Mental Health Awareness Month

Human Resources is an incredible field to work in. We have so many opportunities to help our employees.

We can encourage them, share resources and give them hope. Have you thought about how far our influence can go though? It often impacts families, friends and communities outside the workplace, too.

Think about promoting Mental Health Awareness Month to your employees. This is an opportunity we have to help reduce the stigma that is often associated with mental illness. It can be difficult for employees to ask for help or resources for such personal issues. However, by encouraging employees to make their mental health a priority, we’re starting a conversation that may help employees feel more comfortable participating in.

If you haven’t promoted Mental Health Awareness Month, don’t feel bad. You still have time to do it! Here are three options for you:

Promote your Employee Assistance Plan. If you don’t have time to create something, your vendor should have a basic handout that summarizes the plan and provides contact information. Your benefits broker can point you in the right direction in case you’re new in your role.
If you don’t offer an Employee Assistance Plan, you can share some information about mental health benefits through your health insurance plan. Let employees know where they can find a provider and how much they should expect to pay for services.
If you’re a small employer that doesn’t offer an Employee Assistance Plan or health insurance, you can share some tools and resources provided by the CDC. Their website provides several crisis hotline numbers as well as support for Veterans, older adults, abuse victims and the LGBTQ+ community. You can access that information here -

https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources/individuals/index.htm

This is also an opportunity for me to remind you to take care of your mental health, too. The HR community is full of thoughtful, compassionate, empathetic leaders. If we’re not careful, it can become very easy to prioritize the needs of others while neglecting our own. We must be intentional with our time. We need to listen to our bodies, schedule appointments with professionals that can help us and make time for rest.

Are you ready to use your voice and position to encourage others? Just be sure to pencil in a nap or some downtime on your schedule first!