According to CCLA’s latest Mental Health Benchmark, only 15% of the global companies surveyed have made a public commitment to workplace mental health in their reporting. This finding comes from the annual rebalance of the benchmark, which now includes a five-year longitudinal survey of 121 companies employing over 19 million individuals.
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The benchmark evaluates companies based on four key pillars: management commitment and policy, governance and management, leadership and innovation, and performance reporting and impact. Companies are ranked in tiers from one to five.
This year, 54 companies improved their overall scores compared to last year, with 23 advancing to a higher tier and 82 maintaining their existing tier status. The report highlighted that 98% of responding companies provide at least one mental health support mechanism, with 86% offering several.
Since 2022, the average score across the benchmark increased from 25% to 30%. However, the report emphasized that overall progress is still weak, with 48 companies falling within the lowest performance tier. North America, in particular, displayed lower performance scores compared to regions such as EMEA and East Asia.
The report attributes sluggish progress to three primary factors: First, only 15% of CEOs have taken leadership roles by publicly committing to workplace mental health in company reports. Second, only 23% of companies utilize employee engagement data to guide their mental health policies, and many do not disclose participation rates in mental health initiatives, with fewer than one in three companies doing so. Lastly, fewer than 45% of companies effectively articulate the business case for prioritizing mental health, neglecting to detail the commercial benefits of managing mental health in the workplace.
To foster improvement, the benchmark outlines seven recommendations, including the publication of a CEO statement committing to workplace mental health, providing managers with training and resources, and involving employees in program design.
The survey also noted a positive correlation between certain company practices and overall performance, particularly in management openness, board oversight, and the setting of targets and objectives.
Matthew Beesley, CEO of Jupiter Asset Management, remarked that the report’s findings indicate that mere awareness is insufficient. He highlighted the importance of integrating mental health into corporate strategy, organizational culture, and long-term planning, asserting that healthy work environments contribute positively to talent attraction and retention, productivity, and sustainable business success.