Want to tackle workplace mental health’s trillion-dollar challenge? Here’s how

In times of perma-crisis, rolling out a wellbeing strategy that meets the needs of your people can feel impossible. It’s not.

Mental ill-health costs the global economy around US $1 trillion. Every year.

It’s a scary enough statistic, made worse when you remember there are countless experiences tangled up inside it. Friends facing addiction. Teams spiralling into burnout. Workmates contemplating suicide. Every year.

In 2023, it’s about time we get impatient. Because, while tech innovation moves fast (and, by this point, there are no shortage of shiny ‘solutions’ vowing to fix workplace mental health), supporting employee wellbeing in a way that really works takes, well, work. And lots of it.

To help kickstart the year, here are some key resources to help boost your understanding, and shape your organisation’s wellbeing strategy.

1. 2023 Workplace Mental Health Trends report

We surveyed 850 demographically diverse HR decision-makers in large companies around the world. We then analysed the insights, spoke to senior pros at leading global firms, and boiled everything down into nine, easy-to-understand trends, and paired this with actionable steps you can take in 2023.
Here are a few eye-opening things from this year’s report data:

94% of HR decision-makers say scientific rigour and an evidence base are ‘important’ or ‘very important’ factors when choosing a wellbeing solution
72% claim financial stress impacts employee performance, but just three in 10 feel managers are equipped to have conversations about financial worries with their staff
65% say employee expectations for wellbeing support have increased in the last year
95% reckon there’s a growing expectation for the workforce itself to foster positive mental health and wellbeing.

Read the report in full.

2. Unboxing 2023’s key workplace mental health trends, in video

Alongside our annual trends handbook, this year we’re launching a suite of bitesize videos, that tell the same story in visual form.

3. 2023 trends global webinar series

In February we’re hosting a series of webinars on how to tackle workplace mental health – connecting likeminded organisations with wellbeing leaders from around the world.

The webinars will cover insights from our 2023 trends report; details on how to harness an evidence-based, whole-person, whole-organisation approach to mental wellbeing at your company; the key role managers, HR – as well as the workplace itself – has to play in powering positive mental health; and why measurement matters, ESG is essential, and psychosocial risks are about to go mainstream.