Resources to Support Employee Mental Health

Today I had the privilege of joining a panel with Oregon SHRM to discuss how organizations can better support worker mental health. While I’m not a mental health clinician, my work focuses on how workplaces can adapt to meet the evolving needs of their workforce, reexamine the structure of work itself, and provide meaningful support and resources. One key point that always arises is the need for training and development for leaders. Leaders play a critical role in creating environments where employees feel supported - and yet, many don’t know where to start. Here are two evidence-based, free or low-cost resources I recommend: The Safety, Health and Improvement Program (SHIP), Total Worker Health® Toolkit by the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center. Designed for supervisors and managers in any industry, this program facilitates team-based discussions to improve work-life balance. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/g84FmfKa Psych Hub's Mental Health Ally Training. This resource offers courses to help individuals recognize mental health symptoms, build coping skills, and understand treatment options - equipping them to better support themselves and others. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gAv2md22 Building a culture of mental health support starts with small, actionable steps. These tools are great places to begin! #MentalHealth #TotalWorkerHealth #WorkplaceWellbeing

And now, for some extremely practical resources to support preventative mental health! Each day this week, I'm featuring a recently published book that draws on research and real world experience to guide us in creating cultures that promote well-being. Today's featured book focuses on mental health and as a bonus, there are actually two of them by the same author. Judd Allen, Ph.D. has long been a champion of culture change and a prolific author on the subject. His more than 60 years of work on building cultures of care and his psychology background bring ample credibility to the subject area. His personal stories of how he first became interested in mental health through the legacies of his grandfather and father engaged me from the first pages and the numerous case examples kept me reading to the final page. His first book "We Flourish: A Guide to Supporting Proactive Mental Health at Work" targets organizational and systemic approaches to well-being with a focus on policies and practices that support mental health and well-being. It's especially geared towards those in a position to influence change within organizations. The second book by Dr Allen is "Better Together: How to Support the Proactive Mental Health of Family, Friends, and Coworkers." This book is literally for EVERYONE. You could give it to friends, family, coworkers, neighbors. It would be a terrific book to distribute to wellness champion networks, mental health resource groups, and anyone in a formal leadership role. Both books provide actionable strategies to support the framework presented in the opening chapters, with numerous real-world examples that illustrate what it looks like to apply them at an organizational or individual level. Check out the full review and the complete issue of "Knowing Well Reading Well" in the November issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion at https://lnkd.in/gK6ujBUD #workplacewellbeing #mentalhealth #socialsupport

Mental health is an increasingly pressing priority for new workers—and as an employer, you need to be prepared to offer support. Here’s how to show new hires you value mental health: * Integrate mental health into recruiting, hiring, and onboarding. When recruiting, create an employee well-being statement that clearly defines what mental health means to your organization. In job postings, be transparent about the mental health resources you offer, and include in-depth guides for navigating mental health benefits in onboarding materials (especially for incoming people managers). * Create a sustainable, mentally healthy work culture. This entails being upfront about workplace norms—both “hard norms” like roles, timelines, and deadlines and “soft norms” around urgency, responsiveness, and how people communicate. It also means establishing collaborative, flexible expectations around when, where, and how people work. * Make mental health support accessible and intuitive. During employees’ onboarding, hold learning sessions and Q&As with your benefits team and publish simple how-to guides on your intranet detailing how to navigate and weigh different benefit options. Train managers on mental health first aid and consider subsidizing tools for developing healthy behaviors, such as meditation apps, coaching solutions, sleep tools, and gym memberships. This tip is adapted from “How to Support New Workers’ Mental Health,” by Bernie Wong et al.