5 Communication Strategies to Drive Mental Health Benefit Usage

It’s no secret the pandemic has had a profound impact on everyone’s mental health.

Studies show that remote employees are working longer hours than ever before while faced with distractions at home, including child care and home-schooling challenges. Meanwhile, on the hospital, factory, retail, and restaurant floor, staff shortages have forced these essential workers to put in more hours, sometimes under extremely stressful conditions.

Not to mention, the general stress caused by the pandemic, social unrest, isolation, loneliness, and the seemingly never-ending gloom and doom have piled on to an already difficult situation.

Employers know their employees are struggling. Eighty-four percent of CFOs say their company has successfully addressed employee wellness. The problem is, fewer than a third of employees agree.

This begs the question: If more companies are offering more mental health benefits, could it be that employees simply aren’t aware of them? Having benefits in place is of little use if employees don’t know about them or take advantage of them.

Simply sending out an email announcement isn’t nearly enough. Companies must take a more calculated and consistent approach to communication in order to encourage utilization of these important benefits. Here are five strategies that can help.

1. Normalize the mental health conversation in your organization.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than 60 percent of employees say they have less energy for activities outside of work, 52 percent have trouble sleeping, and 42 percent have had symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder. If you think it’s not a problem in your organization, the statistics prove you wrong. But the stigma we’ve seen for years around mental health makes many of us uncomfortable to bring it up. So we offer a program and hope that suffices.

That’s not good enough. As leaders, we need to talk about mental health challenges and make sure employees feel comfortable and empowered to talk to us if there’s an issue. Train managers to recognize the signs and how to appropriately broach the subject with employees. We must also make it easy for staff to take advantage of mental health services and benefits without feeling uncomfortable.

2. Create unique experiences.

Mental health is extremely personal and unique for every individual. For some, anxiety or anger management issues might be caused by overwhelming stress, or depression might be brought on by isolation. Others might face problems with addiction—during lockdown, nearly 40 percent of people say they consumed more alcohol or other substances than usual, with one in three admitting they were even more likely to drink during work hours.

Managers have struggled too, not only from having to navigate their own personal challenges, but also from feeling a sense of responsibility to support their teams.

The wide range of issues and individuals requires that companies offer a wide range of services and options and that they communicate them uniquely—not with a one-size-fits-all approach. Managers may have different needs than their team members. Front-line workers certainly have much different needs than administration and support staff. And remote workers face different concerns than on-site staff.

Tailoring communication around mental healthcare benefits to these unique circumstances is critical to encourage utilization. Otherwise, employees may think the benefits aren’t right for them.

3. Create a culture of inclusion.

While the pandemic has affected everyone, women and minorities have been hit especially hard. As the primary caretakers in most families, women took on an even heavier load of child care and looking after family members sick with Covid-19, and millions have been driven out of the workforce. Black workers have experienced more burnout and depression than their non-Black peers, with Black women feeling the worst impact based on both their race and gender.

To communicate mental health benefits effectively, companies must use messages that are inclusive of—and sensitive to—workers of all races and genders, and their workplace status. Leaders should customize not only messages, but also the delivery methods and means of accessing information.

As we move toward a hybrid workplace, with some employees still working remotely while others are back on site (or maybe never left), use a variety of communication channels, like email, collaboration platforms, or a dedicated multichannel employee communications solution to make sure everyone has equal access to the information they need and no one feels left out.

4. Communicate regularly.

Mental health issues aren’t like the cold or flu—there is no mental health “season.” These are often chronic issues that require ongoing care, and they can crop up at any time. That’s why companies can’t just promote mental health benefits during Mental Health Awareness month or open enrollment. It has to be an ongoing program.

In order to drive benefits utilization, companies must communicate regularly to reinforce the availability of benefits. Using multiple channels and targeting specific groups with tailored messages on a regular cadence can remind employees that if they’re struggling, help is always available.

For example, remind new parents about mental health benefits when they add a child to their health insurance plan. Send the product development team an offer for a free subscription to a yoga app when they finish a particularly arduous development sprint. Or remind floor staff of their quarterly mental health day off after a prolonged period of overtime. Keeping benefits top of mind is key for utilization.

5. Ask for feedback.

Of course, you’ll want to gather feedback from employees on the mental health programs you’ve offered to make sure they’re meeting their needs and to find out what else might be helpful. But don’t stop there. Communication is never a one-way street. You need to know that your messages are being received, and how.

Be sure to solicit input from employees on the information you’ve provided about those programs, to make sure the communications are getting through and are sufficient. If staff are not using benefits, ask why or what would incentivize them to do so. By asking for feedback on the communication as well as the programs themselves, you can ensure that employees are fully aware of the benefits available to them and devise better ways to encourage utilization.

Offering mental health benefits is becoming essential in a post-pandemic world, not only to help employees recover from one of the most difficult periods in modern history, but also to help them stay healthy, satisfied, and productive members of your team. It’s also a key factor in recruiting, which is becoming increasingly important as talent shortages plague businesses in every sector.

Just as important as offering the benefits, effectively communicating about them to employees is critical for adoption and utilization. By developing an inclusive, relevant, and regular communication program, companies can be sure that the benefits they provide are actually having the desired impact.

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Keith Kitani is CEO of GuideSpark.

From: BenefitsPro