That\u2019s why groups like SpeakUp ReachOut, a local suicide prevention nonprofit, are working to provide support and resources that reduce instances in the area. Part of that includes reaching people in the workplace, where some spend a majority of their days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
H.O.P.E. certification is a national training program that aids businesses in practices that create a supportive workforce, leading to a potential reduction in mental health emergencies and improvement in worker well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Eagle County cohort, led by mental health speaker David Otey with the help of SpeakUp ReachOut, was Mountain Recreation, The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa and East West Hospitality. The companies learned how to enhance their mental health and wellness response as well as creating a safe workplace environment for employees. Part of their training included understanding what already worked at their companies, looking at what could be a stressor or a psychosocial risk, developing communication and response strategies around mental health and reviewing risk-mitigation practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they worked to get the certification, the companies would reach levels along the way that showed the progress they made as a group. On Sept. 29, the three local businesses celebrated the completion of the 12-month training program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard work; it can be discouraging sometimes because what we\u2019re doing is suicide prevention, and how can you ever know \u2014 I can\u2019t look around this valley and say we prevented suicide,\u201d said Otey. \u201cWhat we can do is we can see people who feel better equipped to deal with a lot of challenges in the workplace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Erin Leach, the people and culture manager at Mountain Recreation, said their business is unique for being one of the largest youth employers in the valley, with more than half of its staff being Gen Z. \u201cA lot of this stuff, not only is it difficult to talk about with adults, but I think it\u2019s even more difficult to talk about with youth,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The goal for the company is to make their employees feel supported in all aspects of life, and through the training, business operators are able to learn exactly how to do that. From wearing yellow T-shirts on Mental Health Awareness day to creating manager guides on how to navigate hard conversations surrounding mental wellness, Leach said Mountain Recreation gained the tools and then applied them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEquipping our management team and our supervisors and our coordinators with the tools to be able to just be prepared to have those tough conversations, to be prepared to be supportive, to help them listen,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it means a lot to them that they\u2019re not just another cog in the machine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tina Petersen, the human resources director at Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, said their staff promoted a self-screening event through Mental Health America and offered what-to-expect guides that spell out how to use employee assistance programs or other resources like telehealth or a crisis hotline. Something as simple as offering mocktails instead of regular alcoholic drinks at their end-of-the-year parties was a large step towards prevention support. Now with their certification, she said the Westin\u2019s going to continue finding ways to grow and expand their employee support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t a one-and-done thing; we\u2019re still gonna be meeting on a regular basis and taking action steps and monitoring,\u201d Petersen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All three businesses completed surveys at the beginning and end of the program, which allowed them to assess changes over the course of the certification process. They learned about top stressors of their employees, their major strengths and that employees want clear, visible action from their supervisors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Corey Lamothe, board president of SpeakUp ReachOut, said the lessons businesses gain from the certification allow people to openly talk about and acknowledge mental health struggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that for many years, it\u2019s just kind of been shoved under the rug,\u201d she said. \u201cTo see buy-in from our leadership within the community is pivotal to our ability to respond to crisis; it\u2019s pivotal in how we handle intense situations with organizations, within families, with friendship groups, so to see this many leaders come around the table and take the time to empower themselves, to empower their employees and to empower the organizations to support for the employees at (this level), it\u2019s really admirable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, while businesses now have the skills to reach their employees, it doesn\u2019t just stop at them. Erin Ivies, executive director of SpeakUp ReachOut, said that it reaches beyond the workplace. What employees learn at their jobs can be passed on to friends and family and throughout the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we want to go to the workplace to meet people where they are, this work goes far beyond that, and it will change how our community shows up for one another. It will change how people get support,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Otey grew up in a small town in Texas, and while that area was more known for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-618172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}