3 min ⏱︎

May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of mental health issues and advocating for support and resources. In recent years, mental health has hit crisis point as these recent stats show:

• More than 1 in 7 UK adults say their mental health is currently either bad, or the worst it’s ever been.
• More women than men are currently struggling with poor mental health (18.5% of women vs 12.5% of men).
• Young people, aged 16-24 are the most affected by mental health struggles, with nearly a quarter (23.5%) describing their mental health as either bad or the worst it’s ever been.
• In the UK in 2024, the term ‘How to reduce stress’ is searched on Google once every 10 minutes, on average.

With an NHS waiting list of 1.9m, the role in employers in helping to provide support for employees is becoming business critical. 41% of employers expect to see increased demand for mental health this year and there is growing evidence around the returns employers can expect to see from making this investment.

In this digital age, where data analytics plays a crucial role in decision-making, people analytics platforms have become powerful tools in helping organisations track trends, identify red flags in the workplace and measure the impact of the investments they are putting in place to support colleagues.

These platforms, like illumin8HR, utilise data from across the employee life cycle to provide insights into various aspects of an organisation’s workforce, including employee performance, engagement, and sickness absence. When applied thoughtfully, these platforms can offer invaluable insights into the mental health dynamics within an organisation and facilitate proactive measures to support employee wellbeing.

Here’s how people analytics platforms can contribute to promoting mental health and support in the workplace:

Identifying Patterns and Trends: People analytics platforms can analyse a wide range of data points, including employee surveys, performance metrics, and sickness absence rates, to identify patterns and trends related to mental health. By examining this data, organisations can gain insights into common stressors, triggers, and risk factors that may impact employee wellbeing.

Early Intervention and Support: Early intervention is key to addressing mental health issues effectively. People analytics platforms can help identify employees who may be at risk of experiencing mental health challenges based on various indicators, such as changes in behaviour, performance, or other work patterns. By flagging these indicators early on, organisations can provide timely support and resources to those in need.

Monitoring Remote Work Challenges: The shift to remote work brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new challenges to mental health, including feelings of isolation, blurred work-life boundaries, and increased stress. People analytics platforms can help to monitor remote work dynamics, such as workload distribution and collaboration effectiveness, to identify areas where employees may be struggling and implement targeted interventions to support their wellbeing.

Measuring the Impact of Wellness Initiatives: Many organisations offer wellness programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting employee wellbeing. People analytics platforms can assess the effectiveness of these initiatives by tracking relevant metrics, such as employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention rates. Our platform, illumin8HR, allows you to set up targeted action plans, assigning specific, bespoke metrics to that action plan, in order to assess the progress and effectiveness of each initiative. By measuring the impact of wellness initiatives, organisations can make data-driven decisions to optimise their resources and tailor support services to better meet employees’ needs.

Heidi Lopez, Activ8 Intelligence’s Manager Director, commented: “One of the challenges employers have with people data is putting it in the hands of the right people in a timely way. One of illumin8HR’s users has over 400 people managers logging in everyday, able to monitor data across their teams with some focused KPIs. It’s particularly helping those managers who don’t always work the same shifts as their staff so lack the day-to-day touch points. By looking at the data, they have been better able to target areas where survey scores around anxiety and stress are increasing and they also see a spike in stress-related absence.  It’s a great example of using the real power of data to improve the employee experience.”

As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s helpful for organisations to recognise the role that people analytics platforms can play in supporting employee wellbeing. By leveraging data-driven insights, organisations can cultivate a healthier and more supportive work environment where employees feel valued, understood, and empowered to prioritise their mental health. Ultimately, investing in mental health awareness and support benefits not only individual employees but also the overall success and resilience of the organisation as a whole.

Click here to learn more about our award winning people analytics platform, and how it can support your organisation, or download a brochure here.