
Executive summary
Many organizations have prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through policies and programs. It’s a good start. Yet, these initial efforts in DEI are only a start if creating a mentally well workplace for all workers is the goal.
Evidence shows that improved worker health, increased employee engagement and retention, and decreased stress in the workplace are consistent outcomes found in organizations that are investing in creating psychologically safe and equitable work environments. Healthy workplaces recognize the importance of how an individual’s identity intersects with mental wellness, particularly for workers of marginalized or stigmatized communities.
Mental Health America’s annual work health survey helps determine the current state of worker mental health and well-being in the U.S. The survey also informs effective practices that support mentally healthy work environments. The latest work health survey measured the perceptions of 25,948 workers across 17 U.S. industries who shared their workplace experiences relating to their identity(s).
MHA aimed to answer and find solutions to the following questions:
- How does a worker’s identity relate to their mental health at work?
- How do microaggressions at work impact a worker’s mental health?
- What employer interventions contribute to a more inclusive workplace?
The findings reflect that workers thrive in a work environment where their identities are represented, acknowledged, valued, and trusted, particularly in a workplace where leadership and management demonstrate these values.
Fostering an inclusive work environment requires more than an equity statement and corporate diversity policy. A true workplace culture of inclusion needs the support of organizational leadership and management to not only address worker discrimination, microaggressions, and implicit biases but also strive for substantial improvements in workforce representation and psychological safety in physical, hybrid, and remote work environments.
Key findings
Mental health and psychological safety at work
- Workers who feel that their identity and perspectives are valued by leadership report higher rates of psychological safety. Of those who feel valued by leadership, 3 in 4 workers feel emotionally and mentally safe in their workplace (76%), report that their workplace takes direct actions to address discrimination (73%), and would recommend their workplace to their peers (76%).
- Workers who feel psychologically safe in their workplace strongly correlate with fewer bouts of unmanageable stress contributing to mental health concerns. Eighty-one percent of workers who feel mentally or emotionally safe in their workplace report that workplace stress does not affect their mental health. Workers in frontline positions feel less mentally or emotionally safe compared to people managers and leadership.
- Workers in healthy work environments report experiencing fewer microaggressions related to race and gender identity. However, 3 in 5 workers still regularly experience microaggressions at work based on race, and 2 in 5 workers based on gender.
- Workers who do not feel that leadership values their identities perceive their organization as either complicit or harmful in cultivating a psychologically safe workplace. Of workers who do not feel valued by leadership, 73% feel that their company would not act on discrimination issues. In addition, 73% of workers are not comfortable talking to a manager about mistreatment based on race, gender, or disability, and 77% feel that their manager would not encourage them to report mistreatment.
- Workers in unhealthy work environments report higher rates of psychological distress that lead to mental health concerns. In 2022, 81% of workers report that workplace stress affects their mental health, compared to 78% of respondents in 2021. Seventy-three percent of workers report that workplace stress affects relationships with family, friends, or co-workers.