Extending the research frontiers of employee mental health through contextualisation: China as an example with implications for human resource management research and practice

Purpose: Impoverished employee mental health is harmful to employees and organisational performance. There is emerging interest in employee mental health in the human resource management (HRM) field. The majority of these studies mainly focus on the organisational and individual levels from the psychological and managerial perspectives without considering the sectoral characteristics and societal context. Design/methodology/approach: This perspective paper draws on extant literature as well as 10 informal interviews with medical professionals, organisational leaders in the public sector, teachers and HR professionals to shed light on employee mental health research, practice and challenges in the Chinese context. Findings: This paper reveals national, sectoral, occupational and individual factors that shape mental health problems, individual coping mechanisms and organisational interventions. It also shows international influence on employee mental health in the form of institutional pressure and knowledge transfer. Research limitations/implications: There is limited research on employee mental health and HRM in the Chinese context, which restricts the scope of discussion in this paper, but at the same time presents rich future research opportunities that may be relevant to other national settings. Practical implications: Managing the mental health of the workforce is part of the mental health management of the population, which means a holistic approach to building a mental health eco-system needs to be adopted. The authors call for more research on employee mental health in the Chinese context to provide evidence to support policy development and organisational efforts to scale up mental health services at the national and organisational levels. The authors also provide practical recommendations for policymakers and employing organisations. Originality/value: The authors present a multi-level and multi-factor overview related to employee mental health in the Chinese context. The authors argue for a resource-based and multi-stakeholder approach, which will help inform and improve mental health policy and practice. The authors present several avenues for future scholarship and research. The authors extend the research frontiers of employee mental health issues by calling for the inclusion of a broader range of theoretical lenses including institutional theory, cultural and spiritual perspective and critical sociology to understand more fully how employee mental health conditions may be undermined or improved.