How Can Embedding Mental Health into Company Culture Drive Business Success and Long-Term Resilience?

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Riha Jaishi: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Vantage HR Influencers podcast. I'm your host, Riha, and today we're exploring how integrating mental health into company culture can drive both business success and long-term resilience. Now, think about it. Every organization is striving for growth and sustainability, but without a focus on the well-being of your people, even the best businesses can falter. So, how do you create a work culture where mental health is prioritized, and what impact does it have on business performance and resilience? To help us unpack this, I'm joined by David Hanrahan, senior vice president of people success at SolarWinds. Welcome to the show, David. It's a pleasure to have you with us today.

David Hanrahan: Thank you very much for having me.

Riha Jaishi: Okay. So, to kick things off now, can you briefly take us through your professional journey so far? We are eager to learn about your journey.

David Hanrahan: Sure. Yeah. So, I've been leading people functions for the majority of my career, my HR and people career. I started in a very different industry. I started in manufacturing and spent a little bit of time in a media company as well, but I spent most of my career the past 15 years or so leading people functions in software companies. Mainly, software companies are going through some stage of growth and/or transformation. So, places like Twitter and Zendesk and Eventbrite and now SolarWinds, these companies are either growing through some major growth, possibly going through an IPO or recently public continuing to grow and eventually transforming as well. Eventbrite and SolarWinds are both gone through some level of transformation in recent years. And I find that really exciting. That's a sort of a mode in these companies, whether they're a few hundred going to a few thousand employees, or they are already a few thousand employees. Lots of opportunity to build, to fix, to optimize, to transform in ways that really sort of stretch our sort of creative muscles on all things, people and talent. So, I like that sort of mode and those are the companies I've gravitated towards.

Riha Jaishi: That's quite an inspiring venture, David. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

David Hanrahan: Of course.

Riha Jaishi: So, with your permission now, I would like to delve into our topic further. Shall we?

David Hanrahan: Sure, please. Let's do it.

Riha Jaishi: Okay. So, to begin with, why do you believe mental health should be embedded in a company's culture? Can you share examples of how this approach has really impacted organizations?

David Hanrahan: Yeah. Well, it's become more and more important in recent years as things like anxiety and depression rates in general population have increased dramatically versus, you know, 50 years or so ago. And there's various reasons or, you know, sort of speculation as to why that's happened. Why has there been a mental health crisis in the general population and at work, you know, in recent years? Possibly social media, possibly, you know, environments have changed, possibly the access to information, you know, we're sort of constantly bombarded by things in the news that worry us, you know, versus, you know, maybe what we had access to, you know, decades ago, let's say. But in any case, back to your question, you know, why is it important? Why is it important to embed in a company culture? I'll just sort of briefly say that in the past few companies I've been at, Niantic and then Eventbrite and now SolarWinds, these companies have prioritized mental health. In my role, I've also really advocated for this. And now we have access to platforms like therapy on demand platforms, you know, our benefits that we can offer to companies. And at those companies, Niantic and Eventbrite and now SolarWinds, that's part of our offering. So and why is that? Why do we spend a lot of time in people teams, making sure that we have access to mental health care, that we do other things that I can speak to? Well, mental health really helps focus, helps collaboration, you know, proper mental health in an organization, a company helps decision making, and embedding it in your culture helps employees perform. You know, I think it's a good thing to do. It's a noble thing to do to prioritize mental health. But also, if you're running a for-profit corporation, there's really a direct correlation to your company performance. If you have proper mental health embedded across the culture, I think that organizations that really normalize it see stronger engagement, they see lower burnout, they see higher retention. That's certainly been my experience. And there's different ways to do that, to embed mental health into a culture, I can speak to. But that's why I believe it's important.

Riha Jaishi: Okay, I mean, this example you gave on how it has a direct correlation to employee performance, I guess there are several other examples out there. We see how mental health impacts employee engagement, like you said, right, how embedding it can really take care of the employees and whether employees are in a better environment, whether they are feeling better to perform in ways better.

David Hanrahan: Correct. Yeah, Google found, and this is, you know, famous research that they shared from their people analytics team, but Google found a few years ago that their highest performing teams had one common trait, which was psychological safety, which is a pretty close corollary to mental health and mental wellness. And so that's just one anecdote. But I believe ultimately that teams, but also organizations, teams that have really good mental health, they're just going to perform better. And that doesn't just happen, you know, that you snap your fingers and you have mental health or mental wellness in an organization or at the team level. It can be hard work. And actually teams and organizations can suddenly suffer because of something that has happened, whether externally or internally. So it takes a lot of work and dedication to build mental health and wellness in an organization.

Riha Jaishi: Absolutely. I totally agree with you. Okay, so now moving ahead, what are the key benefits of focusing on mental health for both the employees and employers in terms of business success and resilience? What do you think, David?

David Hanrahan: Well, I mean, from research, prioritizing mental health can boost productivity, can boost creativity, it can boost loyalty and reduce absenteeism, both physical absenteeism, but also just mental absenteeism. It can prevent regrettable attrition. And I think overall, just create a really resilient and adaptive workforce, particularly. So imagine if an organization experiences some difficulty ahead, some difficult event, whether externally or internally. If you have a really mentally healthy organization, you're buffered against those times of change, difficult things that happen in the news or inside the company. Versus if you didn't really have a very mentally healthy organization, those tough times become exponentially more difficult to navigate and sort of come out on the other end of those in a positive way, in an amended way.

Riha Jaishi: You have made some great pointers, David. I can really see how focusing on mental health can benefit both the employees and company in the long run, impacting the productivity levels. And like you said, how the environment, or I mean the company, becomes resilient and it has an adaptive workforce, right?

David Hanrahan: Correct. Yeah, very well said.

Riha Jaishi: Okay. Now, moving ahead, what role do you think, David, does leadership play in promoting mental health as a core value within a company?

David Hanrahan: Well, leaders set the tone. They set the tone by modeling vulnerability, for instance, empathy, not just empathy for colleagues, but empathy for our customers. Empathy can run in different facets, prioritizing balance, just signaling that mental health is a shared priority, but it's also something that is personally important to them, that they're role modeling on a personal basis, but they're sharing it as a priority for the organization. So I've been part of panels before inside the company, where we have leaders sit on a panel to talk about mental health and, you know, maybe even something that they've struggled with in the past, and sharing tips on what they do to kind of help themselves. It goes back to, as they do that, as they talk about it with authenticity and vulnerability, it kind of connects the dots that, hey, this thing that we say, maybe we say we really care about mental health at this company, you really take your cues from your leaders on multiple facets. The values of the company, if the company says that they have X, Y, and Z as values, those are only really going to be effective and real if they also see the leaders role modeling those. And that's certainly true of mental health. You've got to see your leaders role modeling it and sort of authentically embracing mental health.

Riha Jaishi: Absolutely, David. Leadership really sets that tone for the entire organization, like you mentioned, modeling vulnerability and all. It's really encouraging to hear that leaders are playing such a crucial role in promoting mental health, right? That proactiveness from their end.

David Hanrahan: Correct. Yeah. I think that's one of the most important ways that you can promote mental health: that your leaders role model it.

Riha Jaishi: Absolutely, true. So, moving ahead, how can companies really create that kind of environment where mental health is prioritized without really being stigmatized? What do you think, David?

David Hanrahan: Well, I think I talked about this a little bit earlier, but you've got to treat mental health like any other aspect of how we perform as a company, that the performance of the company is connected to our overall mental health. You can't disconnect those. And so you do that through making sure there's open dialogue. Again, imagine a leader panel on mental health that you see your leaders taking part in. You foster open dialogue. You make it clear that it's okay to talk about mental health. It's not stigmatized. There's support from leaders. At one of the companies I worked at, one of the things that we did was have managers, all the managers at all levels, executives down to first line managers, go through a training, essentially a training on empathy, where we reoriented managers to ask a question: how are you really, really doing? Because sometimes we just write, "Hey, how are you doing?" and you move on really quickly, like you don't actually care. But if you say, "Hey, how are you really, really doing?" it's a subtle, small thing that shows the leaders care and that they want to know. They want to know how you're doing. And it's okay to talk about how you're doing. We're not mental health professionals as managers, but you can actually care. You can ask, "Well, how are you doing?" and just show that you care. But overall, companies that integrate well-being into everyday practices, not just crisis moments but everyday practices throughout the year, that's a good way to create an environment where it's prioritized.

Riha Jaishi: That's an excellent approach there, David. And I really like that pointer where you mentioned fostering open dialogue. It's really essential in starting off, speaking about mental health, discussing things, right? Creating that open and stigma-free environment is key here, which will give that sense of psychological safety among employees, right? That's the key thing, I suppose.

David Hanrahan: That's right. That's right. Yep. Well said.

Riha Jaishi: Okay. So now moving on, how do you really ensure mental health initiatives are accessible and inclusive for all the employees out there, regardless of their background or role in the company?

David Hanrahan: Well, I think you want to design programs that go back to fostering mental health with employee input. I think you want to have multiple access points: digital, live, peer-based. As an example, you might have employees that work from an office, but you also might have employees who work from home. So things can't just be about what's happening in an office if you are distributed in that way. You want to tailor your communications to reach people at diverse levels, roles, time zones, comfort levels. You know, at my current company, we're still experimenting. We're doing a few different things. As an example, all employees just took part in a company holiday last Friday. It's a company holiday we created for all employees called our Global Mental Health Wellness Day. So it was a day that we all had off, and the goal is to go and prioritize your mental health. Go reconnect with loved ones, practice yoga, meditate, get outside, do whatever is right for you. It's just a subtle, small thing that we do to help people reconnect with their mental health, but it's something that's accessible to all employees. We also have an on-demand therapy platform that's accessible to all employees. And so some of these things wind up being impactful, some of them might be sort of small, but you want to continue to experiment and embed things in your communications, making sure it's clear in forums like All Hands and team level meetings that mental health is important. So we're also building a manager and leader development program where we'll talk about things like psychological safety and how to improve the effectiveness of your teams through things like wellness. So the point there is you kind of hit it in a multifaceted way throughout the year, touching all employees, not just certain populations.

Riha Jaishi: I really like the point of how you mentioned accessibility and inclusion for employees, particularly through multiple access points, like you said, having digital and physical access and tailoring communications accordingly. And the programs you mentioned that you have in your organization, like the on-demand therapy platform, I guess these are some of the greatest approaches your company has started. And I guess this sets the tone for other organizations out there who should really take these approaches seriously and come up with some kind of approach to actually implementing such mental health programs where everyone has access.

David Hanrahan: Right. It's important, a big takeaway for everyone.

Riha Jaishi: Correct. Yeah, well said. Okay, so now we'll just try to wrap it up on a practical note. So what advice would you like to give to HR leaders, David, who are looking to start embedding mental health into their company culture?

David Hanrahan: Well, speaking to HR leaders, from my own experience, it's good to start small but signal big. That means signaling that mental health is a priority, and you're going to start with maybe little experiments. We have a Mental Health Wellness Day, we have a forum or a panel discussion with leaders just to talk about it, and all employees can access it. But then you might work up from there. You might start thinking about more practical things you can do, like training managers to recognize stress, integrating well-being check-ins into team rhythms. So specifically saying, hey, we're going to have a one-on-one that is mainly a well-being check-in, and measure progress on it. You might find that you have an engagement survey or some sort of sentiment survey that you do throughout the year, and maybe there's something you can include in there about mental health and mental wellness. And so you measure progress like you would any other business priority. One thing I have personally found helpful, as an HR leader, when you're thinking, "I don't even know where to begin, but I want to start somewhere and prioritize this and make sure it's important," is to find a peer leader. So if you're on the executive team or some sort of leadership team, find a peer leader who isn't in HR, maybe it's the finance leader, maybe it's the engineering leader, someone else who cares about this. Maybe you'll find that someone is very vulnerable themselves and talks about this, or they talk about going to counseling, and they're open and transparent about it. Have a conversation with them: how can we foster this in our company? What do you think about this? What are some ideas you have? And join forces to make it something that isn't just an HR initiative, but more of a leadership initiative. I found that really helpful to get progress and make sure I'm not just stuck in my own head, but tag-teaming with another leader who cares about it.

Riha Jaishi: You have mentioned some interesting points here, David, about having panel discussions, well-being check-ins, recognizing stress, training managers, and particularly the last one you mentioned, the idea of looking for a peer leader. I guess these are some essential tips which HR leaders and managers out there should really try to implement in their organizations if they're trying something new, right?

David Hanrahan: Yeah, absolutely. People listening to this who want to connect with me on LinkedIn or message me, I'm happy to share other ideas. But there are a lot of really great leaders speaking about this publicly, and you can follow influencers on social media too. It's a hot topic, and there's lots of ideas out there.

Riha Jaishi: Absolutely. So, David, we have finally come to the end of our podcast session, but before we wrap it up, I would like to thank you for joining us today and sharing such incredible insights. It's been more than a pleasure hearing your perspective on the significance of embedding mental health into company culture to boost business success and long-term resilience, and we truly appreciate your time and expertise. I'm sure everyone out there is inspired and walking away with a wealth of information. Thank you so much.

David Hanrahan: Thank you very much, and thank you for having me.

Riha Jaishi: Thank you once again, David, and to our listeners out there, thank you for tuning in. We hope you found today's conversation as enlightening as we did. So until next time, take care, and we'll see you soon.

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