Stephen Sokoler, founder & CEO of Journey.
Every May, Mental Health Awareness Month floods our inboxes, social feeds and office walls with messages encouraging us to care. It’s a powerful tradition that has helped bring mental health out of the shadows. But here’s the truth: If mental health only makes the agenda one month a year, we’re missing the point entirely.
The companies that are truly moving the needle—the ones building high-performing, resilient and human-centered workplaces—know that mental health can’t be a campaign. It has to be a culture, and it has to show up every month.
From Performative To Proactive
Too many Mental Health Awareness Month initiatives are performative: a few LinkedIn posts, a well-being webinar or maybe a free meditation app trial. Then it’s back to business as usual.
But what happens the rest of the year? Are your employees still supported during crunch time in July? Or budget season in November? Do they know where to turn when they’re struggling with burnout, family stress or grief—not just during “mental health month,” but in real life?
Companies need to move from performative to proactive. That means building systems of support that are embedded into daily life, not bolted on once a year.
The Mental Health Mandate
In today’s workforce, mental health is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a business imperative.
According to a 2021 American Psychological Association survey, nearly 80% of employees had experienced negative impacts of work-related stress in the month before the survey. Mental health issues are now a leading cause of disability worldwide. And for employers, untreated mental health concerns are directly tied to higher absenteeism, lower productivity, increased turnover and rising healthcare costs.
Forward-thinking leaders understand that mental health is a core component of performance. When your people are well, they do their best work. When they’re not, the business suffers.
But awareness alone won’t change that. Action will.
What Doing It Right Looks Like
So, what does it look like when a company treats mental health as an everyday priority?
1. They make support accessible and stigma-free.
Employees shouldn’t have to search through five intranet pages or ask their manager in order to find help. Modern companies put mental health resources where employees already are—on Slack, in their inbox or in the flow of work. They offer coaching, therapy and self-care tools in one place, and they make it OK to use them. They normalize it from the top down.
2. They respond in the moments that matter.
A proactive company doesn’t wait for employees to raise their hands. It offers help when it’s needed most—after a layoff, during performance reviews or in the wake of tragedy or change. Some even use data (ethically and anonymously) to spot patterns and reach out before issues escalate.
3. They invest in prevention, not just crisis.
Traditional EAPs are reactive by design—someone has to be in crisis to use them. But forward-thinking organizations focus on prevention: daily nudges, microlearning, quick videos and guided check-ins. It’s not just about solving problems; it’s about building resilience every day.
4. They hold themselves accountable.
It’s not enough to offer resources. Are people actually using them? Are they getting better? Are high-risk groups getting what they need? The best companies measure mental health like they measure engagement, retention and revenue—with clear KPIs and real accountability.
5. They train leaders to lead differently.
Managers are the first line of defense, but most have never been trained on how to support a team member who’s struggling. The most effective companies invest in mental health education for leaders. They teach how to recognize signs, have hard conversations and create a culture of psychological safety.
Mental Health As A Competitive Advantage
Here’s the good news: Doing mental health right isn’t just the ethical thing to do—it’s the smart thing to do. Organizations that invest in everyday mental health support can see real ROI, such as:
• Less turnover
• Better employee engagement
• Reduced absence
• Higher performance
• Increased productivity
It’s not a stretch to say companies that treat mental health as part of their business strategy—not just their benefits strategy—will outperform those that don’t.
As Mental Health Awareness Month unfolds, it’s worth asking: Will your efforts last beyond the month of May? Will your employees still feel seen and supported in September? Will mental health still be discussed in leadership meetings in December? Will your culture still encourage vulnerability in the middle of Q4? Or will it fade into the background until next May?
The Bottom Line
Mental health is not a campaign. It’s a commitment.
If you’re doing it right, your employees won’t just remember the posters in May. They’ll remember how they felt supported all year long—when their child was in the hospital, when they hit a wall at work, when they needed someone to talk to.
That’s what a real culture of care looks like. And that’s what the best companies are building—not just this month, but every month.
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