It’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and if your LinkedIn feed is anything like ours, it’s full of reminders to go outside, touch grass, meditate, and take breaks. (We even posted some of these reminders on Thursday). It's all valid advice, but if a company’s mental health strategy starts and ends with employee "tips" in May, a lot is missing.
Mental health support shouldn’t be a seasonal campaign or a once-a-year agenda item. But it should be part of a company’s culture. That takes more than a Slack shoutout or a wellness webinar. It takes intention, a system, and trust.
Here’s what we do at BAM—and what we think other teams can, too:
We use PTO without fear.
When a team member says they need a mental health day, personal day, or time to care for a family member, no one flinches. Flexible time off isn’t something offer performatively. It’s something we use. That starts from the top, where leadership normalizes taking PTO.
What if your team isn’t using their PTO? The problem likely isn’t them; it's the company culture.
We embrace flexible schedules.
Speaking of flexibility, BAM operates on a four-day workweek—meaning we offer flexibility on when and how people work. Of course, we have our core hours and meetings. But we operate on a trust-based culture: we show up, get sh*t done, and communicate clearly, without micromanagement or a butts-in-seats attitude. (In other words, you can make that 5ET workout class, and send that email later).
We prioritize being efficient over being "busy".
Meetings are fewer and shorter, and the ones we do have are intentional. We build in deep-work time (through meeting-free Wednesdays) so people have protected space to think, create, and focus. The result? More thoughtful work and less Zoom fatigue.
We keep workloads realistic.
When BAMfs are stretched thin, we don’t "celebrate" burnout. We tackle it. This might shifting priorities, rolling up our sleeves to support each other, or hiring. Flat structures and a “nothing is beneath me” mentality means we're in this together.
We practice radical candor.
It's not just about benefits, but about how teams show up for each other. We use radical candor as a framework: caring personally while challenging directly. Giving thoughtful feedback, having honest conversations, and asking each other how we prefer to receive that feedback are all important.
Companies can't tout psychological safety as another buzzword. It needs to show up through daily practice.
We check in, often and openly.
During 1:1s or team meetings, you’ll often hear, "What color are you?" (Green: feeling good. Yellow: in the middle. Red: overwhelmed.) It’s not an icebreaker. It helps us figure out how to show up for each other in real time.
DEI includes everyone.
DEI sessions are built into our company-wide stand-up meetings, and we take turns running sessions. This month, our DEI session focused on mental health because sometimes the most inclusive thing we can do is talk honestly about how we’re really doing.
We normalize being human.
Mistakes? We all make them, so we all talk about them. During monthly BAM meetings, we share "fuck ups and failures" as a team. No, we don't dwell on them. But we do learn from them and remind ourselves that perfection isn’t real.
We support therapy and coaching.
Every BAMf gets a monthly therapy stipend, plus access to paid coaching through Sphere. Having support outside of your direct manager makes a difference, and we believe people should have free or affordable access.
Mental health at work doesn't mean a PTO day in May or a free meditation app (though those are great, too). It’s built into your every day work culture, and shows up through decisions made, systems shaped, and whether employees feel safe showing up as humans.
Mental health culture is built, not branded.
BAM's far from perfect. But we’re proud to keep trying, adjusting, and showing up.
Let’s stop seeing mental health at work like a marketing opportunity and start seeing it like the foundation it is. And if you’re working to build a culture that prioritizes people over performance, we’re cheering you on.
LEAVE A COMMENT