What Employees Actually Want From Mental Health Support
Employers spend a lot on mental health support based on assumptions about what employees want. Sometimes those assumptions are right; often they're not. When you actually ask employees, a fairly consistent - and clarifying - picture emerges, and it's not always what the vendor brochure emphasizes.
What employees consistently say they want
- Actual access: to be able to get help quickly when they need it - not a directory, a real appointment
- Privacy: confidence that seeking help won't affect their job or become known
- Real help, not gestures: care that works, not another awareness email
- Ease: a simple path, not a bureaucratic maze
- To be believed: that their struggle is taken seriously
What they're less excited about than employers think
Wellness challenges, generic webinars, and yet another app tend to rank lower than employers expect. Employees can tell the difference between something designed to look good and something designed to help them, and they're increasingly vocal about it.
The gap between spend and want
Employers often over-invest in the visible, easy-to-deploy things (apps, campaigns) and under-invest in the thing employees most want: fast, private, real access to care. Closing that gap doesn't necessarily cost more - it means spending on what people actually value.
CorpCARE delivers what employees actually want - fast, private, real medical care. Not a gesture, the genuine thing.
Sources
- Mental Health Research Canada. "Mental Health in the Workplace 2025" (5,008 employed Canadians; 39% report burnout, up from 35% in 2023; paid time off, personal days and flexible schedules rated more effective than social events or awareness programs; only 42% with a diagnosis disclose it at work). https://www.mhrc.ca/workplace-mh-2025
- Fleming, W.J. "Employee well-being outcomes from individual-level mental health interventions: Cross-sectional evidence from the United Kingdom." Industrial Relations Journal, 2024 (46,336 workers, 233 organisations; no benefit found for mindfulness, resilience training or well-being apps). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/irj.12418