The Effects of Mental Health on Productivity and Retention in the Workplace

October 6th, 2023 | 4 min. read

Mental health and productivity in the workplace are intrinsically linked. Recent research found that untreated mental health conditions cost U.S. businesses $47.6 billion in lost productivity annually. Addressing employee mental health in your organization can reduce financial burden, improve productivity, optimize company culture, and increase employee retention by ensuring you’re competitive in the benefits you offer.

Mental health explained

When we talk about mental health, it helps to think about an umbrella that covers emotions, thoughts, and how we interact with others and accomplish goals. Mental illness is common in the United States – according to Mental Health America, almost 20% of adults are living with one or more mental health conditions.

How does mental health affect productivity?

Employee mental health and productivity are connected in multiple ways. Poor mental health can impede the capacity to stay focused, remain inspired, or come to work regularly. It can directly impact job performance, productivity, and how long someone stays in a role.

Studies have found that even minor depression can slash work efficiency and productivity. Anyone who’s ever dealt with anxiety or another mental health condition knows how daunting meeting deadlines and producing quality work can be. It makes even simple tasks feel like an uphill battle.

But it’s not just individual productivity that takes a hit when mental health isn’t addressed in the workplace. Poor mental health can poison team dynamics and create a toxic environment that kills collaboration and stifles output.

A focus on mental health boosts workplace productivity and keeps top talent

Mental health and employee retention are issues that many companies grapple with. Thus, understanding the impact mental health can have on productivity and the ability to keep top talent is crucial.

When mental health suffers, so will concentration, decision-making, and work performance. It can lead to decreased satisfaction that affects retention. By offering ample mental health resources, you can confront these issues directly, improving productivity and mental health and ensuring people are satisfied in their roles.

Integrating the following mental health resources into your company culture can support employee mental well-being, and a content and motivated workforce is more engaged, efficient, and driven.

Education: Educate employees about common mental illnesses to foster understanding and empathy and reduce the stigma attached to needing help. This also enables early symptom recognition and encourages people to seek help.
Counseling services: Access to professional counseling provides a safe space for employees to discuss their problems without fear of judgment or work-related consequences.
Flexible work schedules: Flexible working hours can accommodate employees dealing with mental illness, ensuring they can attend appointments and engage in self-care without added stress.

Why offering mental health resources is a must

Offering mental health support isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also a smart business move. In the modern work environment, offering basic benefits isn’t enough anymore. Today, workers want employers to care about their emotional and psychological health.

Companies must prioritize well-being and be willing to offer mental health resources that go above and beyond basic physical care needs. One way to accomplish this is by implementing LiveBetter^TM, an add-on solution that elevates Advanced Primary Care. LiveBetter^TM ensures employees have access to more than just the basic mental health screenings included in Advanced Primary Care services.

Think about it this way: if you can’t, or aren’t willing to, provide top-notch whole-person care, you should be prepared to experience a revolving door of unsatisfied workers and diminished efficiency.

Mental care is a vital piece of the Complete Care puzzle with Everside Health

Everside Health offers top of the line advanced primary care services and resources to improve productivity and mental health and enhance the ability to attract and keep the best of the best in your industry. This approach ensures employees have access to both physical and psychological care.

Advanced Primary Care is a tech-driven, patient-focused treatment that addresses the entire individual, not just their signs and symptoms. When enhanced with LiveBetter^TM, it integrates mental health care proactively to foster a healthier workplace environment and reduce your total cost of care. It also ensures people can conveniently access care teams – via onsite or near site centers or virtually – at little to no cost to them.

Having these resources available shows your commitment to well-being beyond basic benefits. It demonstrates an understanding and sense of empathy. It ultimately contributes to increased job satisfaction, lower turnover rates, and enhanced productivity – making it an essential part of any competitive business strategy today.

What is Advanced Primary Care?

Everside’s Advanced Primary Care model emphasizes the development of long-term connections between patients and providers through onsite, near-site, and virtual care access, making it easy for people to get care at little to no cost.

The perks of this approach are endless:

Better patient outcomes – 82% say their health improved after using Everside Health services
Lower total cost of care year over year – 31% savings can be realized by year 5
More positive patient-provider interaction, increasing engagement for a better ROI – +85 Net Promoter patient score
Happier employees – 75% of employees have an improved opinion of their employer

Everside Health takes Advanced Primary Care to the next level. Our comprehensive suite of solutions tackles access barriers and the chaos of fragmented care, using advanced analytics and powerful data that sets us apart, allowing you to offer the right types of care to every employee.

Enhance Advanced Primary Care with LiveBetter^TM

Implementing mental health resources in your workplace in addition to Advanced Primary Care services ensures a comprehensive approach to benefits and care. Unparalleled predictive analytics help drive and customize a plan that fits your organization’s unique needs, ensuring every employee has access to high-quality care.

Failure to address mental health and productivity in the workplace can have serious consequences. Everside Health’s solutions – when they include mental health care – help you create a supportive environment that promotes overall well-being and ensures your team is as productive, and satisfied, as possible.