NEWS

'We're not scared of it anymore.' Companies prioritize mental health services to employees

Ryan Maxin
The Repository
Christopher Goff is CEO and general counsel at Employers Health in Canton. He said it's important for companies to help workers deal with stress. "If we can help our employees do that, then we have a better culture and a better culture leads to sustained growth," he said.

As employees navigate post-COVID-19 work environments, businesses are embracing a newfound workplace necessity: mental health services.

Those services can include counseling, as well as benefits not historically associated with mental health that are designed to ease employee stress. The methods have emerged as a way to improve employees' work-life balances while also increasing productivity. 

Though mental health issues have long posed challenges in the workplace, the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted the nation into a crisis, said Anju Mader, chief integration officer at Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

Over the last couple years, however, employers have risen to the challenge, she said. In her experience, employers have become much more engaged with the mental health needs of their employees. 

The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce has identified it as a key issue affecting companies. In late April, the Stark Forum hosted former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and a panel of local behavioral health experts to discuss the importance of good physical and mental health in the workplace.

Dennis Saunier, president and CEO at the chamber, said smaller companies, many of which call Northeast Ohio home, are starting to embrace mental health services that have been standard in larger workplaces. That shift has helped those companies show their employers that they care about them, he said.

Mader said companies aren't afraid of talking about the issue anymore.

"We're really de-stigmatizing the issue," Mader said. "Obviously, as we've seen with the pandemic, everyone has encountered stress, sadness, fear and anxiety through this. Every single one of us has been touched. So the more we can talk about it, the easier it's going to be for all of us who need assistance to seek assistance." 

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What are employers like Employers Health, Incept offering?

Chris Goff, CEO of Employers Health, a business coalition in Canton, has been working to bolster employee well-being for decades. That is done through the three pillars of his company's culture — health, wealth and life. Benefits contained within the pillars include confidential counseling, retirement planning, legal information consultations and other resources.

"Employees have a lot of stress and anxiety in their everyday lives, and so this is just a way to help them navigate life," he said. "If we can help our employees do that, then we have a better culture and a better culture leads to sustained growth."

Sam Falletta, CEO of Incept, a Canton-based marketing firm, started offering mental health services to his employees four years ago after the company identified the need for employees to have access to mental health assistance. 

Sam Falletta is CEO of Incept, Canton-based marketing firm. The company started offering mental health services to employees four years ago.

Incept contracted with Coleman Behavioral Services to hire a full-time, on-site counselor as an employee benefit. Additionally, the company connected its employees with community resources for cases in which they needed more support.

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Prioritizing people over profits

Although mental health services may allow employees to be more productive in the workplace, Goff and Falletta both said their primary focus is showing employees they care about them and their families. 

Falletta said responses from his employees to the mental health services have been positive. In some cases, he said, the services can help employees make the decision to leave the company because it's too stressful or it's not the right fit. That's a good thing for that particular individual, even though it may not be a good thing for the company, he said. 

"Helping your employees get where they want to go can never be a bad thing, even if that means it's not with you," Falletta said. 

Jason Mogus, owner and clinical director of the Center for Renewed Minds, a therapy provider in Lake Township, has worked with companies to provide mental well-being services to its employees. He said a people-first outlook may be more beneficial to a business's success than a profits-based approach. 

"I think we maybe need to start looking at better indicators of success in the workplace besides profit margins," Mogus said. "The health of our employees and their dedication are actually going to do more for the company, and profits will naturally rise as a result of focusing on the people first." 

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Making an investment in Stark County

As demand for mental health services across the nation increases, the cost for them is also rising. Despite that, Falletta said he views the cost associated with providing those services as an "investment in employee engagement." 

Mader said smaller companies in Stark County can take advantage of the benefits of mentally healthy employees even if they aren't able to afford offering services. That can be done by structuring workplaces to be less stressful and by understanding the needs of one's employees, she said. 

"It's not about what services you can or cannot offer, but it's about your approach to each of your employees in relationship-building and showing them that you do support their mental well-being," Mader said. 

Mader also noted that mental ailments may sometimes lead to or exacerbate physical illnesses, which cost employers money through insurance bills, additional hiring and delayed productivity. Taking a proactive approach to mental health, she said, may help employers avoid larger, often costlier expenses. 

Jason Mogus, owner and clinical director of the Center for Renewed Minds, a therapy provider in Lake Township, urges employers to focus on mental health in the workplace. "The health of our employees and their dedication are actually going to do more for the company, and profits will naturally rise as a result of focusing on the people first," he said.

In addition, mental health services like those offered by Goff and Falletta have been shown to improve retention and recruitment of employees, especially younger ones. According to survey data from LinkedIn, an online job search platform, 32% of Generation Z respondents said mental health benefits were a top priority in their job searches.

The survey also found that 65% of working Americans see a benefit in taking a mental health day off of work, and a third of them said they'd like to take one mental health day per month. 

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Mental health services: 'This is not just a fad.'

Though offering mental health and well-being services in the workplace may be relatively new, Goff thinks they benefits are here to stay. 

"This is not just a fad," Goff said. "It's a holistic approach to hiring good employees and retaining good employees, and if you don't have a strategy to do that, then you will experience continued turnover, employee dissatisfaction, employee distrust and you'll never get ahead."

In the future, Mader believes mental health services have the potential to become mainstream. As time goes on, she said, those types of services will likely become easier to access through a variety of venues, including in the workplace. 

Reach Ryan via email at rmaxin@gannett.com, on Twitter at @ryanmaxin or by phone at 330-580-8412.