In the month of May, employers have a unique opportunity to support the mental health and well-being of their employees by participating in Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental Health: The Employee Experience

• 76% of employees report at least one symptom of a mental health condition.¹
• 4-in-5 employees report that workplace stress affects their relationships with family, friends and coworkers^.2
• Only 38% of employees would be comfortable using their company’s services for a mental health concern.²
• One-third of employees reports that their company’s leadership speaks openly about mental health.²

Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace

Employers play an important role in helping to raise mental health awareness, reducing stigma and creating supportive work environments. Potential steps include:

• Evaluate current mental health benefits (e.g., programs available, utilization rates) and identify opportunities for improvement
• Launch mental health awareness and anti-stigma campaigns
• Offer mental health training and education across all levels of the organization
• Demonstrate leadership support and commitment
• Collect employee feedback to understand their needs and priorities (e.g., surveys, focus groups, employee resource groups)
• Explore ways to provide employees with flexibility and control over their work
• Promote free, confidential mental health screenings such as Mental Health America’s online screening tool

Download Mental Health America’s Workplace Mental Health Toolkit for more tips, tools and resources.

How We Can Help

The Brown & Brown Population Health & Well-Being Consulting team works with employers to help increase employee engagement, reduce medical costs and increase productivity. Our experienced consultants provide customized solutions to address mental health and substance use issues, focused primarily on four key areas:

• Mental and Behavioral Health Strategy
• Educational Communications
• Trainings, Webinars and Thought Leadership
• Vendor Selection and Management

Because we recognize that mental health is a leading business issue for employers, our team created the Mental Health Solution Toolkit to help employers support the mental health needs of employees and their families.

Mental Health Solution Toolkit*

The toolkit is designed to help employers:

1. Quantify the impact of behavioral health conditions on the organization (medical and Rx spend, prevalence rates, absenteeism)
2. Build a business case for action and a strategic roadmap for addressing your organization’s mental health needs
3. Address stigma and increase organizational awareness of mental health symptoms and resources
4. Improve access to low/no-cost resources for employees and their families

Learn More

Connect with your local Brown & Brown representative or click here to learn more about our population health and employee benefits services, and our Mental Health Solution Toolkit for employers.

Resource Highlight

“The Mental Health Crisis Among Our Youth” Recorded Webinar
In January 2023, Brown & Brown hosted an educational webinar regarding the mental health crisis among our youth. View the webinar.

1 Mind Share Partners (2021). 2021 Mental Health at Work Report.

2 Mental Health America (2022). Mind the Workplace 2022 Report: Employer Responsibility to Employer Mental Health

*The Mental Health Solution Toolkit and our Population Health & Well-Being consulting services are designed for our customers with 200 or more employees

Dr. Joel Axler

National Behavioral Health Leader