Deloitte reported in 2022 that the estimated average return on investment for mental wellness programs is $5 for every $1 spent.
Let that sink in for a minute…
You can get 5x your ROI while also:
- promoting your wellness values to the world
- solving real employee issues like poor communication and burnout
- making your workplace more attractive for top talent
But here’s what Deloitte is not telling you, there is a right way and a wrong way to invest in mental wellness.
Unfortunately, many companies use outdated methods (such as EAPs) that aren’t catered to current workplace issues, such as record employee turnover and a post-pandemic mental health crisis.
Simply put, there are leaders who invest in these initiatives because they’re trendy, and those who do it as part of a serious growth strategy.
Are you serious about that 5x ROI?
Then let's look at the first step companies take while investing smartly...
They begin by determining where poor workforce mental health is costing their organization.
Because there are many ways that employee mental health issues can be financially draining your organization:
-Depression costs US companies $20-$40B a year
-Stress over $190B
-Burnout is estimated to cost employers 1/3 of the salary per burned out employee (that can add up quick!)
These are just a few of the mental health issues that can cost organizations, there are many more.
So in order to determine where investment dollars should go, leaders need to know where the costs are coming from.
Let’s take a glance at what this can actually look like with the top issue of the day, the trending heavyweight issue of burnout. What's the total cost of burnout?
Burnout will cost an organization of 100 people an average of $600k annually.
(based on the above mentioned 1/3 cost of a modest salary of 60k = 20k per burned out employee)
Because I've found that the average rate of ‘high employee burnout’ in organizations is 25-30%
How do I know this? Because it’s the first thing I do when I work with companies - I uncover the data on eight different categories of mental wellness in order to get a clear picture of where its costing your organization.
There are eight categories, because there is no one direct cost of mental wellness. And every organization is different. Some will have high burnout, others may have stress due to poor boundaries. And many companies deal with communication issues. Each of these comes with their own costs.
Mental health is complex. The worst thing you can do is invest in a one size fits all approach and have nothing properly get done.
So instead of throwing money at the problem, get the proper diagnostics first - in the form of mental health data directly from your employees. And understand your company’s internal limitations of getting this information...
Unless you have an amazing and tight knit culture, it’s not likely that your leadership team will get accurate mental health data from your employees about their vulnerabilities. Like it or not, mental health stigma still has a big impact today. Inaccurate information is costly...
There’s nobody more qualified to get this information from your people than a psychotherapist. Not only do we have the training, but we normalize mental health every day.
So let’s recap, in order to get return on investment you need to:
- track current mental health costs through accurate employee data
- then target your investment dollars in the areas that will deliver maximum ROI
The biggest cost is not having this employee data.
2023 is the time for your organization to do a serious audit of your mental health costs. It’s time to get a clear picture of the current state of mental health in your organization once and for all.
How do we help you do this? We first get you an official report of your company's mental health. Then, regardless of if your company decides to invest with us, you’ll at least have the data to inform future wellness initiatives smartly instead of doing this blindly.
If your organization is ready to get that 5x ROI in 2023, consult with one of our experts who can ensure you do this efficiently today!
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