KEY CONCEPT

When employees perceive that their organization supports the disclosure of mental health issues, they are more willing to disclose and are more likely to actually disclose mental health concerns, leading to better mental health and work outcomes.

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IDEA SUMMARY

Mental health concerns among employees are increasingly common, affecting a significant portion of the workforce, with estimates suggesting as many as 65% believe these concerns interfere with their jobs. Disclosing one’s mental health concerns is a critical step to accessing organizational help. However, many employees are reluctant to disclose the issues they are dealing with, believing that their organizations are not supportive in this area.

Building on and expanding previous research with their own exploratory questionnaires sent to nearly 500 students with employment experience and 700 full-time employees, a Canada-based team of researchers developed an in-depth measure for assessing the level to which an organization is perceived by employees to support the disclosure of mental health issues based on three components:

• The absence of anticipated discrimination and stigma, as perceived by employees in organizations in which employees were not ridiculed by their colleagues for mental health issues, and where disclosure of such issues did not lead to unfair treatment and work and reduced promotion opportunities.

• The availability of organizational resources, as perceived by employees in organizations in which employees who disclosed mental health issues were given support to improve their mental health, had access to HR resources and employee assistance programs, and were encouraged to take time off to deal with their mental health.

• The presence of social support, as perceived by employees in organizations in which employees were not only encouraged to speak openly about their mental health issues but also given the opportunity to do so leading to many employees taking the step to reveal their mental health issues.

Having identified the key components of perceived organizational support for disclosing mental health concerns, the researchers, through a series of studies, showed that higher perceived organizational support for disclosure led to increased employee willingness to disclose mental health concerns andactual disclosure behaviour. The willingness to disclose data was based on study participant responses to whether they would be willing to tell their organizations about any future mental health concerns. Actual disclosure was based on study participants indicating they had struggled with mental health concerns in the past and had disclosed those struggles to their employers. 

While the study showed that while all three components of the researcher’s measure the absence of anticipated discrimination and stigma, the availability of organizational resources, and the presence of social support increased employees’ willingness to disclose, only social support led to increased actual disclosure.

The study results also showed that higher perceived organizational support for disclosure led to significant outcomes beyond disclosure itself, including

• Reduced mental health challenges, including less anxiety and depression.

• Improved work outcomes, includinghigher work engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviour, and lower turnover intentions.

A second study based on surveys, later matched to employee records, of more than 800 employees from a large financial institution—linked organizational support for disclosing mental health concerns to improved mental well-being and lower absenteeism.

Finally, the research showed that willingness to disclose could explain the relationship between organizational support for disclosure and some of these outcomes notably anxiety, work engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviours.

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BUSINESS APPLICATION

The findings offer practical insights for HR professionals and organizations. In addition to assessing employees’ perceptions of organizational support for disclosing mental health concerns, HR can utilize the study’s three-dimensional measure to establish baseline levels, track changes over time, identify specific areas requiring improvement, and benchmark their support levels against those of other organizations.

The three dimensions can also guide organization in taking actionable steps to improve their performance. To reduce anticipated discrimination and stigma, organizations can implement transparent policies, provide evidence-led bias training, and communicate that discriminatory behaviour is unacceptable. To enhance the availability of organizational resources, they should promote awareness of existing mental health resources, such as employee assistance programs, and remove barriers to accessing these resources. To foster social support, managers and leaders should be encouraged to model open discussions about mental health, perhaps by sharing their own experiences when appropriate.

By showing that organizations can significantly increase mental health disclosure rates by creating supportive environments, the research challenges the notion that disclosure is solely an employee’s personal decision and that organizations bear little accountability for low disclosure rates. Instead, fostering an environment that supports the disclosure of mental health concerns leads to better outcomes for both employees and the organization.

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FURTHER READING

Zhanna Lyubykh’s profile at Beedie School of Business

https://www.sfu.ca/beedie/about/faculty-staff-directory/profile.html?name=ZhannaLyubykh

Nick Turner’s profile at Haskayne School of Business

https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/nicholas-turner

Justin Weinhardt’s profile at Haskayne School of Business

https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/justin-weinhardt

Joshua Davis’ profile on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-davis-a8870875/?originalSubdomain=ca

Aidan Dumaisnil’s profile at Camosun College

https://camosun.ca/business/contact-school-business/aidan-dumaisnil

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REFERENCES

Facilitating Mental Health Disclosure and Better Work Outcomes: The Role of Organizational Support for Disclosing Mental Health Concerns. Zhanna Lyubykh, Nick Turner, Justin M. Weinhardt, Joshua Davis, Aidan Dumaisnil. Human Resource Management (April 21, 2025).

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.22310

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