What Does A Culture Of Mental Health Really Look Like?

3 ways to go beyond the status quo

With 49% of employees reporting feeling “at least somewhat” burned out, it’s no surprise that now more than half of Gen Z and millennial workers say they want company cultures built on mental health and wellbeing.

But why is a mentally healthy culture needed?

Despite mental health support becoming a business imperative following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve learned that making significant change takes time, and most strategies aren’t equipped to pan out in the long run. A 2021 study by Mind Share Partners found a 16% increase in employees leaving their job due in part to mental health reasons as compared with 2019 findings.
 

As mental illness continues to play a large part in why employees are quitting their jobs at higher rates, HR leaders know there’s more to be done to make positive, sustainable change. If we listen to the needs of workers – and the results of innovative organizations – the answer lies in company culture.

So, what does a culture of mental health really look like?

Defining a Culture of Mental Health

Initiatives like wellbeing apps and hybrid working models have become add-ons to wellbeing strategies. It’s time to look beyond mere optimizations and think more holistically – rebuilding systems, structures, and processes in a whole-company way.

Organizations that have taken this approach are already benefiting in a number of ways, including being 2.2x more likely to surpass financial targets and 10.8x more likely to see lower rates of employee absence. 

There’s no single, store-bought fix to deliver a booming business or flourishing staff. Apps alone shouldn’t be viewed as solutions, but as starting points of a more comprehensive strategy that supports individuals at the organization at all levels, in a proactive and preventative manner.

Here’s how three organizations are going beyond the status quo to create a culture of mental health.

1. Champions for Change

To empower its largely millennial workforce to proactively manage their wellbeing, build resilience, and increase understanding, Gymshark recruited internal wellbeing enthusiasts to form a team of health “Champions.”

The “Healthy Minds Champions” group, including members from all areas of the company – importantly, even senior executives – takes a leading role to support, educate, and engage others in activities that holistically improve wellbeing, company-wide. 

Key year-round goals for the Champions group involve:
 

• Combating stress and promoting mental health management
• Ensuring the entire workforce is accessing available mental health support
• Measurably improving the mental well-being of the workforce

To achieve their goals, Champions have employed frequent company-wide messages of inspiration and positivity, engagement-focused communications to encourage people to interact with posts, and helping direct employees to proactive and preventative mental health tools, like self-guided L&D programs or digital health resources.

Designating mental health influencers helps to give others the agency to take healthy actions without fear of stigma or judgment from colleagues. New healthy behaviors, even the most simple, can then impact the culture in very positive ways. Suggestions like swapping Zoom calls for walking meetings, encouraging employees to rally around each other’s personal wins, or getting employees and their families involved in events that support their communities – like a virtual bake sale – are all examples of small steps to cultural change.

2. Training for Wellbeing

Education is a critical component of bringing about changes within any culture. When it comes to creating a culture of mental health, learning becomes a foundational need to build skills for empathy and confidence.

To help educate and upskill employees around the topic of mental health, Legal & General, a financial services and asset management company, uses evidence-based training. The primary goal is to bring knowledge and understanding into the conversation around wellbeing, to help normalize talking about mental health, and give people the skills to recognize problems and overcome them.

Anthony Lockyer, Underwriting Auditor at Legal & General, says, “It doesn’t just help us to have the conversation, but it helps us understand how we can support people further, after that initial conversation.”

To start, the company provided employees with foundational-level training sessions. Beginning slowly, with small groups, they saw attendance rise as more employees saw the impact and wanted to join discussions and gain skills to address their mental health.

3. Space for Listening

Matt Bickerdike and Dom Lindsay at BAE Systems knew that active listening was a critical need to build a company culture that can break down barriers to openly discuss mental health. Their internal podcast, Break the Silence, was started as a way to raise awareness about common mental health issues by providing the space for real, human talk about mental health.

The podcast isn’t afraid to discuss personal stories from guests, even if funny or difficult in nature, to touch on themes like living with autism or PTSD. By inviting guests from all levels at the company, listeners can relate to the experiences of anyone at the organization – regardless of their role.

By encouraging active listening via monthly episodes, Break the Silence has become a channel to help employees connect and empathize with each other, which in turn improves collaboration.

Culture is Always Evolving

Creating a culture of mental health is a continuous process that must reach all areas of an organization. Adopting digital well-being tools or implementing one-off programs alone can result in some good, but we’re already seeing companies struggle to maintain positive trends. For lasting change that can be felt throughout the organization, take influence from other well-being strategies and go beyond the status quo.

Matt Jackson is the Head of North America for Unmind. He is an expert in the global health and benefits technology space, having lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, and New York, advising multinational organizations for over 13 years. This has helped to provide him with a broad perspective of the challenges that face multinational organizations when it comes to managing their people across borders, specifically in the area of health and benefits. Connect Matt Jackson