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Kourtney McCauliff (00:02)
Employees who are mentally healthy are more likely to be engaged. They have higher levels of productivity and they tend to be more loyal to the organizations that are supporting their mental health journey.

JoDee Curtis (00:17)
Welcome to The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast, where we help HR and business leaders embrace joy in the workplace. I’m JoDee Curtis, owner of Purple Ink. With me is my friend and co-host, Susan White, owner of Susan Tinder White Consulting, an HR consulting practice. Our topic today is recognizing and responding to mental health challenges.

In a January 2025 poll by the National Alliance of Mental Illness, they found that the workforce believes mental health at work to be important, but that they are in need of more information and support from leadership. Susan, let’s review some of the statistics from this report. Why don’t you start?

Susan White (01:12)
77% of respondents report they would feel comfortable if their co-worker talked to them about their mental health.

JoDee Curtis (01:20)
Similarly, about the same, 75% feel comfortable supporting a co-worker’s mental health crisis.

Susan White (01:29)
Yet 22% of managers report they don’t know whether their employer offers mental health benefits and 45% of managers say they don’t know how to access mental health care through employer-sponsored health insurance.

JoDee Curtis (01:43)
And 42% of employees worry that their career would be negatively impacted if they talked about mental health concerns in the workplace.

Susan White (01:56)
Nearly half of employees say they worry about being judged if they share mental health struggles with their colleagues.

JoDee Curtis (02:01)
Yeah. Employees share high rates of burnout, stress, and being overwhelmed, while far fewer rate their mental health as poor, suggesting a possible disconnect there in identifying themselves as struggling with their mental health.

Susan White (02:22)
One in four employees say they have considered quitting their jobs due to mental health concerns, and 7% did quit because of related challenges.

JoDee Curtis (02:32)
Yeah, but only 13% say they even told their manager or supervisor that their mental health was suffering in the past year due to work demands.

How much do employees know about mental health care benefits at work? So let’s check out some of those statistics.

Susan White (02:54)
About a quarter of respondents shared they do not know whether their employer offers mental health care benefits, an employee assistance program, flexible work arrangements, or sick days for mental health. Isn’t that a shame, JoDee, if they have…

JoDee Curtis (03:07)
Yeah.

Susan White (03:07)
…these benefits and the employees don’t know it? They’re not…

JoDee Curtis (03:10)
Right.

Susan White (03:10)
…taking advantage of it, they’re silently struggling, and maybe even quitting.

JoDee Curtis (03:14)
Yeah.

Susan White (03:14)
Ugh.

JoDee Curtis (03:15)
Yeah. And meanwhile, more than eight out of 10 respondents reported these benefits were or would be important to creating a positive workplace culture, so.

Susan White (03:26)
Oh, my gosh, that’s just tragic. How important are mental health trainings at work? More than half of respondents report their workplace has mental health and well-being trainings. Love that.

JoDee Curtis (03:36)
That’s good.

And more than 80% believe mental health and well-being trainings are important to create a positive workplace culture.

Susan White (03:47)
More than half of respondents who received training about mental health and/or resources available to them report it helped them feel more comfortable talking about mental health with coworkers.

JoDee Curtis (03:59)
Yeah, so a lot of positive feelings towards this, right, and wanting to support others, but yet not really understanding maybe what they can do or what their employer can do to help them.

Susan White (04:14)
Exactly.

JoDee Curtis (04:14)
So here’s another question. Does the workforce think it’s appropriate to discuss mental health concerns at work?

Susan White (04:24)
Three in four American workers feel it is appropriate to talk about mental health concerns at work.

JoDee Curtis (04:30)
However, similar to 2024, two in five respondents worry that they would be judged if they share about their mental health at work, indicating perceived stigma surrounding mental health at work did not decline in the past year. So they think it’s appropriate to share it maybe for other people, right? But they don’t want to share it about themselves. Yeah.

Susan White (04:55)
Right, not them. “I’ve got a friend who’s struggling,” right? “But not me.“

JoDee (05:00)
Right, right.

So what are members of the American workforce stressed out about?

Susan White (05:07)
Employees are more stressed about their finances, their physical health, and their mental health.

JoDee Curtis (05:13)
Yeah, and it isn’t that interesting. Their mental health is stressing them out even more, right?

Susan White (05:20)
Right, yeah, bad cycle.

JoDee Curtis (05:22)
And what do Americans share about at work? Well, for those who say they feel uncomfortable discussing mental health at work, the top five reasons include the stigma or judgment around mental health, a lack of discussion from colleagues, not wanting to appear weak, fear of losing opportunities or retaliation, and their job is a main factor affecting their mental health.

Susan White (05:52)
Yikes.

JoDee Curtis (05:52)
Yeah. So still a lot of concerns. Honestly, I would have thought many of those statistics would have greatly improved as it seems like there’s so much more conversation about mental health in the workforce, but still a lot of fear and stigma around it.

JoDee Curtis (06:16)
So we have invited a guest to join us today to talk about some ideas on how we can better understand and support our employees facing some of these mental health challenges in the workplace. Kourtney McCauliff is the VP of Consulting Services at Purple Ink with over 15 years of experience in HR. She is a SHRM-CP and is also a certified Mental Health First Aid trainer.

Susan White (06:46)
Kourtney, we’re so glad you’re here. Thank you for joining us again.

Kourtney McCauliff (06:50)
Thanks for having me.

Susan White (06:51)
What is the business case for mental health?

Kourtney McCauliff (06:55)
The business case for mental health is something that really impacts every employee that we have. Addressing mental health concerns directly helps improve the bottom line for all of the employers. Employees who are mentally healthy are more likely to be engaged. They have higher levels of productivity and they tend to be more loyal to the organizations that are supporting their mental health journey.

JoDee Curtis (07:20)
And Kourtney, what is a mental health friendly culture? What do we mean when we hear that word, that term?

Kourtney McCauliff (07:30)
Yeah, a culture that supports mental health is one that puts initiatives like employee assistance programs, or also known as EAPs, into place. There are organizations that promote work-life balance. They encourage breaks. They have flexible hours, remote work when needed and available. They educate their leadership on having a correlation between mental well-being and job performance. Doing that sets really clear expectations around workloads and ensures a fair distribution to prevent or limit burnout with their team and really create an environment that is willing to discuss things like mental health awareness and employee burnout.

Susan White (08:15)
Kourtney, how can or should leaders recognize and respond to mental health challenges that surface in their workplaces?

Kourtney McCauliff (08:25)
When these situations surface in workplaces, our leaders really need to take a timely approach to supporting. This helps improve outcomes for employees and really reduces any workplace disruptions that can come. We know when there’s any health situation that our employees are facing, it can cause time away from the workplace, whether that’s preventative care or mental health well-being. And so making sure that you’re really being proactive to find early detection to these struggles for our team is so helpful in making sure that they are able to seek the care that’s needed to improve their well-being.

JoDee Curtis (09:06)
Yeah. And Kourtney, we talked earlier in the podcast and sharing some statistics around people still worried about talking about mental health. Even though a big percentage of people understand how important it is to deal with it, there still seems to be a stigma around it. How might… what can we do as employers to reduce that stigma and build awareness around it?

Kourtney McCauliff (09:41)
Yeah, I think creating comfortable environments where you’re able to discuss when there’s a mental health or any health struggle is really important. This comfort around discussing it is helpful to the employee that might be going through the situation, but also to the leader that needs to navigate the situation. I think JoDee, your highlight around sometimes there’s still a discomfort in discussing it is because we don’t always know how to discuss it or what to say or what’s the appropriate thing to say. We’re always looking for the perfect thing to say and then we sometimes just don’t say anything, which makes our employees feel like they’re not able to discuss it or they’re not able to come to us when they have that issue. And so really creating an education with our employees around the importance of mental health, emphasizing that it’s just as critical as physical health. You know, having leaders be… being willing to share their own testimonials around times that they needed additional support, I think can be really helpful. Also highlighting the, you know, employee assistance program again is a first step in really helping employees better their own mental health.

JoDee Curtis (11:00)
Right.

Susan White (11:00)
So Kourtney, if some of our listeners, we know that we’ve got HR leaders, we have business leaders listening to this podcast, what kind of resources or tools are out there? Is there things that you’re doing that could be helpful to businesses to get more educated on this front, to be able to help their employees more?

Kourtney McCauliff (11:17)
Yeah, one thing that I’m really happy that I was able to do earlier this year is become certified in Mental Health First Aid. This is a training program that allows me to come into organizations and train their team members on being First Aiders in the mental health world. So think of it like a CPR certification, but for our mental health well-being. And I think this allows a level of comfort in discussing these types of situations so that managers know how to discuss it, employees know that it’s a safe space to be discussing the situations, and it really allows the culture of awareness to take place in organizations.

JoDee Curtis (12:01)
Yeah. And Kourtney, I know at least one of our clients had reached out to us about this training that was concerned if they went through this course that they were going to need to be the person who solves this issue for, for their teammates. How… and I know you gave them great advice on that. What, what was your advice to them?

Kourtney McCauliff (12:29)
Yeah, so this training is not replacing our behavioral health professionals. It’s not helping us become a behavioral health counselor by any means, but it’s to give us the terminology to know the warning signs to know when there might be a situation that could be arising that our team members might need some additional support and guidance. It really creates a comfort around asking, “Are you okay today?” and then how to support the resources or get them in front of resources that would make them feel better if they aren’t okay in that moment.

JoDee Curtis (13:06)
Yeah, I really, I love the term of the certification and calling it First Aid, because it really is the same as if someone on your team had, you know, a cut on their finger or something. You literally might just provide first aid. It doesn’t mean you wouldn’t still send them to the hospital or to urgent care or to someone else to deal with the extent, you would be the person first, you know, initially there to support them in some easy processes.

Kourtney McCauliff (13:45)
Yeah, we know that when somebody close to you suggests additional support or suggests seeking additional guidance around situations that you’re having, you’re more likely to take them up on that offer or you’re more likely to seek out that additional resource than if you didn’t have somebody close to you recommending it. And so this program is a really great way to have the… have the words in order to recommend those next steps or be aware that next steps are even needed to the team that we’re working side by side with every day and make those suggestions for resources that are right in your community.

JoDee Curtis (14:27)
I like it.

Susan White (14:27)
Kourtney, how can our listeners reach out to you if they have questions on this topic or if they’re interested in learning more about the MHFA certification?

Kourtney McCauliff (14:36)
Yeah, I would love to connect to any of our listeners. And so you can find me on the Purple Ink website. You can find me on LinkedIn. I would happily engage to discuss the ways that we’d be able to bring this to your company or your team.

JoDee Curtis (14:50)
And of course, we’ll provide her connection information in our show notes. So, and Kourtney, we don’t like to let our guests go without asking the question, what’s one small step people can do in this area to create more joy at work?

Kourtney McCauliff (15:10)
I think you can create more joy at work by connecting with others, building the relationships with each other so that you get to know each other and then also help see what brings them joy or what can bring you joy.

JoDee Curtis (15:24)
Mmm, I like it. I like it.

Susan White (15:27)
Thank you so much for being here today. And really, I think this message is so powerful. I really hope that our listeners decide we’ve got to help our employees understand what resources are there. And if we can bring them first aid, let’s figure out how to get certified and get a chance to do it.

Kourtney McCauliff (15:44)
Yes, thank you so much for having me and letting me talk about this important topic.

Susan White (15:49)
JoDee, it’s time for our listener question. “What are some of the reasons that people decide to pursue an encore career?”

JoDee Curtis (15:55)
Yes, first of all, I’ll say we do have a whole podcast on this, so we’ll put in the show notes a link to our previous podcast on encore careers, where many individuals or several individuals share their answers to this question. But I think there’s a few reasons. Number one, sometimes people are just not really ready to fully retire, but they are looking for less structure, maybe less stress, more time off, something that uses a different skill set or a different part of their brain. It might be to fulfill a bucket list item, like writing a book or doing some consulting or just trying something simpler or easier and they still enjoy meeting new people. So Susan, you personally are one of the guests on our previous podcast who talks about this, but why did you pursue an encore career?

Susan White (17:02)
You know, when I left my corporate job, I was 55 years old. I still felt like I had a lot of juice left in me, and I wanted to explore and do something different. I wanted to make — I guess tell myself that I could do something other than be a corporate dweeb in a large organization. And I gotta tell you, I’ve been doing my own consulting practice now for 11 years, and it’s so fun. I can get mad at my boss, but I still like her the next day because it’s me. I love being an entrepreneur. I love meeting new people. It has been such a fun second phase of my work life. I love making money. I find that very validating. And I love helping people. So it’s been great. It energizes me every day.

JoDee Curtis (17:45)
Yeah, yeah. Let’s jump to in the news. We don’t typically talk much about safety on our podcast, so I thought it was interesting to share a 2025 report from KURU Footwear. They dug into the 2023 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify industries with the highest injury rates measured per 100 full-time workers, and you might be surprised. I know I was.

Susan White (18:21)
Number one is occupations in transportation and warehousing with a 4.5 rating.

JoDee Curtis (18:28)
Number two, which was a surprise to me, was in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation at 4.3.

Susan White (18:38)
I’m thinking it must be a lot of stuntmen. I don’t know.

JoDee Curtis (18:41)
Yeah.

Susan White (18:41)
I usually…

JoDee Curtis (18:42)
Yeah.

Susan White (18:42)
…think that would be pretty safe.

JoDee Curtis (18:43)
Yeah.

Susan White (18:43)
Number three, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, 4.2. I kind of get it with the hunting.

JoDee Curtis (18:52)
Yeah, that one made sense to me too. Here was another surprise though. Healthcare and social assistance was at 3.6.

Susan White (19:04)
The next one is retail trade with a 3.1. Maybe it’s the lifting, the hauling, I don’t know, in retail…

JoDee Curtis (19:10)
Yeah, that might be.

Susan White (19:10)
…or maybe it’s cranky consumers, I don’t know.

JoDee Curtis (19:14)
Yeah, yeah. Manufacturing at 2.8.

Susan White (19:17)
Yeah, I would have thought that one was higher. The next one is accommodation and food services, 2.7.

JoDee Curtis (19:24)
I bet that’s a lot of chopped fingers with knives and cooking, grills…

Susan White (19:32)
Could be.

JoDee Curtis (19:32)
…that type of thing. And then the bottom… well, still on the top 10, but the bottom three were construction at only 2.3, which certainly I thought might have been higher, wholesale trade at 2.3, and real estate at 2.0.

Susan White (19:52)
Talking about workplace injuries is not very JoyPowered®, but I guess understanding it, recognizing it, and preventing it, that can create a JoyPowered® workspace.

JoDee Curtis (20:01)
Exactly, exactly.

Thanks for listening today, and if you’re SHRM certified you can get credit for listening to this episode. To get the code go to getjoypowered.com slash SHRM and fill out a short evaluation. When you finish the evaluation you’ll get the code and a link to a proof of participation certificate. This code will expire on May 19th, 2026.

Again, that’s getjoypowered.com slash SHRM to get the code and it will expire on May 19th, 2026. Thanks for listening today and thank you for your dedication to the HR profession. Make it a JoyPowered® day.