“We cry at work now.” Jennifer Palmieri, the former White House communications director who served for President Obama, said this to group of communications professionals at USC’s Lead On event in 2019. It was a watershed moment for me, and this idea really resonated. Not just because I am someone who has, on occasion, showed emotions while on the clock, but for all professionals: who are people who have emotions, even at work. 

Back then you heard a lot about companies getting credit for fostering a culture where you can “bring your full self to work.” But three years later, post-pandemic, creating a culture that allows employees to be who they are in the workplace is now a business imperative. And a natural evolution of the be-who-you-are culture is the rise of mental health awareness in the workplace.

Mental health declines

Every one of us is, to some extent, still recovering from the effects of the pandemic. And for communicators in particular, the job requires constantly following one endlessly disturbing news cycle after another. Not only are communicators responding to the news on behalf of their companies, but they are also processing it for themselves as individuals in real time. It’s been a lot to manage, and we’re now just starting to understand the effects of the past two years. That’s why it’s not surprising to hear study after study about declines in mental health during this time – one of the latest reports from the World Health Organization cited a 25 percent increase in the global prevalence of anxiety and depression in the first year of the pandemic alone.

It’s clearly a global issue that affects everyone, in every corner of the globe.

Even execs get real

Over the past couple years there’s been a groundswell of celebrities, athletes and even executives who’ve shared their own mental health struggles, creating a safer space for others to speak candidly about an often-stigmatized topic.

Andy Dunn, CEO of Bonobos, recently made headlines when he opened up about his experience with bi-polar disorder. In a candid conversation with Pete Nordstrom for The Nordy Pod, Dunn shared why he decided to tell his whole truth:

“I felt like there was an airbrushed, Instagram-friendly version of my story… and it’s so far diverged from the real story which I think has got a lot more nuance and texture and really redemptive power to it, and I felt like a fraud a little bit that there was this one side of the story but not the other. So partly it was to resolve that feeling, partly it was because I was just sick of feeling ashamed of it. You know I had internalized this illness and diagnosis as something I had done wrong.”

Stories like Dunn’s have become more common in workplaces and have the power to build a more caring culture and help define the future of what’s appropriate to share while on the job.

Beyond basic benefits

Companies are clearly paying attention. In fact, more than half (53 percent) of the companies surveyed in PwC’s 2021 Health and Well-being Touchstone Survey added mental health benefits to their plans during the pandemic, such as employee assistance programs and free counseling services.

It’s a start and becoming more and more something employees have come to expect. A 2022 Headspace study found that the vast majority (81 percent) of global employees agree that employers have a responsibility to help them manage their mental health and the call for these benefits are even more pronounced when it comes to younger generations.

Recognizing this trend, progressive companies are offering more comprehensive programs to help their people de-stress and creating forums for employees to share their experiences with each other to foster a sense of community. I’ve personally seen the emergence of employer-sponsored yoga retreats, stress management programs, incentives for healthy self-care behaviors like exercising and the opportunity to take mental health days.

These perks are not only the right thing to do, they also make clear business sense: happy, healthy workers are more productive.

New boundaries

In the absence of meaningful change throughout the broader workforce, many employees have turned to “quiet quitting,” a new buzzword that emerged following so-called Great Resignation. The controversial term categorizes workers who are setting defined work-life boundaries, often prioritizing their mental health.

The term itself is a bit of a misnomer since it’s not about employees forgoing their work responsibilities and is more about individuals seeking to work within the parameters of their jobs so they can live more balanced lives. 

We’re all evolving into newer ways of working together and understanding how to show up in the office or from the comfort of our homes. Whether the work-life boundaries workers seek will stick is to be determined, but one thing is for sure: The workplace is a much more empathetic place these days and all signs point to this trend continuing. So in the event your tear ducts do start to well up while on the clock, rest assured, it’s now OK to show your softer side, in fact, it just makes you human. ▪