When Suicide Strikes in the Workplace
Mental health exists in every employee and every human being.
By Suzy Clausen, LPC
Image credit: Jose Luis Navarro
Over the past few years, workplace mental health has become a top priority for more and more employers. For some, it’s a business imperative. For others, it supports their bottom line. However, in many cases, a leader or executive in the company becomes personally invested in the endeavor due to a tragic or critical event that happened in their own workplace. Mandy Neese, Vice President of Atlanta Paving, is no exception.
Mandy has been a part of the Atlanta Paving family for 13 years. And family is the best way she can describe it. A smaller company of just under 200 people, Mandy describes her work environment as a group of close-knit individuals. She knows everyone’s name and face. She explains that many employees have generations of family members that have worked there.
And that’s what made this past December so hard. Just after the holiday, one of Mandy’s employees took her own life. This employee’s family members also worked for Atlanta Paving. For Mandy, this made the tragedy even more complex. Not only was she grieving the loss of her employee, she also needed to support the grieving family members and employees.
According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. And the construction and extraction industry have one of the highest rates of suicide compared to other industries. While it’s not understood why suicide impacts this industry so hard, we know that many factors contribute to suicidal thoughts or actions; childhood trauma, depression, substance abuse, and even chronic pain are other known risk factors.
Mandy, like many leaders in her situation, has taken this experience to heart and wants to ensure it never happens to another employee, anywhere, again. She faces the same challenges many employers face today: the stigma around mental health and lack of understanding around how to address suicidal thoughts.
How can you help your employees get the help they need, and feel that it’s OK to reach out for help?
While there was an increased interest in mental health and its role in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees still feel shame and anxiety about accessing mental health services. This leaves many employers confused on what to do and where to begin addressing the issue. Employers will benefit from targeted strategies to address mental health at work and to ensure employees feel comfortable talking about mental health. To accomplish this, there are two main areas to address: 1) the workplace culture and 2) the tools needed to support that culture.
Address the culture within the organization
This can have the biggest impact on emotional and mental health. To lower stigma, create awareness, and help employees feel comfortable talking about mental health, they need to see it in their day-to-day environment.
Gather your data. Pulse surveys and listening sessions can help determine how mental health is perceived in the organization, if employees are aware of the resources, and if they feel comfortable using them. This data can help target the right strategy and tools needed to fill gaps.
Psychological safety, burnout, toxic work environments. Work is often the biggest source of stress. Stress at work can lead to issues with absenteeism, presenteeism (staying at work despite being ill and functioning poorly), safety concerns, and more. Create a work environment that helps people feel like they belong, that they matter, and they can bring their whole selves to work.
Leadership support. Leaders have the most incredible opportunity to influence how employees perceive mental health. Front line managers all the way up to the C-suite can share their own stories about how mental health impacts them and promote resources to employees. They also can train on how to identify and talk to employees who seem to be struggling. This can help normalize the experience for employees.
Tools to support a mentally healthy culture
Once a company addresses the stigma around workplace mental health, it is likely that more employees will need access to care. Finding the right tools to support the organization is key.
Look for gaps and overlaps. Review your health carrier, pharmacy, and disability claims data along with any wellness program and EAP utilization to identify trends and also see what services are lacking or where you have redundancies.
Reach out to, or establish, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A majority of employers already have an EAP in place. If not, you can start by inquiring with their health carrier or broker. EAPs can support employees and their family members by providing free counseling services, developing company wide anti-stigma campaigns, and delivering onsite counseling support when tragic events take place.
Offer a diverse set of tools to meet the diverse needs of your population. Some employees may prefer self-guided tools, like meditation apps or digital cognitive behavioral therapy. Others may prefer services delivered face to face or virtual. Offering a variety of ways to access help gives employees more flexibility and choice, on their own time, to access helpful services.
Remove barriers to care. Employees may struggle to access care if they face high deductibles, high co-pays, and high out-of-network provider costs. If possible, eliminate co-pays for mental health visits and cover the costs of out-of-network mental health providers. Corporate policies can also cause unintended barriers. Review and refresh policy language – including structures around time off, sick days, drug testing, etc.– to align with your message.
It’s time to change our perception that mental health issues only exist in people who are severely ill. Doing so perpetuates the stigma and makes it more difficult for employees to seek help when they are struggling. Mental health exists in every employee and every human being. Mandy is working with her team and her EAP to ensure she sees a positive change in her workforce. “My people are my family. We have to show how much this company appreciates our employees,” she said.
“What can we do for them, now and in the future? And how can I, as a leader, help? We have to start talking about this.”
Leaders like Mandy have the privilege of being able to influence the way mental health is perceived in the organization. Take action to build a mentally healthy workplace culture and gather the right tools to support so that every employee can thrive and have a meaningful work experience.
About the Author: Suzy Clausen is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Advisor at BenefitBump. Suzy has spent nearly her entire career focused on improving workplace mental health. She uses data informed approaches to help employers create strategies that will improve the culture of mental health in their workforce. She also writes and speaks globally about the impact of purpose on employee mental health. Suzy holds a Masters Degree in Clinical-Counseling Psychology from Illinois State University and resides in Southwest Michigan with her husband and three children. She can be reached at suzy@benefitbump.com.
References
Center for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6903a1.htm
https://www.nationalalliancehealth.org/www/news/news-press-releases/employers-mobilize-covid-19
Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/