Are you noticing signs of burnout in your teams? Struggling with absenteeism or presenteeism? While many factors contribute, the mental well-being of your employees plays a crucial role often overlooked in traditional business strategy.
The good news is that implementing a dedicated mental health strategy can make a significant difference. But it needs to be more than just a policy—it needs to be a practical, integrated plan. Keep in mind that the most successful strategies provide support for both your employees and yourself during high-stress situations.
In the sections ahead, we will break down the process of designing such a strategy, helping you move from awareness to meaningful action in supporting your workforce in 2025 and beyond.
Why Mental Health Matters
As an employer, your main focus is always going to be what is best for the company. From the bottom line to productivity and great quality control, you are always looking for ways to improve. What you might not realize is that all of these things can fall apart if those you employ aren’t properly considered and supported.
Positive mental health can go a long way toward the continued success of your company. How? Let’s take a look at why a focus on mental health matters.
Employee Morale
Focusing on creating an environment where your employees feel safe and respected ensures that their morale stays up. Supporting mental health leads to less stress and burnout, which in turn motivates these employees to work harder.
Productivity & Performance
Having a more positive working morale can directly lead to a higher productivity rate and a more efficient performance from your employees. They make fewer errors, collaborate more effectively, and have higher cognitive function for problem-solving and decision-making. Addressing mental health issues reduces costly presenteeism (employees being physically present but mentally checked out or unproductive).
Employee Retention
One of a company’s biggest cost creators is the revolving door of employees who are hired and then quit soon after. Top talent actively seeks employers who demonstrate genuine care for employee well-being, which in turn leads to a lower turnover rate. So, it all comes down to ensuring your strategy is employee-focused.
Workplace Culture
Prioritizing mental health helps destigmatize mental health challenges and fosters a culture of openness, trust, and psychological safety. When employees feel safe discussing their struggles and seeking help without fear of reprisal, it strengthens team cohesion and communication.
Creativity & Innovation
One way companies remain relevant in an ever-evolving landscape is by motivating employees to implement strategies for improved performance and growth. This requires creativity and innovation, which isn’t going to happen if you don’t first support employees’ mental health through connection and trust.
Workplace Risk & Compliance
The more employees don’t feel respected, the more likely a workplace will have completely avoidable accidents and mistakes. If an employee doesn’t care about the company’s needs and goals, they are less likely to care about safety or compliance standards when performing their job. Showing them that they are your first priority will go a long way toward minimizing risk.
Healthcare Costs
Finally, untreated mental health conditions often exacerbate physical health problems and can lead to higher healthcare utilization and costs. Investing in preventative mental health support can lead to long-term savings on health insurance and disability claims.
What is Needed in a Mental Health Strategy?
Now it’s time to structure a new mental health policy to be implemented company-wide. So, what should you consider when creating this strategy?
- Cost—Nothing we do is possible without feeling a bit of strain in the pocketbook. If you are limited by budget constraints, consider what aspects are the most important for your employees and stagger the rest to be enacted over time.
- Employee Needs and Concerns—If you don’t know exactly what your employees are looking for in mental health support in the workplace, you are wasting time and valuable resources. The easiest first step is to conduct market research by sending out an anonymous survey or something similar.
- Goals & Objectives—Once you know what your employees need, it’s time to start developing. Outlining clear goals and objectives within the strategy will make things more efficient. Going in blind will diminish the impact this strategy will have on mental health.
- Scope of Resources—The best strategies provide a variety of resources. Everyone approaches their mental health in different ways. Some just need breathing room during their workday, while others need therapy.
- Confidentiality & Trust—Even if you are unsure about what resources or initiatives to offer, you should always put confidentiality and trust at the top. If your employees can’t trust whatever is communicated regarding their mental health, they won’t want to partake in any of your provided options. Which, at the end of the day, makes all your strategy-building worthless.
- Accessibility & Equity—Once you’ve created a plan, the next step should never be overlooked. Assessing your strategy from an accessibility perspective ensures that all employees feel supported by it, not just some. Folks who might require extra tools for access are more likely to be the ones who need the mental health strategy the most.
- Integration—This pointer isn’t one that you have to do, but it is highly encouraged for the best results. After all, most companies already have some kind of mental health plan in place. Therefore, expanding the strategy to better fit current trends might require some integration and reworking to fit in.
Easy to Implement Strategies
Now comes the hard part: finding a way to implement a new mental health strategy into an already established set of policies and procedures. It might require hard work, but in the end, your employees, yourself, and your company will be better for it.
The best way to get started is by doing small things that eventually work into larger policy changes and adjustments. You can start off by giving your employees more flexibility in how they handle their workload. This is cost-effective and will probably see the biggest results. By giving your employees a bit more control over how they get through their shifts, you ensure that they will feel less stress and guilt over needing time to step back and breathe.
Here are some other suggestions to help you develop a more robust mental health strategy.
Team Togetherness Activities
Pausing on occasion to encourage your employees to connect and bond with one another will help ease the burden of those less-than-stellar mental health days. Knowing you are not alone in the workplace goes a long way toward employee retention and positive morale.
Mentorship Programs
Implementing a mentorship program not only gives employees someone to trust and rely on but also holds them accountable for one another. Isolation and loneliness lead to a less motivated workforce. Having someone to bounce ideas off of and encourage growth goals makes a significant difference.
Work from Home Policies
This one isn’t necessarily cost-effective at the front end, but it is cost-effective in the long run. Studies have shown over the last five years that employees are more productive when given the choice to work from home. A work-from-home policy might not work for your company, but if it’s something that you can implement even partially, you should consider it.
Whatever steps you take to get started are a step in the right direction. Over time, you will see a marked improvement in your workforce and the continued success of your company.
Strong Awareness = Strong Workforce
For decades, J & J Staffing has dedicated our expertise to more than just matching employers with potential employees. We do as much as we can to ensure our customers feel prepared for all aspects of the job market.
If you are interested in implementing a more comprehensive mental health strategy but aren’t sure where to begin, we’ve got your back. Contact us today about how you can improve your employee retention and save money in the long run.
