corporate World Mental Health Day ideas

How to support employees on World Mental Health Day

This article will feature our best advice and ideas to show your team support this World Mental Health Day and beyond!

World Mental Health Day (October 10th) is an important occasion that highlights the importance of mental health and wellbeing. As a workplace, it’s important that we recognize that we play a crucial role in our employees’ lives and that we can provide additional support and a positive environment to support them on their journey.

Prioritizing employee well-being is more important than ever, and investing in it demonstrates that you care about your employees’ well-being beyond their work responsibilities. We know that mental health can still be a difficult topic, and by acknowledging it we can help reduce the stigma associated and encourage employees to feel more comfortable seeking help/support when needed. When we provide our teams with the skills to manage stress, build resilience, and support their own mental health, we are creative a more supportive and inclusive work environment where your teams can be themselves and thrive.

Step 1. bring in the experts

On World Mental Health Day, employers can provide a range of seminars, resources, and speaker sessions to give their teams new tools and resources to support their mental health.

Bringing in mental health professionals or therapists can be an opportunity to discuss stress management, anxiety reduction, building resilience, and maintaining a work-life balance. Guest speakers like mental health advocates and psychologists can encourage open conversations about mental health in the workplace, reducing the stigma associated. By bringing in experts, you are giving your team high-quality insight and guidance and they may even be able to offer practical advice that your employees can use on a daily basis.

To focus on your team’s specific needs, you can reach out through a survey and get insight into what topics your employees would like to learn about ie. stress relief, mindfulness, and goal setting.

Some of your employees may need help developing good coping strategies, and a workshop around time management, setting boundaries, and how to develop healthy routines could be really helpful. Similarly, introducing your team to mindfulness practices can help them stay present and manage their thoughts and emotions better. Mindfulness can improve focus, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.

2. offers tools and resources

Providing mental health resources including articles and a website is an important element of supporting your teams as it may help them recognize signs of distress, and how/when to seek help.

Giving your team access to webinars or online courses led by experts allows them to see them in their own time, and these may cover topics like how to practice mindfulness and techniques for managing difficult emotions. Alternatively, if your company is in the position to do so, you could provide your teams with some helpful tools and/or platforms like virtual talk therapy, guided meditation, and mood and health trackers among others.

Keep in mind that all of these are added bonuses, but the most important thing you can do is ensure your employees have access to high-quality health insurance, including access to mental health and substance abuse treatments.

3. allow for flexibility

Building a culture that allows for flexibility, and encourages a healthy work-life balance is a crucial step in supporting your team’s mental health. This shift in mindset can impact your teams by reducing stress as they can better balance their work and personal responsibilities and it can reduce commuting stress and give them back some valuable time to spend with their loved ones.

As employees, flexibility empowers your team to work when they are most productive and efficient and produce higher quality work that they are proud of. This increased autonomy will foster a sense of trust in themselves and their own work, and lead to higher job satisfaction and motivation.

Flexibility can also reduce work-related stress, and allow your employees to navigate demanding periods better. By learning how to manage their time effectively, they will be less likely to be overwhelmed by a build-up of stress associated with unreasonable deadlines or excess workloads. Building a culture of open dialogue will allow your employees to speak up when they feel overwhelmed and lean on management, or their peers to support them.

Lastly, we know ourselves best, so encourage your team to take the necessary measures to support their own mental health and make it fit around their schedule, this includes prioritizing attending any necessary appointments, practice self-care, and taking breaks when needed.

4. Supporting Working Parents/Caregivers

For parents and carers, in particular, balancing work and caring responsibilities can be difficult, and flexibility will allow them to better manage both, with less guilt and stress.

Offering flexible hours, compressed workweeks, or remote/hybrid work options, will allow parents to better manage familial responsibilities like school drop-offs/pick-ups, doctor appointments, and childcare arrangements. You can facilitate a parental support group where parents can share advice and resources, on-site or subsidized childcare, flexible return-to-work-plans, paid family care days, and of course, ensure your parental leave policies are comprehensive, and extended leave options are available for parents who may be adjusting to new family dynamics.

Keep in mind that some employees may not be parents but may provide care for other people in their lives. Make sure your employee policies are inclusive and that all employees can benefit from this flexibility if they need it at some point throughout their careers.

5. Develop an employee wellness program

To support your team's daily well-being at work, you can implement a comprehensive corporate wellness program that has clean and achievable goals, while prioritizing individual employee needs.

You can design designated quiet areas in the office for teams to decompress, and on-site wellness initiatives like yoga, and meditation. You can support your team’s mental and physical health through seminars and classes, that encourage them to prioritize their health like cooking classes, which provide valuable skills and encourage making good dietary choices, and gym memberships which provide access to regular exercise and support overall wellbeing. There are other things you can do, like ensuring there’s healthy food and snack options in the canteen and a bike-to-work scheme for those who choose this as a form of exercise/transport, and it promotes co-friendliness.

To nurture your community, you can invest in team-building activities, and engaging social events that can further strengthen bonds and enhance team morale and engagement. Being an active member of your work community can create opportunities for team members to collaborate outside their usual tasks, and cultivate a sense of belonging, and community. This can have a positive impact on team morale and overall engagement levels, contributing to a more vibrant and productive workplace environment.

What’s next?

We hope this article has inspired you and given you some simple but effective ways to support your teams this World Mental Health Day and beyond. To find out how KraftyLab can help you develop a comprehensive corporate wellness program, contact our team today, and we’ll be happy to help you design a program that’s right for your company and your team.

ABOUT KRAFTYLAB

KraftyLab is a leading provider of virtual team building and corporate events across the US and Canada. We focus on providing fun and engaging opportunities for connection through virtual team building activities, games, and experiences.