2018 has been a big year for women: from TIME Magazine naming those who spoke out about sexual harassment as Person of the Year, to UK celebrating 100 years of women’s right to vote, to the US Women’s Soccer team making headlines.  

What’s the common theme here? Women are demanding both equality and safety in the workplace – and we’re being heard.

When it comes to mental health and wellness in the workplace, some people question where the ownership lies. Is it with individual employees? Managers? Coworkers? The organization as a whole? The American Psychological Association believes that “a psychologically healthy workplace fosters employee health and well-being while enhancing organizational performance and productivity.” With this on our mind and today being World Mental Health Day, Lightspeed Health polled 335 managers and 784 employees in the US about mental health and wellness in regards to the workplace. Here’s what we found…

Many organization are taking part in employee health and wellness programs; in fact 51% of managers indicated their companies have health and wellness policies. And regarding the support for employee’s health and well-being, 46% consider their organizations more proactive than reactive.

However, survey results indicated a disconnect between managers and employees on formal policies. When employees were asked about the awareness of company health and wellness policies, only 29% believed their organization had one, 43% reported there were no policies, and 29% weren’t sure either way. When asked if they felt their workplace was supportive and respectful of their mental health and wellness, 49% felt they were.

And how did women respond to some of our questions versus men? Their responses were remarkably similar. For example, when we asked employees if they felt admitting to mental health and wellness conditions would damage their career, 60% of women and 54% of men leaned towards no, while 23% of women and 25% of men leaned towards yes.  Similarly, 42% of women and 46% of men reported that work contributes to their mental health and wellness, and 31% of women and 32% of men felt it didn’t.

Interested in more of our results? Check out our infographic below or reach out for more information.