While the mental health crisis of K-12 and college students has been extensively covered in the media, the mental health of working-class Americans has echoed the same trends. For both groups, mental health is at an all-time low, and more people than ever before are experiencing mental health issues.
Between the rise in violence around the country, pandemic related stressors, a complex economy, and more, American adults have never been faced with more uncertainty than they’re facing today. All these stressors have resulted in a mental health crisis for not just America’s children, but adults too.
How Bad is the Crisis?
According to a report from the World Health Organization, 15 percent of working adults were estimated to have a mental disorder. The report also revealed that poor mental health causes the U.S. $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.
Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that 60 percent of working adults say their mental health has been negatively affected by work-related stress and 87 percent of employees think their employer taking action would help. Statistics also show that a staggering 84 percent of workers say they experienced at least one work-related mental health crisis during the last year, proving the need and desire for HR to help in any way they can.
Why is This Happening?
External stressors such as today’s complex society are contributing to the poor mental health of employees around the country; and the pandemic only exacerbated these feelings. With that being said, many work-related factors also play into the mental health crisis which include:
- Excessive workload or understaffing
- Job insecurity
- Insufficient salary
- Unsafe or poor working conditions
- Unfair working environment
- Violence, harassment, or bullying in the workplace
- Discrimination, exclusion, or inequality
- Poor work-life balance
The need for workplaces and HR leaders to support struggling employees has never been greater. Whether that means providing access to counseling or creating flexible work arrangements, organizations are now facing a responsibility to help support their employees’ mental health.
How Kokomo24/7® Can Help
Kokomo24/7® understands that every workplace has its own set of unique needs. We also recognize the power and importance of having robust, yet easy-to-use solutions that allow you to stay ahead of your workforce’s mental health challenges. With tools like our customized forms and surveys, incident management system, and anonymous reporting system, you can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the mental health of your organization.
Incident Management– Our Incident Management tool features one centralized dashboard to help you collect, track, manage, and respond to employee mental health claims, complaints, and cases. Our dashboard saves prior information to create a clearer, comprehensive picture of each employee’s experience and ensures that employee claims are dealt with in a timely manner.
Feedback Management– Our Customized Forms provide surveys and questionnaires to collect the information you need, when you need it. Understand how your workforce community feels about anything and take the appropriate actions when needed. Stay ahead of your employees’ mental health before it’s too late and stay better informed about their status.
Anonymous Reporting – The Kokomo24/7® Anonymous Reporting tool provides staff with a private way to report concerning behavior, or report that they need mental health help for themselves.
Ever since Kokomo24/7® was founded in 2018, we have been a leader in compliance and risk management solutions for all things health and safety. Kokomo24/7® proudly serves schools, communities, and workplaces by helping them implement their health, safety, and well-being initiatives. Our mission is to deliver highly effective, easy-to-use, and trusted compliance and risk management solutions that bridge the gap between public safety and technology.
Whether you work for a small company, a Fortune-500, or any institution in between, we want to hear from you! To learn more about Kokomo24/7® or to get a free 15-minute demo click the button below.
Chicago SHRM Blog 