Beyond connecting people across any distance, social media provides a platform for people to share thoughts, opinions, and commentary on a number of topics. One such topic continually gaining a lot of traction is mental health and wellness. Over the past couple of years, a number of Millennial and Gen Z employees, particularly on TikTok, began discussing how to reclaim their personal health and wellness, particularly in the face of increased stress and pressure from employer expectations.

Burnout is not a new phenomenon, but the fact that so many younger employees are feeling increasingly burnt out at an early stage in their career is not promising for the state of their mental health, or for employers’ bottom lines. However, employers can take actions to provide better mental support for their employees, and simultaneously tackle the negative business outcomes that result from poor employee mental health.

Below are three key actions employers can, and should, take to support employee mental health.

1. Offer mental health coverage

Post-COVID, employees are experiencing worse mental health than ever before, which leads to increased burnout. According to a new study by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, 40% of employees would leave their job for one offering better mental health benefits. But by offering mental health benefits, employers show they value their employees’ mental wellbeing and are providing them with resources to improve it.

The good news is many companies are starting to roll out mental health benefits plans; 88% of employers have enhanced their mental health offerings in the past year.

2. Introduce more flexible working policies

While increasing self care is a common answer for how to solve burnout, it’s not the most effective. Self care is really about finding a better work-life balance. Offering a more flexible workplace, such as shorter work weeks or work from home policies, gives employees the opportunity to improve that work-life balance and take care of their personal lives, their mental health, and their professional lives.

3. Understand what is, and is not, a priority

It’s easy for everything in the working world to seem like a crisis. But what actually constitutes a crisis? What really needs to happen is a shift in perspective as to what constitutes crucial, emergency work, and what can either be eliminated, streamlined, or re-delegated. When employers identify what work tasks are actually priorities versus things that can be deferred or eliminated, employees have less on their plate—and thus a job with less stress.

Read the full article about employee wellness by Jessica Plante at Christensen Institute.