How to Start a Conversation About Mental Health at Work

Mental health is a major aspect of our overall well-being and is a challenging topic to reference in many workspaces. In the last year and a half, we have seen a shift in awareness around mental health issues, and both employees and employers have actively engaged in supporting the opportunity to have open conversations around mental health and promote a supportive workplace.

Conversations about mental health issues in the workplace help to dismantle stigma and start the conversation, and therefore, understanding. This blog will demonstrate practical examples of how to start these conversations, from an inclusive and safe workplace perspective. 

Why is it Necessary to Discuss Mental Health at Work

Mental health is the foundation for how employees think, feel, and do their jobs.

According to the recent report from the Mental Health Foundation, millions of employees around the world are suffering from workplace related mental health issues and stress.

If mental health issues go undetected, there can be a decline in productivity and an increase in absenteeism and turnover. Conversely, if organisations demonstrate that they believe mental health is part of their workplace well-being commitment, employees and teams will be more engaged, loyal, and productive.

There are various advantages to starting discussions about the workplace's mental health, such as:

welUp by SaveIN, is an employee healthcare plan that offers free daily healthcare benefits including mental health resources that employers can deploy to better support their employees' well-being.

Step-By-Step Guide on How to Start a Mental Health Conversation at Work

1. Choose the Right Setting

Choose a safe physical environment that is private/quiet and comfortable for a conversation. Don't discuss sensitive issues in group settings or high-stakes situations (huddles, meetings, etc.). If you believe it is appropriate for your position, consider scheduling an informal one-on-one check-in. 

When engaging remote and/or hybrid teams, consider whether to use a secure video conference tool or simply a private messaging platform. Timing is also a factor here - ensure the employee is not rushed or on the edge of some task.

2. Connect with empathy and authenticity

When discussing mental health, it is critical to have no agenda other than being helpful. Don't be surprised by a person's reach (don't) when you know they care. Start by stating the observable data and don't judge. You can say something like, "I noticed that it seems you have been under a little more stress the past several days.  I'm here for you in whatever capacity you like, but if you'd like to talk with me, I'm here."

If you're still not sure how to start, take a look at the resources we have available from welUp's email healthcare benefits, which can help you to provide mental health-related support. For example, this could include referrals for professional counseling, wellness tools, and modalities.

3. Listen Actively Without Judgment

Active listening is essential when dealing with mental health. You need to listen to the person and make eye contact (as long as it is possible) and then try to set aside your own views and suggestions, and do not interrupt. It is appropriate to acknowledge or even validate feelings by using a phrase such as "That must be difficult" or "Thank you for sharing what you did."

So, try and fight any impulse to fix the issue, or to give guidance only when asked. Sometimes the employee just wants to be heard or needs to be able to discuss what things are bothering them.

4. Normalize the Conversation

Many stigmas can be avoided if you prime the conversation around mental health as something we all experience. For example, “We all struggle with things in life, and it's ok to talk about it.” When you frame it with your own personal experience, if it is appropriate at all, you take the interaction out of the world of clinical, and make it a bit more relatable. For example, "There were times that I felt overwhelmed with work, and stressed out, and it was nice to talk to someone about it."

Mention resources like welUp, which provides free daily healthcare benefits, including mental health support, to make professional help accessible. 

5. Know Your Role and Limits

As a non-licensed mental health professional, your role is simply to listen and support when using a supportive, active listening approach, but not to assess or help them work through their issues. You are not ideally assessing someone's mental health status or even pushing someone past their comfort level of disclosure. When someone conveys concern (i.e., thoughts to harm self or others), you may gently support that person to obtain professional help, and possibly give them information, if available, then and there. eg. "Sounds like you have a lot happening".

If your Health professional suspects someone is, or may be, in immediate danger, you should follow workplace policies that may include notifying human resources or notifying Emergency Services.

6. Provide Practical Support

Show your commitment to supporting mental health by offering tangible solutions. This could include:

• Flexible work arrangements: Propose adjusted hours or remote work to alleviate pressure/stress.
• Restorative Workload Adjustments: Discuss shifting responsibilities or adjusting deadlines.
• Resource Sharing: Point them to welUp’s free daily healthcare benefits, which include mental health services like therapy or mindfulness tools.

Aim to check in on the individual later to reinforce the support for the individual, e.g., “How have you been feeling since we talked?” Ideas like this show that mental health awareness is important in your workplace.

7. Involve Leadership and HR

For meaningful change, mental health conversations need buy-in from leadership. Encourage management and executives to model open behaviours themselves by sharing their mental health history or utilizing wellness initiatives. HR can certainly help by: 

• Developing mental health policies.
• Training staff on mental health awareness.
• Promoting benefits like welUp, which provides free daily healthcare benefits to support employee mental health.

When leadership serves as an advocate for mental health and well-being, it provides an important cue to the entire organization.

The Role of welUp in Supporting Workplace Mental Health

A strong employee healthcare plan can help kick-start the conversation around mental health at work as well. welUp provides free daily healthcare benefits that allow employees to take care of their mental and physical health. welUp provides employees, ways to access mental health care before it becomes a greater issue.                  

By implementing welUp at work, you are providing employees with barrier-free, stigma-free, professional support that allows for more ease in starting and keeping open conversations around mental health. welUp can be communicated and promoted through company communications, workshops, or it can be part of HR onboarding, so that employees are aware of this matter of importance.

Breaking Down Barriers to Talking About Mental Health

While talking about mental health is important, the first hurdle is always the biggest hurdle. It does take a conscious effort to begin the conversation, and here are some of the barriers to stepping into this space, as well as ways to overcome them:

Depending on your workplace, welUp may help to overcome your barriers to opening up conversations, to providing professional support that employees can access privately and on their own time. 

Conclusion

Opening a conversation about mental health is a first step in building a supportive and inclusive workplace and fostering a genuine sense of belonging. There are resources to support mental health in your workplace that you can use, and some, including welUp, offer free, daily healthcare benefits that provide your employees with everyday access to resources. This is a simple resource to wrap around your initiatives, and it ensures the employee feels supported in their living experience and is comfortable in sharing any challenges they are facing related to their mental health.

As mental health relates to workplace culture becomes more prominent, these employers who are creating the culture of conversations, or helping to increase/ and develop inclusive benefits, including the benefits of people being able to remain healthy, will be the employers.

So start the conversation now! Introduce how to begin a conversation about mental health, share welUp, and start reinforcing a workplace founded on mental health and well-being at work.

Want to take your workplace mental health initiatives to new levels? Find out more about welUp free daily healthcare benefits and start developing a workplace capable of building happier and healthier teams today.