Why Employee Relations are founded on mental health

Why Employee Relations are founded on mental health

Around 70% of the largest employers internationally believe mental health challenges in the workforce are leading to problems in Employee Relations (ER).

The survey was carried out by HR Acuity for its Employee Relations Benchmark among 250 organisations (representing more than 8.7 million employees globally and 20% of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies). Organisations pointed to the role of aggressive ‘return-to-office’ policies and more employees being aware of the personal impact of stress and anxiety.

Poor mental health among employees was found to lead to rising numbers of cases involving policy violations, behavioural issues, discrimination, harassment and allegations of retaliation.

Using data to be proactive

The report authors suggest HR need to focus on the triage of mental health issues — and to pre-empt problems by using employee data to identify patterns and implement targeted interventions of support. 90% of employers in the report were interested in adopting AI to transform ER, using the technology for data analytics and predictive modelling for ensuring compliance with policies.

Only 11% of the organisations involved were found to share anonymised information relating to the outcomes of ER cases, raising questions over transparency and trust.

Prevention cycle

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “More employers are beginning to appreciate the impact of workplace culture on employee wellbeing — and how everything is interconnected. A people-friendly culture and ways of working supports good mental health and creates a virtuous circle. So it’s not just about reacting to the needs of individuals when they have problems.

“HR and EAPs need to be working together on preventative care, sharing data and insights in order to identify trends and issues, and tailor interventions together.”