Here’s the deal.

What if I told you there is a “hidden” crisis that exists in your business that has cost the global economy $1 trillion each year from lost productivity - 12 billion working days? This “hidden” crisis translates to 200 million lost workdays each year at a cost of $17 to $44 billion to U.S. organizations. To make matters worse, this same “hidden” crisis is a major cause of disability, absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost productivity among adults.

This “hidden” crisis is happening inside your company RIGHT NOW. And for the most part,

American companies are largely ignoring it or

don’t know what to do about it.

Business leaders spend hours strategizing how to cut costs, e.g., become more operationally efficient, collapse management levels, outsource, employ robotics and artificial intelligence, reduce employee benefits, layoff employees, lower sourcing costs. We all know the biggest cost of doing business is labor. Labor can account for 70% of total business costs, so why aren’t businesses working smarter to address the growing labor concern?

The hidden crisis - mental unwellness.

YOU ARE AWARE

Headlines have been filled with mental health crisis alarm: The US has a mental health crisis that could undermine our democracy, US surgeons general say - CNN; American depression levels hi all-time high: poll – FOX; American Workers Are Burned Out, and Bosses Are Struggling to Respond – WSJ; Employers grapple with surge in mental health issues – SHRM; Demand for mental health care has U.S. psychologists overwhelmed – USNWR; WHO highlights urgent need to transform mental health and mental health care – WHO.

There is an exponential demand for mental health treatment, but not enough resources,

according to the American Psychological Association. Many mental health professionals are unable to take on new clients and their waitlists are longer than ever.

YOUR EMPLOYEES, YOUR PROBLEM

These millions of people are YOUR employees and they are managing their mental unwellness while working for you. So, why does that matter to you? According to a 2022 Fisher Phillips survey,

51% of employers have fielded reports of burnout or mental fatigue;
46% of employers said they experienced higher turnover rates;
34% said they faced higher absenteeism rates during the last two years.
Absenteeism is an ongoing result of burnout from stress, anxiety and depression.

The Great Resignation was a stark reality

47.8 million Americans quit their job in 2021, which is an increase of 33% from 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While initial data shows the rate of quitting has declined, the underlying causes of the Great Resignation have not been remediated leaving companies exposed to ongoing turnover. We are using band-aids instead of surgery and when the band-aid falls off the wound worsens.

The truth is, 1 out of 4 Americans quit their job to preserve their mental health. And, 2 of every 5 Americans consider quitting for the same reason. JobSage.

25% of your workforce might walk out the door because of mental health struggles.

Mental health is the root cause of employees’ struggle. If you want to improve your employee experience, you must address mental health.

YOUR COST

I know you care about your employees. I know you’ve invested in them, trained them, even prepared them for leadership roles. Losing them hurts. Turnover is costly; it affects organizational performance; and it may become unwieldy. Companies pay for turnover with both time and money.

According to a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study,

turnover costs 90% to 200%

of the departing employee’s annual salary.

Below are cost estimates of common jobs based on Glass Door’s average salaries.

In the same SHRM study, “total replacement costs” includes figures such as, HR’s time, manager’s time, accrued paid time off, temporary coverage, recruitment, onboarding, training, separation payments, and hiring inducements.

Companies find themselves stalled because losing experienced employees and swapping them for newbies comes at a high cost. Performance is negatively impacted due to lack of training, lower productivity, lost clients, disruptions to team engagement and morale, and loss of institutional knowledge.

Couple turnover with talent scarcity and a hyper-competitive fight for trained workers, organizations will struggle to keep their promises to their clients.

“Talent scarcity is emerging and that shortage will make finding and keeping the right people with the right skills challenging for organizations.” -SHRM

YOUR CURRENT SOLUTIONS FALL SHORT

Organizations are falling behind by not addressing mental unwellness with a targeted approach. SHRM reports, 73% of U.S. employers offer mental health coverage; 73% offer employee assistance programs, and 26% offer workshops.

It’s not enough.

YOUR ANSWER

There needs to be a shift in CULTURE by offering RESOURCES and teaching MENTAL HEALTH SKILLS in various forums.

According to SHRM’s “Mental Health in America: A 2022 Workplace Report,” employees do not believe their organization offers sufficient help to support mental health. And human resource experts agree with them.

94% of HR professionals believe organizations can improve the health of employees by offering mental health resources.
88% of HR professionals believe offering mental health resources can increase productivity.
86% of HR professionals believe offering mental health resources can increase employee retention.
72% of HR professionals believe offering mental health resources can attract new talent.

Chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association, Arthur Evans Jr. opined,

“having timely access to psychological services is critical … but we need to tackle this problem with a variety of solutions, beyond individual therapy. We need to improve mental health literacy, use technology and innovation. But critically, we must expand our paradigm for addressing behavioral health … to reach people earlier and in the places where they … work…”

YOUR OPPORTUNITY

“Without mental health resources, employees will keep struggling to add value to their organizations. And employers that fail to offer such benefits to their workers will struggle to stay afloat. Hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake. In many ways, the U.S. economy – not to mention public health – hangs in the balance. It’s time for organizations to act now.” – SHRM

The good news is we can bring mental health skills into your workplace proactively and reactively. We can teach leaders how to lead with emotional intelligence; teach employees how to apply mental health skills personally and interpersonally and build resilience. Let's improve your corporate culture, retain your employees, increase your employee engagement, and save your business millions of dollars.

So, corporate executive, business leader, Humans Resources professional, let’s dig in. Time to talk about mental health, become innovative and develop solutions with and for your employees. Your employees will thank you and your investors will thank you.

$1 Trillion Hidden in Plain Sight