Employers need to take steps to protect the mental health and well-being of their employees, according to the 30-page Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being released Thursday.
“As we recover from the worst of the pandemic, we have an opportunity and the power to make workplaces engines for mental health and well-being, and this Surgeon General’s Framework shows us how we can start,” Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, said in a statement.
The surgeon general’s office said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys repeatedly have shown that the workplace can have a profound effect on workers’ mental health. For example, 76% of the respondents to a 2021 Mind Share Partners survey reported that they had at least one symptom of anxiety or depression, which was an increase of 17 percentage points over two years. And in a Harvard Business Review survey, 84% of respondents reported that at least one workplace factor had a negative effect on their mental health.
Organizations, Murthy said, must “rethink how they protect workers from harm, foster a sense of connection among workers, show workers that they matter, make space for their lives outside work, and support their growth. It will be worth it, because the benefits will accrue for workers and organizations alike.”
According to the surgeon general, employers should consider developing policies and norms that support the mental health and well-being of all workers by:
- Creating the conditions for physical and psychological safety, a critical foundation for ensuring mental health and well-being in the workplace.
- Fostering positive social interaction and relationships in the workplace, which supports worker well-being.
- Ensuring better work-life harmony among workers.
- Creating a culture in which workers feel as if they matter at work.
- Provide opportunities for growth and development.
