Novartis has made a concerted effort to promote mental health awareness among its employees by training over 1,000 individuals as Mental Health First Aiders. These employees are equipped to offer peer-to-peer support for their colleagues who may be struggling with mental health issues. However, despite the eagerness of employees to participate in the training, the uptake of the program has been low. In order to better understand why employees were not engaging with the Mental Health First Aiders program, a team of researchers at Novartis conducted a randomized controlled trial with 2,400 employees based in the UK, Ireland, India, and Malaysia.
The study revealed that creating a supportive culture within the workplace where employees feel comfortable sharing their own mental health challenges may be a more effective way to encourage the use of mental health resources. By fostering an environment where mental health is openly discussed and supported, employees may be more inclined to seek out the help they need. The researchers also explored different ways to overcome barriers such as privacy concerns and usage concerns that may be preventing employees from accessing mental health resources.
Emphasizing personal stories about colleagues who had benefited from the Mental Health First Aiders program had a significant impact on employee engagement. Surprisingly, emphasizing the anonymity of the program did not have a significant impact on employee engagement. These findings suggest that creating a supportive culture within the workplace is key in encouraging employee engagement with mental health resources.
