Mental Health in the Workplace Virtual Conference

Growing loneliness and social isolation have precipitated a public health crisis, and the workplace is far from immune. This session will explore how the mental and physical health challenges of loneliness impact cost and productivity of the workforce and what employers can do to address this issue.

In this session, we will address the following:

• What can employers do to create a culture where staff feels comfortable discussing difficult topics?
• What are the signs to recognize when someone is depressed and may be thinking about suicide?
• What are some strategies for building an awareness of and sensitivity toward those who have experienced the loss of someone by suicide?
• How can you appropriately respond when you recognize that someone is suffering?

This session will cover:

• Gun violence and suicide in the workplace
• Building a workplace culture of preventive preparedness
• Leading-edge critical incident response support.

Supervisors play a critical role in shaping workplace mental health acceptance and fostering an environment of psychological safety. In fact, recent research indicates that managers may have greater influence on an employee’s mental health than a doctor or therapist. The good news is that the same aspects that make you a good leader can also help you support the mental health of your team through practice of compassion, authentic listening, boundaries and resources. Utilizing those qualities when addressing or supporting a conversation on mental health in the workplace creates the foundation for a culture that supports leaders and employee mental health and well-being. The takeaways for this session are:

• Understanding mental health and promoting open communication
• Spotting signs related to mental health, stress and burnout to build psychological safety
• Establishing effective communication and boundary setting to care for supervisors and employees.

In this session, we will discuss current trends in alcohol and marijuana use in the workforce as well as the dangers and warning signs. Shifting the culture involves:

• Awareness and training at all levels of the company/union
• Identifying the elephant in the room
• Shutting down bullying/harassment
• Leveraging technology
• Providing support through authentic empathy and flexibility.

This session will address:

• Impact on worker/caregiver productivity
• Quality care measures
• Coordinating with different types of coverage
• Assessing caregiving point solutions.