Can companies actually help workers stay happy and healthy?

Can companies actually help workers stay happy and healthy? Encouragingly, employers are taking notice.” Eliza, who’s seen an increase in the number of wellness programmes, classes and workshops at her investment firm, feels “the pandemic forced this urgency, like, we’re literally going to lose people quickly if we don’t do something”, she says. Alamy Despite more conversation about wellness in the workplace, many workers still feel sheepish about going to HR or a supervisor about mental-health struggles An environmental adjustment Still, Harvey says any mental health resources are a net positive: “I won’t disparage the apps, or the mindfulness programmes.” But while those are nice extras, she says that what employees really require are measures that address the root causes of their need for mental health help in the first place. I think fundamentally that would start with truly lightening the workload.” If you’re not doing that alongside creating a supportive work environment, then you’re not resolving the problem, you’re just putting a plaster on it – Barbara Harvey In a recent study, Harvey’s research team found the six criteria that make a supportive organisation, ranging from work-life balance to how safe employees would feel disclosing a mental-health condition to colleagues and leadership. “In the most supportive workplaces,” says Harvey, “individuals were four times more likely to say, ‘work is good for my mental health’.