Gen Z, Remote Work, and Mental Health: Building a Strategy That Fits All 

As we look back on the start of the pandemic five years ago, we can see this as the time that businesses around the world truly started to step up and see employee mental wellbeing as a strategic priority. In fact, since the start of the pandemic, 81% of workplaces have increased their focus on employee mental health (MHFA England).

Despite this, one third of employees still feel that mental health support in their workplace is inadequate (Charlie HR), and with one in six people experiencing mental health problems in the workplace (Mental Health UK), the time to act is now.

No matter where you are on your workplace mental wellbeing journey, it’s important to consider effective strategies for reaching and engaging staff with mental health in the workplace, and developing nuanced support for different audiences and the challenges that they might face.

Step one: developing companywide strategies for success

There are several initial steps that can be taken to deliver companywide impact to employees to support their mental wellbeing at work. Firstly, consider how leadership can tackle stigma in talking about mental health at work, to distil a psychologically safe, open and honest culture across your organisation from the top-down. Talking about these topics, or even sharing lived experience in this space, at Town Hall meetings, or via video interviews hosted on the company intranet, can go a long way to building trust and meaningful connections with your employees, ultimately encouraging them to speak about any support that they might need. 

In terms of delivering tangible support to employees, ensure that you have an Employee Assistance Programme in place for employees and their families. This will be a confidential service that can be used to offer support and counselling to staff across a number of challenges that they might be facing, for example grief, loneliness or substance abuse. 

To drive engagement and awareness with mental wellbeing across the organisation at all levels, consider implementing a mental health champions programme, or Mental Health First Aiders, who would be trained in empathetic listening, and who could signpost employees who might be struggling with their mental wellbeing to the correct support and resources. 

Step two: understanding different demographics and their specific needs; for example, Gen Z mental wellbeing and how employers can prevent burnout 

Beyond this, it’s important to understand the nuances within your staff population, and how this might impact their experience and levels of engagement with mental wellbeing at work. Strategies and initiatives need to be nuanced and able to flex to different employees and what support they are looking for specifically. 

A good example of this is with Gen Z employees. A survey of Gen Z young adults (ages 19 through 24) found that 42% are diagnosed with a mental health condition (Harmony Healthcare IT), and 98% are battling burnout symptoms (Cigna). In fact, 23% say that they experience “unmanageable stress” and 48% say that they feel drained. 

With this in mind, consider what support you can offer to Gen Z specifically to support their mental wellbeing and prevent burnout. Flexible working arrangements and a positive work / life balance, for example, are both elements that the younger generation favours highly in the workplace, and can also contribute towards tackling rates of burnout. Likewise, encouraging open and honest conversations with their line managers about mental health to share their concerns, and offering clear career progression conversations to maintain motivation, can all be very helpful in supporting the wellbeing of your Gen Z employees. 

Step three: understanding different employee locations and how this impacts mental health at work 

Finally, it’s important to understand how the location and working patterns of employees can also impact their mental health at work, and their likelihood to engage with the resources and strategies that you deliver. 

For example, remote workers can be tricky to reach, and with a lack of physical connection in an office space, it can be hard to get a grasp on their current mindset and need for support. Ensuring that line managers still drive these conversations forward and proactively check-in with their line reports will do wonders here (avoiding the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach), and ensure that conversations taking place (along with resources offered) are reflective of this working style – and don’t use language focused specifically on staff in the office. 

Encourage remote workers to take regular breaks between meetings rather than being back-to-back all day (book in a diary hold of 30 minutes for ‘travel time’ before and after a meeting, as we would do with a physical meeting) to allow for decompression, and ensure that mental health resources are digital-led and can easily be accessed on the go. Consider internal podcasts here, for example, as a way of driving awareness and engagement with mental health conversations at work. 

These are all initial thought-starters on how you can best support the mental wellbeing of your employees. The most important element is to start the conversation in an open, authentic and meaningful way with your staff, ensuring that they feel supported in sharing any challenges that they might be facing. Listen to them carefully, and understand the bespoke needs of your workforce – offering tailored support that’s empathetic and reflective of their specific challenges will not be forgotten, and will build the foundation for a successful and sustainable mental wellbeing strategy.