Why You Should Offer Mental Health Training for Managers (and How to Get Started)

In this post, we explore the importance of providing mental health training for managers. We outline the key benefits of mental health training at work and show you how to get started. 

Mental health issues are increasing worldwide, and more than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness. Now more than ever, employers must prioritize mental health in the workplace.

There are many steps you can take to support employee well-being — such as fostering a better work-life balance through flexible work and providing access to mental health resources. 

Managers and leaders also have a role to play. They must be well-equipped to support individual team members and generally contribute to a mental health-positive company culture. Often, this requires dedicated training. 

Are you considering mental health training for your leadership team? Keep reading to learn more about what it is, why it’s beneficial, and how to get started.

Table of Contents

• What is mental health training for managers?
• Why should you provide mental health training for managers? 5 key benefits
• How to get started with mental health training for managers (and make sure it’s effective)
  • 1. Identify specific needs and challenges within your organization 
  • 2. Call in the experts
  • 3. Encourage continuous learning and discussion 
  • 4. Create company guidelines, resources, and playbooks 
  • 5. Track the success of your mental health training 
• Mental health training for managers: the takeaway 

What is mental health training for managers?

Mental health training can be delivered via workshops, webinars, courses, or coaching sessions. It can also be supplemented with official company policies, guidelines, and playbooks. 

Whatever the format, the goal is to:

• Build awareness, understanding, and knowledge of mental health and different mental health conditions 
• Destigmatize the topic of mental health
• Equip managers with the skills and confidence to initiate and/or engage in conversations about mental health with their employees 
• Help managers recognize if someone in their team is experiencing mental health issues
• Enable managers to support their employees’ mental health; for example, by pointing them towards expert resources and professional support
• Empower managers to take care of their own well-being and to model mental health-positive behaviors 

Next, let’s consider the benefits of mental health training for managers in the next section. 

Why should you provide mental health training for managers? 5 key benefits

Mental health training for managers helps to:

• Destigmatize the topic of mental health and normalize issues such as stress, burnout, and anxiety. This can make it easier for employees to speak openly about their mental health, encourage them to seek support, and reduce feelings of shame or isolation.
  
• Create more skilled, confident leaders who are equipped to recognize signs of burnout and stress in their employees and take appropriate action. When managers are more confident and competent, this also helps to cultivate trust.
  
• Improve well-being across the entire organization. When you provide formal mental health training, you set a precedent for prioritizing mental health. This creates a safer, healthier company culture where people feel both empowered and equipped to take care of their well-being.
  
• Reduce unplanned absenteeism and its associated costs. According to a study of over 15,000 working adults in the US, employees with fair or poor mental health are estimated to take almost 12 days of unplanned absence per year compared to 2.5 days for employees who consider themselves to be in good, very good, or excellent mental health (Gallup). This is thought to cost the economy $46.7 billion per year. Taking steps to improve employee mental health, including mental health training for managers, can help to reduce unplanned absence and its associated costs.
  
• Attract and retain employees. In a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 81% of workers in the United States said that, when seeking future job opportunities, they will actively look for an employer who prioritizes mental health. Providing mental health training at the leadership level demonstrates your commitment to mental well-being, making you a more attractive employer. 

Mental health training for managers contributes to a happier, healthier workforce; a more positive company culture; and a more productive, profitable business. If that doesn’t convince you, nothing will! 

With that, let’s consider how to introduce mental health training in your workplace in the next section. 

How to get started with mental health training for managers (and make sure it’s effective)

If this is your first foray into mental health training for managers, it can be tricky to know where to start. Here’s how to get your mental health training off the ground:

1. Identify specific needs and challenges within your organization
2. Call in the experts
3. Encourage continuous learning and discussion
4. Create company guidelines, resources, and playbooks
5. Track the success of your mental health training

Let’s take a closer look. 

1. Identify specific needs and challenges within your organization

The most effective training is tailored to the unique needs and challenges of your organization. Before you begin, run a thorough assessment to identify what kind of mental health training will be most valuable. 

Speak to managers and leaders to gauge where their knowledge and skills gaps lie, where they see the biggest challenges around mental health in the workplace, and what they hope to gain from mental health training. 

It’s also useful to consider your employees’ perspectives. What do they need from their managers in terms of mental health support? What’s going well and what could be improved? 

Run surveys, one-to-one catch-ups, or focus groups. Once you’ve got a full picture of the most pressing needs and challenges, you can start to implement an appropriate training program. 

2. Call in the experts

Mental health is a complex and sensitive topic; you want to make sure that you’re providing accurate, up-to-date, and credible training. Don’t rely solely on internal workshops or online materials — call on the expertise of a professional trainer.  

Not only does this ensure that the training materials are high quality; it can also make it easier for managers to engage. A professional mental health trainer will know how to facilitate difficult conversations and encourage participants to speak openly about their own experiences and perceptions. 

Hiring a professional trainer also helps to convey the importance of mental health training for managers. This is crucial for making sure that it’s taken seriously and treated as a priority. 

3. Encourage continuous learning and discussion

Mental health training for managers isn’t just about formal programs and workshops. It’s also about creating a culture of continuous learning around mental health. Beyond the official training, encourage managers to keep learning and talking about mental health and what it means to be a supportive leader. 

How you go about this will depend on your company culture and how big the leadership team is. You might foster conversations at leadership meetings, hold informal discussions and knowledge exchanges every quarter, or create an online channel (for example, on Slack) where managers can share useful resources. 

You might also set up a forum where managers can seek confidential advice if they’re not sure how to support a team member experiencing mental health issues. When doing so, make sure that employee privacy is respected at all times. 

4. Create company guidelines, resources, and playbooks

Company resources are another form of mental health training for managers. 

Consider a playbook that outlines processes managers can follow or strategies they can implement if someone on their team is experiencing mental health issues. Set out official advice and guidelines for a variety of different scenarios, focusing on specific issues such as burnout, anxiety, depression, stress, and so on. 

Review and update these resources regularly, and make sure they’re readily available for all managers and leaders. 

5. Track the success of your mental health training

As with any corporate training, it’s important to measure the effectiveness of mental health training for managers. 

Start by setting clear goals and objectives for what the training should achieve, then determine how you’ll measure them. For example: one objective might be to improve managers’ knowledge and understanding of mental health. You could measure this with a quiz or questionnaire prior to training and then again after training has been completed to see if, and by how much, it improves. 

Another goal could be to increase managers’ confidence in their ability to support employees with mental health issues. You could measure this by asking them to score their own confidence both before and after receiving mental health training. 

And don’t forget to simply check in with your managers and leaders to ask how the training is going. Based on their first-hand feedback and your objective measures, you can identify any aspects of the training that may need to be modified or improved. 

Mental health training for managers: the takeaway

When you invest in mental health training for managers, you’re ultimately investing in the success of your business. Why? Because happy, healthy employees are engaged, productive, and loyal. Not to mention that prioritizing mental health is critical for providing an excellent employee experience (EX) and for establishing a competitive employer brand — both of which are necessary for attracting and retaining top talent. 

Mental health training for managers is just one step towards a mental health-positive workplace. For additional tips and strategies, check out this guide: How to Support Mental Health in the Workplace — 5 Actionable Steps.