How HR Can Support Workers During a Mental Health Crisis

An organization can boast a positive workplace culture with strong working relationships across the board and still find itself in a position where employees feel burned out, disengaged, and ready to leave.

This was the case for Aaron “Sgt Q” Quinonez, founder of QMissions, a nonprofit serving veterans, who spoke at SHRM25 in San Diego. Following his deployment as a U.S. Marine and a traumatic event involving a violent confrontation with a home intruder, Quinonez found it increasingly difficult to show up at work. Once a thriving member of his team, known for his innovative ideas and top-notch performance, he began to struggle. Quinonez soon earned the label “difficult to work with” and was ultimately fired.

The Mental Health Gap in the Workplace

Despite growing awareness of mental health’s importance, most organizations remain unprepared to support employee mental health. Just 45% of HR professionals say their organizations provide educational resources on mental health, according to SHRM’s February 2025 Current Events Pulse survey. This knowledge gap often results in cascading losses for organizations, including reduced productivity, higher turnover, and diminished employee experience.

Quinonez said his former employer was aware of his struggles but wasn’t prepared to offer support. “They didn’t have the tools and training to help me when I needed it the most,” he explained. 

Not only did Quinonez lose a job that had once been a source of purpose and fulfillment, but the organization also lost a top-performing employee. This situation is far from unique. About 12 billion working days are lost each year globally due to depression and anxiety, resulting in a $1 trillion loss in productivity, according to the World Health Organization. Embedding mental health support into organizational culture presents an opportunity to strengthen both employee well-being and business outcomes.

What does it look like to make mental health an integral part of company culture? Creating a mentally resilient team doesn’t have to mean implementing sweeping overhauls, Quinonez said. It starts with two actionable steps every HR leader can take before securing buy-in across the organization.

1. Set Clear Expectations 

HR leaders must establish clear expectations around mental health support. Employees need to know what resources and systems are in place to help them thrive, while managers require tools and training to identify and address potential challenges, Quinonez said.

A thriving culture might include training opportunities, a commitment to psychological safety, and flexibility to support employees facing difficult times. For example, Quinonez advocated offering grace to employees returning to work after a mental health crisis: “It makes them feel valued and supported — not just as producers for the company but as people with real, everyday struggles.”

Managers also need guidance on how to foster psychological safety, recognize signs of distress, and encourage open dialogue, he said. This foundational transparency creates a shared understanding employees can rely on during high-stress times.

2. Empower and Encourage 

Once expectations are in place, HR must take tangible steps to activate well-being by stimulating positive emotions and mental resilience. These moments of activation, however small, can have a significant impact through a chemical boost. “Dopamine is released when you accomplish a small goal,” explained Quinonez. Alongside oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, dopamine can help employees feel motivated, connected, and engaged in their work.

Here’s how Quinonez suggested HR teams boost these “happiness chemicals” in the workplace:

• Build Connection: Create opportunities for employees to connect through regular team meals, quarterly events, and other group activities. Strengthening bonds releases oxytocin, fostering a sense of belonging.
• Recognize Achievements: Acknowledge accomplishments in one-on-one meetings or organizationwide forums to boost serotonin and reinforce feelings of competence.
• Introduce Challenges: Encourage employees to take on meaningful but manageable challenges. Like runners pushing through initial discomfort, employees can release endorphins when they succeed.

These strategies won’t just improve mental health; they can also lead to lower turnover. Half of workers (51%) who said their job negatively impacted their mental health are actively job-seeking, compared to only 19% of those who reported a positive mental health impact from their job, according to What Global Workers Want and the Global Worker Experience, part of the SHRM Global Worker Project.

Gaining Buy-In

Achieving organizational resilience isn’t a solo effort, Quinonez said. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others,” he added, quoting a well-known saying.

Building a company culture that uplifts mental health can’t be accomplished by the HR team alone. Success comes from gaining buy-in from the entire organization. Explaining the “why behind the what” gives employees a clear sense of purpose and connection to the organization’s approach to mental health, Quinonez said. Whether the goal is to train more managers on recognizing signs of burnout or enhancing the workforce’s ability to build work/life integration, everyone, not just HR, needs a collective understanding of their role in the organization’s success in these endeavors.

Treating Resilience as a Business Imperative  

Failure to offer support during critical moments leads to costly losses in talent and productivity, as Quinonez’s story demonstrates. But HR leaders are uniquely positioned to drive change by setting the tone, leading by example, and creating spaces where mental health support thrives. “Empowering your team to take ownership and encouraging their growth” can help scale the culture of mental resilience, Quinonez said.  

Certificate: Workplace Mental Health Ally