Executing Mental Health in the Workplace Series – Company Profile: Social Nature & Annalea Krebs
The below post is part of our new Mental Health in the Workplace Series. Read our Introduction to the Series here and enjoy the below information from Social Nature’s Founder & Chief Strategist, Annalea Krebs.
AT SOCIAL NATURE, WE’RE ON A MISSION TO CHANGE CONSUMER HABITS AND HELP MORE PEOPLE MAKE THE SWITCH TO HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS ON THEIR NEXT SHOPPING TRIP.
WE OFFER FOOD AND HEALTH BRANDS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AN ONLINE PRODUCT TESTING PLATFORM TO GET QUICK FEEDBACK ON THEIR NEW PRODUCTS AND CONCEPTS. AND WE OFFER OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAMPLE AND GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS.
1. What is your philosophy towards mental health in the workplace?
My personal philosophy is that I want my team members to leave here better than when they arrived at Social Nature. In practice, we support this through an open culture that prioritizes a high level of psychological safety and offers a flexible work environment, competitive wellness benefits, ample time off, and other resources such as executive coaching or employee assistance programs.
One of our key leadership principles (#keepitreal) revolves around encouraging open communication about what our team needs in order to achieve their own personal and professional development. This open space for dialogue has inspired our VP of Marketing, @jessicamalach, to share her passion for mindfulness with us, and helps bring an important “wellness perspective” into the workplace, which has translated into breathing exercises before big meetings and 30-day health challenges for the entire company.
2. As a business leader, why would you recommend investing in the mental health of your employees?
The success of leadership of any kind, business or otherwise, can be measured by the well-being of those who are being led i.e. your people. Under normal circumstances, mental health should be prioritized within workplaces as it’s proven to have such a big impact on individual productivity and collaboration with other team members.
But now more than ever, with the cumulative impact of stress in life and work, and the fact that those two places are one and the same for many of us now, business leaders must make mental health a strategic priority. Investing in the mental health of your employees prevents burnout, sustains productivity, and retains your employees in the long-term.
3. As it pertains to mental health/ illness, what do you think needs to shift/change before as a society, we can achieve true mental well-being?
It all starts with education and leading by example. The more we are able to learn about what mental health means and looks like for different people, the more we’re able to have genuine, caring conversations that unite and strengthen our teams.
Part of educating ourselves includes giving our team the tools and resources we need to have these conversations, such as the Mental Health Continuum Model, that helps visualize the change in behavior you may observe with someone struggling with their mental health. More awareness also leads to eliminating stigma around the topic over time, and that is key, as we want to always be creating open, supportive spaces for dialogue.
At Social Nature, we have developed leadership principles including #keepitreal and #sharedestiny that encourages us to be open and reminds us that we’re in this together. We also conduct engagement surveys twice a year to get feedback on how well we’re supporting our teams and learn how we can be doing better at every step of the way.
To learn more about Social Nature, visit www.socialnature.com.
