Retaining young employees in Australia by prioritising mental health

If organisations in Australia prioritise mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, and implement authentic and effective mental health initiatives, they are more likely to be successful in retaining young employees.

However, just under 70% of young employees currently cite their organisation’s approach to mental health as a contributing factor in their decision to work for them, according to Batyr Australia, a for purpose preventative mental health organisation.

In a new report titled, Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, Batyr Australia identified how mental health initiatives in the workplace should be authentic, ongoing, followed through on and include participation from all levels of the organisation, particularly senior management.

Mental health-related emails with no follow-up discussion, policies that are never actioned, plans that are never implemented, and ones that are not accompanied by addressing growing workloads are the type of workplace mental health initiatives labelled as “box-ticking exercises” by those surveyed.

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The report also revealed that just over half (54%) of the respondents’ employers had successfully implemented meaningful wellbeing initiatives in the last 18 months, demonstrating the need to do more to ensure mental health support is embedded into workplace culture and practice, said Nic Brown, CEO of Batyr.

He explained, “Knowing that a workplace prioritises mental health is a key incentive for young people to re-join the workforce, and to stay engaged once landing a position. They want their managers to demonstrate their own mental health challenges as a way to build trust, create genuine care for their staff and make health initiatives in the workplace a success.”