Mind Matters: Navigating Mental Health Awareness Month & Workplace Initiatives

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. How will your company honor it?

Thatโ€™s the topic of this monthโ€™s newsletter, along with updates on the Secure 2.0 Retirement Savings Act and the schism between high salary expectations and low hiring budgets. Read on.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—›๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต

Mental health is a big deal to your employees. Whether your organization makes it a priority can make a big difference in how youโ€™re perceived as an employer.

Aside from the table stakes โ€” offering decent healthcare benefits that include mental health coverage, I have a few ideas to share:

  • Establish peer support programs for people who have lived experience with mental health challenges

  • Sponsor a community wellness event or a โ€œlunch and learnโ€ with a mental health theme

  • Create a mental health resource corner for your employees

  • Set up a gratitude wall!

  • Carve out โ€œstress-free zonesโ€ at your office where people can come for quiet contemplation and relaxation

"Kip, my kid has a 'stress-free zone' at their preschool."

Yes, and it works, doesnโ€™t it?

Iโ€™d love to hear other ideas you have to celebrate Mental Health Month. How does your company do it?

๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฎ.๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—”๐—ฐ๐˜

If youโ€™re hiring young workers fresh out of school, listen up, because the SECURE 2.0 Retirement Savings Act is rolling out, and it gives you an opportunity, as an employer, to invest in your employeesโ€™ financial well-being.

The short story: As long as employees are making payments on their student loans, employers now have the option to match those student loan payments with 401K contributions. In this way, your younger employees can start planning for retirement along with paying off their loans, and this is a very enticing benefit in a time when BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has pronounced a โ€œretirement crisisโ€ in this country.

In general, benefits are key when candidates are weighing which role to take. As a recruiter for many years, I always have an opportunity to discuss offer packages with job seekers, so I know just how much these things really do matter. Read more, and consider taking advantage of SECURE 2.0 as a part of the benefits package you offer.

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด

๐—›๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜ƒ๐˜€ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€

One of the biggest conflicts weโ€™re seeing in the HR world these days is that job seekers have high expectations for compensation โ€” and rightly so, with inflation where it is โ€” but companies have low hiring budgets (partly for the same reason).

A 2024 CareerBuilder/HR Brew survey found that 64% of enterprise companies have decreased hiring budgets this year. (Though small businesses actually have higher budgets.) Within the enterprise arena, 20% of new roles filled pay $75kโ€“$100k, and a third pay more than that. Sales and marketing are doing the most hiring, with IT and customer service in second place.

Hiring is complicated, any way you slice it. As a recruiter at KIP Search, I only pay so much attention to these kinds of headlines, because every individual company has its own dynamics and nuances. Still, itโ€™s worth noting the struggles companies are having with hiring โ€” and the value in partnering with a recruiter to solve them.

๐—”๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ.

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May Newsletter: To Your (Mental) Health!