Performance Matters - The Healthy, High-Performing Cultures Issue - 24

S TART THE CONVERSATION ON
MENTAL HEALTH
by Meg Switala
When someone gets sick or experiences a major physical health
change, typically we rally around them with a meal train and
plenty of casseroles. In contrast, mental illness is often
considered the " no casserole " illness-many people don't know
how to recognize it, let alone talk about it. There's a lot of guilt
and shame for those experiencing mental illness, and for those
supporting, a lot of frustration, minimizing, and even avoidance.
What is the impact of mental illness on organizations? It
impacts the daily lives of our associates, team members, and
leaders, including how they show up in the workplace. One in
five adults1
We're living this journey at TiER1. In 2015, we launched Start
the Conversation, a month-long program aimed to educate,
prompt dialogue, and reduce stigma. As part of our mission to
improve organizations through the performance of people to
build a better world, our goal was to pilot the initiative at TiER1,
then freely share with other organizations and their
employees-creating even greater impact. Little did we know
how much it would impact our culture; nor did we realize the
significant impact it would have on business performance.
currently suffers from a diagnosable mental illness.
That's more than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer
combined-in fact, it's over two and a half times greater! We've
found that over 90 percent of people report having someone in
their life affected by a mental illness. Whether an employee
wrestles with it personally or they support someone who is
suffering, mental illness creates tremendous stress in their life
and often prevents them from doing their best work.
What can we do about it? It starts with providing education,
resources, and support around mental health conditions to
normalize the experiences. That way employees are better able
to fully engage, bring their best selves, and truly thrive-leading
to a thriving organization.
1 Mental Health America, 2023
about the author
Meg Switala is Director of Healthy Cultures at TiER1
Performance. In her role, she focuses on helping create thriving,
healthy, high-performing organizational cultures. With expertise
in employee experience, organizational effectiveness, talent
optimization, communication, and growth and development,
Meg is passionate about helping people do their best work.
Meg also leads TiER1's Start the Conversation initiative and
partnerships with participating organizations.
Since launching, Start the Conversation has been recognized by
the CDC as a workplace mental health success story and as a
model case study by the American Psychiatric Association
Center for Workplace Mental Health. Fostering an environment
where employees can talk openly about mental health has
resulted in numerous stories of people being more comfortable
and knowledgeable in seeking help for family members, friends,
and themselves. This has ultimately made us a healthier
organization in every sense of the word, and the same story is
playing out at other participating organizations.
If you'd like to explore creating this same shift at your
organization, request the Start the Conversation toolkit
in the sidebar.
Click or scan the code to request
the free Start the Conversation
toolkit, which includes:
* An electronic guidebook for
employees to navigate content,
resources, and tools.
* Weekly email templates for
consistent, relevant
communications.
* Pre- and post-program surveys to
gather data and see the impact.
* Opt-in text campaign for those who
want a daily nudge of engagement.
* Weekly session materials with
notes to help facilitators feel
confident engaging participants
each week.
* Custom tools and curated
resources to personalize
the journey.
* Optional implementation
support and free consultation
to get you started.

https://tier1performance.com/start-the-conversation-tool-kit-request/?utm_campaign=Healthy%20Cultures%20Magazine&utm_source=Performance%20Matters&utm_medium=PR&utm_content=Healthy%20Cultures%20Issue https://mhanational.org/research-reports/state-mental-health-america-2023 https://tier1performance.com/author/m-switalatier1performance-com/

Performance Matters - The Healthy, High-Performing Cultures Issue

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