At Opening Minds, we’ve collaborated with numerous organizations to enhance workplace mental health. Drawing from these experiences, we’ve identified five key insights to guide your journey.
1. It’s Okay to Start Small—Just Start
Initiating mental health programs doesn’t require an all-encompassing plan from the outset. Beginning with manageable steps can lead to significant progress.
What we’ve heard:
“I would like to see everyone in the organization receive mental health training, and I’m sure we’ll get there. This mental health training helps patients, colleagues, and each other”
Scarborough Health Network
Our Advice: The first step is a conversation. Connect with our solutions team to explore what’s possible. From there, you can scale and pace your approach to fit your organization’s needs.
2. Cross-Organizational Involvement is Essential
For mental health initiatives to be effective, engagement across all organizational levels is crucial. Inclusive participation fosters a culture of well-being.
What we’ve heard:
“Managers are very connected to their staff and better prepared to talk to them about mental health. The response might have been different if they hadn’t taken The Working Mind. It’s had a transformative impact on managerial dynamics.”
Scarborough Health Network
Our Advice: Engage employees at every level—from senior leadership to front-line staff—to create a workplace culture where mental health is a shared priority.
3. The Investment is Worth It
Allocating time and resources to mental health programs is a proactive measure that yields substantial returns, including reduced absenteeism and enhanced engagement.
What we’ve heard:
“[We were] optimistic about the program. However, we were also overwhelmed by the outcome.”
Husky
Post-training surveys by the University of Calgary indicated a reduction in mental health stigma (9.1% for employees and 11.6% for leaders) and an increase in resiliency (8.3% for employees and 5.7% for leaders).
Our Advice: Don’t view mental health programs as a cost—view them as an investment in your people and your organization’s long-term success.
4. Employees Appreciate the Training
Even if not overtly expressed, employees value mental health training, feeling better equipped to support themselves and their colleagues.
What we’ve heard:
“When you share your own stories, it just resonates, and that truly is the difference,” he said. “As a result, I can reflect upon finishing a class and a couple of firefighters caught me on the way out to express how they’ve been experiencing problems and were very appreciative of the tools I gave them. Sometimes participants emailed feedback to me to say that the training really helped them.”
Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs
Our Advice: Make mental health training a fundamental value and a core benefit of your organization. When it’s embedded in your culture, employees feel supported and prepared to navigate challenges.
5. Having a Plan Provides Direction
A structured approach to mental health, encompassing wellness and psychological safety, ensures sustained success.
What we’ve heard:
“The key to our success at CGI was establishing a clear vision for the future of our in-house workplace mental health program. Then we went step by step from de-stigmatization, to training, to increased support, and now we’re proud to be able to demonstrate quantifiable impacts and substantial savings.”
CGI
Our Advice: Develop a mental health strategy that includes clear objectives, leadership buy-in, and measurable outcomes to ensure long-term impact.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
At Opening Minds, we offer comprehensive workplace mental health programs, including Mental Health First Aid and The Working Mind. Whether you’re initiating or expanding your efforts, we’re here to assist.
Let’s start the conversation. Contact our solutions team today.