Supportive workplace environments encourage employees to speak up about mental health

A Simon Fraser University new study is challenging a commonly held misconception that there's little organizations can do to encourage employees to disclose mental health concerns.

World Health Organization data shows 15 per cent of adults have a mental health concern, while other surveys have found 65 per cent of employees believe mental health concerns interfere with their job. Yet many organizations, even those with mental health supports and programs, see disclosure as a personal decision they have no influence over. 

"That's just not what we saw in the data," says Zhanna Lyubykh, assistant professor at Beedie School of Business and lead author of the study published in Human Resource Management. "Organizations can do a lot to help employees disclose. Much of it comes down to employee perceptions of how disclosure is going to be handled, which is absolutely within an organization's control." 

The study found people were 55 per cent more likely to disclose mental health concerns to their employer when they perceived their organization as supportive. Beyond feeling they won't be discriminated against or stigmatized, Lyubykh says a supportive workplace means people feel truly supported and that they'll benefit from accessing organizational supports and programs. 

This is where employers can step up, she says. Her research revealed the presence of social supports - the subtle environmental cues people pick up on - is the most significant factor that impacts an employee's willingness to disclose. 

People notice things and log them, sometimes consciously and sometimes not. Did they see someone who recently disclosed get passed over for a promotion? Are open, understanding conversations about mental health encouraged and happening among co-workers? Did it take six months and 100 forms for a co-worker to actually get access to the supports they were entitled to? And when that person received those supports, were they really beneficial?" 

Zhanna Lyubykh, assistant professor at Beedie School of Business and lead author of the study

It's a classic example of actions speaking louder than words (or policies). 

Lyubykh's research included two survey-based studies. The first study parsed the difference between employees' willingness to disclose and actual disclosure rates and looked at factors that influenced employee decision-making. The second study examined the connection between organizational support for mental health and wellbeing and absenteeism. 

Researchers found low disclosure rates and poor employee perceptions were linked to higher absenteeism, increased anxiety, and lower productivity and performance. But the opposite was also true: The benefits of a supportive workplace touch every level of an organization, from people to paper, says Lyubykh. 

"Competent people don't want to stay in an unsupportive or toxic environment. Now you have the attrition of high performers on top of other costly problems," she adds. "If an organization cares about the bottom line, they should really care about the environment they're creating, because that's going to be their competitive advantage." 

With so much of an organization's success resting on their employees' perception of a supportive environment, Lyubykh hopes organizations adapt existing workplace surveys to ask specific questions around how comfortable people feel talking about mental health concerns in the workplace. 

"That will give organizations a solid benchmark, help them track perceptions over time," she says. "Organizations have the responsibility and power to change things. And change starts at the leadership level."