The success of workplace mental health efforts depends not just on offering resources and benefits, but actively engaging workers to understand what’s available and how to access help when they need it. However, leaders often find certain workers are “hard-to-reach,” whether because of their role, working arrangements, workplace stress, or other factors. Overcoming those barriers can be the key to meeting mental health needs where they’re greatest. The first step is understanding the different reasons that workers can be hard-to-reach. People in non-traditional work arrangements, such as contract, seasonal, or gig workers, often have irregular hours and may lack strong connections at work. Those regularly outside a traditional workplace, such as truck drivers, traveling salespeople, and even remote workers, may also be difficult to reach through typical channels. And workers who face stress or trauma, such as first responders or frontline healthcare workers, may be difficult to reach because of burnout, exhaustion, and other challenges.
