When you think about cultivating an equitable and a mental health supportive workplace informed by your team, what comes to mind? Does it feel attainable? Is it intimidating? 

 

Next month, I’ll celebrate my one-year work anniversary as a communications coordinator with Mission Partners. It has been a joy to support several client projects alongside some of the industry’s most thoughtful communicators.  

 

Within my first few weeks on the team, I was asked which of the Mission Partners values resonated with me the most. I answered “people first” without hesitation. As a social impact communications firm, we lead with empathy, and people—our partners and our small but mighty team—are at the center of everything we do. 

 

One of the many impactful ways Mission Partners puts people first and advances social justice is through our internal Equity and Accountability Team (EAT). The EAT working groups, “For Our Clients,” “For Our Business,” and “For Our World,” hold our full team accountable to building an equitable organization and continues the business’ efforts to be anti-racist and operate with integrity and care for our employees, clients, and community.  

 

In early 2021, I was part of the “For Our World” EAT working group where we embraced the opportunity to evaluate how Mission Partners leverages its time, talent, and treasure to commit to an anti-racist world. Inspired by our established workplace policies and procedures and a commitment to show up as a small but impactful company that prioritizes its people in measurable ways, one of our goals was to pursue the Mental Health America Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health. 

 

I’m a strong advocate for mental health awareness and access, and my hope from the very beginning of this pursuit is that more leaders are inspired to engage their teams to create inclusive workplace environments. Environments where each person can show up to work as their whole selves with the confidence that their colleagues, leadership team, policies, and procedures will honor their needs as individuals and keep them safe. 

 

The MHA Bell Seal Application  

As stated on the MHA website, “…MHA is committed to furthering worker safety, health, and well-being alongside leading health and advocacy organizations. In addition to our organizational expertise and research-informed practices, we work with national leaders in workplace mental health to continuously refine the Bell Seal program—we don’t just evaluate workplace mental health standards, we set the standards.” 

 

Through this process, MHA makes an intentional effort to recognize and celebrate organizations that actively approach and prioritize mental health in the workplace. The four categories of evaluation are workplace culture, benefits, compliance, and wellness programs. As of June 2022, Mission Partners is honored to be recognized, among 32 other organizations, as a Gold Bell Seal certified workplace.  

 

Establishing and maintaining a mentally supportive workplace requires insight from the entire team. Small working groups and surveys on employee experiences and processes are a great starting point. Before beginning the thorough application process, here are a few starter questions to think through with your team: 

 

1. What does a mental health supportive workplace look like? 

Mental health is personal and looks different for everyone based on their lived experiences. It is important to understand what makes individuals feel mentally supported in the workplace to help inform updated policies and procedures. Consider how mental health shows up in employee benefits, work-life balance, and support. 

2. Why does mental health matter to you and your organization? 

The foundation for any workplace certification should reflect the interest and commitment of the full team through workplace policies, procedures, and inclusivity. Specifically for the MHA Bell Seal, it’s important to analyze how mental health and wellness is currently prioritized in your organization—How does it show up? How has employee feedback informed your policies?  

1. What would the MHA Bell Seal certificate represent?  

Like mental health, the Bell Seal means something different for each organization. For some, it may represent growth. For others, it may represent a new and impactful stream of work. For Mission Partners, it represents a commitment to ongoing work toward being a mentally supportive workplace for each member of our team. Thinking beyond the Bell Seal, how would this certificate support your organization as a whole? 

1. What does your organization look like beyond the MHA Bell Seal? 

Becoming a Bell Seal certified workplace isn’t a means to an end. It is a commitment to continued learning and creating an environment that supports the mental health of your team in a way that acknowledges each person’s experiences in an ever-changing world.  

 

Whether your organization pursues the MHA Bell Seal certification process, uses the Bell Seal Pre-Assessment as a guide, or moves forward with an innovative way to prioritize workplace mental health—Putting people first is the most important step.