In April 2024, the WorkThrive team conducted a survey of 100 HR specialists across European companies to gain insights into their views on employee mental health support programs. These programs typically involve initiatives such as paid therapy services, leadership training, educational events, and other tools designed to boost workplace emotional health. In this blog, we review the survey results and discuss the return on investment (ROI) of these programs.

Common challenges reported by HR decision makers

The WorkThrive survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of HR decision makers think that stress and burnout are the primary challenges in their workplace. This is hardly surprising, considering the discourse these topics have had in recent years, especially during and after the pandemic.

Other challenges mentioned were concerns about employee productivity and engagement, which can be a consequence of stress and burnout. Studies by the Queens School of Business and Gallup show that stress correlates with employee engagement – the more stressed the employees are, the more likely they’ll lose their passion for their job. The study also reports that disengaged workers have 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and make 60% more errors and mistakes. Enterprises with low employee engagement scores also experienced 18% lower productivity and 16% lower profitability.

How many companies offer employee mental health support 

Out of surveyed HR decision makers, 97% agree that increasing emphasis on mental health support programmes would be useful in addressing the issues of burnout, stress, engagement, and productivity. However, only 65.8% of surveyed companies offer mental health resources to their employees. This highlights a clear discrepancy between what HR managers believe would benefit the workforce and what their organizations are actually willing to invest in.

A similar trend can be seen in a 2023 study conducted by Towergate Health & Protection of 500 HR decision makers. They found that even though most surveyed specialists would have liked to offer mental health benefits to their employees, 46% of the companies didn’t offer any support. The report also acknowledges that the size of the company plays an important role: 70% of large corporations provided some form of psychological assistance, compared to 49% for small and medium-sized enterprises, and 37% for micro-companies.

Why companies don’t invest in employee mental health support 

When asked about why their company doesn’t have any employee mental health support systems in place, the main reasons listed were a lack of finances and a lack of support from upper management. These were then followed by concerns about employees actually using such programmes, and the idea that stress is unavoidable in a busy workplace.

For those surveyed who answered that their company does invest in employee wellbeing programmes, their obstacles for keeping these programmes mirrored the reasons why some companies skip out on these investments entirely. The lack of quantified ROI data makes it challenging for HR to convince upper management to maintain these programmes. Furthermore, there is always a concern that employees may forget that such programmes exist or choose not to use them, making it hard to justify their cost.

All of these considerations are valid because mental health is multifaceted, and the ROI of wellbeing programmes is notoriously difficult to calculate. Much more so, let’s say, than the ROI of marketing initiatives, where it’s possible to directly compare the money spent versus money earned. However, that doesn’t mean that investment in employee mental health has no financial returns.

Factors to consider when measuring the ROI of employee wellness programmes

The World Health Organization reports that for every $1 invested in mental health treatment and wellbeing, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. While these claims may sound too good to be true, research by professor Leonard Berry of Texas University and colleagues backs this idea by demonstrating that the ROI of well-run employee wellness programmes can indeed be impressive, sometimes even as high as six to one.

A good example of this is Bell, a Canadian communications company, which launched the “Let’s Talk” campaign in 2010. This campaign promotes awareness and drives action with a strategy built on four pillars: fighting the stigma of mental health, improving access to care, supporting research, and leading by example in workplace mental health. Key elements of the initiative include an enhanced return-to-work programme, improved accessibility of resources and tools, mandatory leader training, and cultivating a culture of support.

Success metrics 

Since the launch of the campaign, Bell has tracked its KPIs using a mental health scorecard, including various indicators related to employee engagement, turnover, productivity, subjective happiness, and many more. Using this scorecard to measure progress against programme objectives, the ROI for every dollar invested was $4.10.

In an attempt to mirror Bell’s success, HR managers need to clearly define their success metrics prior to launching any new programmes. They need to state in writing: 1) What their company is hoping to gain from investing in employee wellness programmes, and 2) What success looks like for their organization. Some of the mental health scorecard items can be measured by anonymous surveys that check the wellbeing temperature of employees, while other metrics can be tracked internally by HR specialists (e.g., turnover and productivity).

Programme uptake

Bell’s success can also be attributed to its systematic tracking of employee uptake of its offered initiatives and making adjustments as needed. While there are wellness initiatives that can be effective, there also are many programs that won’t be worth the investment. Unfortunately, most wellness initiatives are not used by employees with an average uptake rate of between 5% to 20% depending on the program. 

To maximize ROI, HR managers need to: 1) track how many employees engage with these programmes, 2) promote programmes to remind people of their existence, and 3) cut off programmes that don’t gain enough traction. This should be an ongoing process. The worst thing an HR decision maker could do is buy an expensive programme, forget about its existence, and allow the company to pay for it on a monthly basis while the employees aren’t making any use of it.

Long term commitment

Another reason why Bell’s initiative had such a positive ROI is its long-term commitment to employee wellbeing programmes—not a single programme, but to four pillars embedded in company culture. We all know that mental health is complicated, and it takes a considerable amount of time to see real change—much like it would be with our physical health, where we’d need to go to the gym regularly to see results. On an organizational scale, it works similarly. Long-term commitment to employee health and wellbeing should create a healthier workforce over time, increase employee satisfaction, reduce turnover, and attract higher-quality candidates, all of which contribute to company growth.