How Leaders Can Support Mental Health in the Workplace

According to a recent National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) workplace mental health poll, people who are less comfortable talking about their mental health at work are more likely to report feeling burnout. More than half of those polled reported feeling burned out in the past year, with 37 percent reporting difficulty in their jobs due to feeling emotionally overwhelmed.

Organizational leaders (elected officials, department heads, managers) are positioned to create positive work environments, but conversations around mental health at work can be challenging to navigate. Approaching an employee about issues of mood and mental health can be tricky, even anxiety-producing, for organizational leaders.

Despite being a challenging topic, openness about mental health in the workplace can improve the well-being of staff, as well as increase productivity. Here are five tips leaders can use to approach mental health at work.

1. Communicate about Mental Health and Well-being

Tools such as stress reduction training, articles and videos on the topic of mental health can open the door to future communication on the topic.

Leaders can schedule Employee Assistance Program staff to conduct educational trainings on topics such as mental health in the workplace, the future of mental health, substance use disorder, or busting the myths of mental illness.*

Inviting this content into the workspace can be part of creating a positive workplace culture. In addition, employees may feel more comfortable asking for help for themselves or a co-worker.

2. Discuss Mental Health Insurance Benefits

When staff know what resources are available to them, they are more likely to self-refer for treatment and support. This often leads to employees addressing their mental health symptoms before chronic and pervasive performance or attendance problems begin.

3. Promote Employee Assistance Program

According to NAMI, 51 percent of employees say they would utilize a service to support their mental health if the services offered were free, confidential and independent from their employer. Fortunately for MCIT members, their employees have such a service in the Employee Assistance Program.

When employees understand how the EAP works, they are more likely to use this service. It is also important to know that the EAP provides work-life resources and referrals, when appropriate, in addition to counseling. Receiving resources and referrals to address underlying sources of stress can bolster the efficacy of EAP counseling.

MCIT offers several items to assist members in promoting the Employee Assistance Program, including posters, digital images, brochures and more. The EAP Employer Promotion Guide provides tips about how to build awareness of the program among employees. MCIT recently released new EAP posters and digital images. See Resource Library for new and previous promotional items.

4. Establish an EAP Champion

Members are encouraged to create an in-house EAP champion who advocates for the program and can answer employees’ questions about it. This role is often best suited to the HR function, administrator/executive director and/or sheriff.

MCIT is happy to work with EAP champions to ensure that they understand the program and all the ways it can support employees. Individuals should contact MCIT Deputy Director Steve Nelson at 866.547.6516 or send a email to get started. (Note: Individuals should call 800.550.6248 to connect with an Employee Assistance Program counselor.)

Members are also encouraged to check out these self-service resources to learn about the EAP:

• Employee Assistance Program page
• Informative articles in the Resource Library
• SandCreekEAP.com: This is the website for MCIT’s partner in administering the EAP. The designated EAP contact for the member may send an email to MCIT to request the company code to set up a log in for the “member portal” of this site.

5. Talk to Employees One-on-one about Concerns

Changes in performance, attendance, attitude and presentation are opportunities for managers to express genuine concern for the employee and remind him or her about resources such as the EAP that are available to support the employee.

Supervisors are encouraged to contact the EAP at 800.550.6248 for one-on-one consulting and professional guidance on how to have this conversation with an employee, and how to support people who may be experiencing mental health concerns or other work-life challenges.

*This training may incur a fee. It is outside of the MCIT contract with AllOne Health. Call 800.550.6248 to discuss options and potential cost.
© 2025 AllOne Health. Reprinted with permission.