Interesting Article from WSJ on Mental Health and Colleges vs Workplaces

The article, linked here, discusses how some young, recently-graduated employees are encountering difficulties as they transition from a university environment to a business one because workplaces are often less accommodating of mental disabilities or illnesses than colleges are. I would agree with that reasoning and try to categorize the difference (at least in my personal experience) in this way. My college proactively made an effort to bring up the mental health of its students and provided us with resources from day one. Whereas at my first job in a big company, mental health was never discussed. The onus was on the employee to ask for some sort of assistance if they needed it.

And maybe these different situations make sense. After all, some would argue that it is not your employer’s responsibility to check in on your mental health. They are already paying you, shouldn’t that be enough? Are they really supposed to have to go out of their way to support your mental health as well? But my counter-argument would be that employers need to reconsider this line of thinking. Rather than treating the mental health of their employees as an additional burden they have to manage, companies should realize that improving the mental health of their employees can actually be beneficial to the company as well.

My alma mater has an endowment in the billions of dollars, yet I still give money to them. Why? Because they went out of their way to create a welcoming environment that I enjoyed being in. And that effort by them will pay off in their favor as I will continue donating to them over the next several decades as I want to help guarantee that same environment to future students. I am loyal to my school because they supported me and thus, I want them to continue to succeed.

While college is different from the workplace, I think that companies who embrace a similar sort of “collegiate” mindset can be more successful. It is expensive to hire and train an employee! It is much less expensive to create a tolerant and healthy workplace situation. The resources I was looking for at my company would have been cheap. I just needed to know who to talk to and how. But because my company’s culture was negative towards mental health issues, I stayed quiet and suffered alone. And thus, I didn’t feel as warmly towards my company as I had to my college. If I had been offered that same receptive environment in my workplace, I would have been extra motivated to continue supporting my company and ensuring they succeeded. So I think that companies prioritizing the mental health of their employees can be a financial boon not only because providing certain resources and a welcoming atmosphere is cheaper than having to re-hire and re-train new employees but also because employee performance will improve as loyal employees go above and beyond for companies they really care about. Now obviously, much of my argument is based on my own personal experience, but I have talked to others in similar situations and we have agreed that even small changes in how a company treats mental health would have a significant impact in our lives. So hopefully, more companies will embrace this mindset moving forward as I think it is a win-win situation for everyone.