial that organisations consider what Gallup describes as the five essential elements of wellbeing: career, social, financial, community, and physical. For example, your organisation’s wellbeing strategy could consist of financial wellness advice, pension contributions for a more secure future, insurances, gym or fitness club memberships, mental health services such as online therapy, social opportunities, and team activity challenges.
We are all individuals
When employees were asked what would make them more satisfied with their benefits, 48% in Sweden, 40% in France, 36% in the UK, 32% in Germany, 32% in Denmark, and 29% in the Netherlands said they wanted more individually-tailored benefits.
Naturally, we all want to be treated as individuals. Therefore, employee benefits, pensions, and insurances should all be personalised based on the individual’s unique circumstances and eligibilities. However, achieving this on a global scale presents numerous challenges.
For any global benefits strategy to be effective, it needs to recognise the uniqueness and diversity of each country. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. As a result, many organisations are still creating strategies where their benefits and reward programmes are rigid and impersonal.
A global solution
A flexible benefits model with a fixed budget for each employee is a robust solution that enables organisations the ability to create and manage an inclusive global mental health strategy that meets the needs of every employee, individually, demographically, and geographically. With this type of flexible benefits model, each employee is given a fixed budget from their employer to spend on a wide range mental health and wellbeing benefits pre-selected by the employer.
Using this kind of flexible benefits model globally enables organisations to offer the same type of benefits across the board, which are then localised in each country, including local suppliers.
Equally important is selecting a benefits platform provider with extensive knowledge of benefits administration in multiple territories, including the local tax regulations in each country. And it’s crucial that HR professionals can manage their global benefits in one place and see an overview of the costs and spending on benefits in each country.
This article is provided by Benify.
In partnership with Benify
Benify offers the market's leading global benefits and total reward platform.
