Takeaways
– Consider that nearly 60% of U.S. employees experienced mental health symptoms last year, and yet eight in 10 workers did not seek treatment due to shame.
– Unaddressed mental health conditions cost U.S. companies nearly $17 billion per year in productivity loss.
– 50% of millennials and 75% of Gen Z employees have left a prior role for mental health reasons— compared to 34% overall.
ideascape View: Employee Resource Groups are great resources to promote community within the workplace. However, they frequently rely on singular diversity characteristics (race, gender). This leads to two problematic assumptions:
– Employees that share one identity share the same experiences in the workplace
– Mental health can be encompassed by other communities
Mental health ERGs are one way to cover the intersectionality problem that other ERGs create. However, their establishment requires high levels of coordination with legal and HR professionals, as well as intentional, executive support. In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, employee mental health will be at the forefront of workforce health overall. Is your company prepared to meet mental health needs in a way that acknowledges intersectionality at the same time?
Contact ideascape to improve the effectiveness of your ERGs.
