PART I
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and it is dedicated to understanding the care and compassion needed to nurture those who suffer from mental illness disruptions. At Blue Yonder, we take the time to drive awareness for importance of mental health.
Blue Yonder offers Time to Talk, a network of Mental Health First Aiders trained to support associates struggling with their mental health. Most importantly, the Time to Talk team provides a safe space and is available for anyone needing someone to talk to without judgement.
Blue Yonder expanded its mental health first aid program beyond its European network, where it first launched. Today, our Time to Talk group stands as a network of global representatives committed to supporting individual well-being and collective wellness engagement throughout Blue Yonder. We are excited to share our journey and illustrate how far we’ve come, and how far we are willing to go to help those who are suffering from any mental disability or disruption.
What is Time to Talk?
The Time to Talk reps are committed to supporting well-being efforts by 1:1 support that includes listening and understanding, recognizing stressful situations, and guiding associates to available resources. In addition, they are committed to providing assistance at the collective level through group drop-in sessions, internal communications, and hosting interactive activities and guest speakers.
How did Time to Talk begin?
Our journey started in February 2020, when a group of five volunteers was formed and trained by an accredited program led by Mental Health First Aid England. When the pandemic hit a few weeks later, this group became a pivotal employee-led support mechanism for our associates during an unprecedented time. The team was fundamental to helping the EMEA region deal with a time of uncertainty and change.
What has made Time to Talk successful at Blue Yonder?
We are honored to have a group of employees who are passionate advocates of mental health awareness and well-being. The team has covered topics such as: dealing with uncertainty and change, returning to offices, burnout prevention, supporting mental health and much more. This team has become a strategic partner of Associate Success (HR), and together we are able to meet the needs of our associates and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges our workforce is currently facing. This team consists of associates helping other associates. Having this channel of feedback ensures we are always striving for continuous improvement in the well-being space. One of the team’s greatest introductions is the group-based drop-in sessions. These sessions provide an open forum for mental health awareness discussions on a collective level, it’s great to see our associates speaking up, putting ideas forward, and supporting each other. These events truly exhibit the foundation of trust and support that our reps have built within the Blue Yonder community.
How is Time to Talk accessed at Blue Yonder?
More recently, we have focused on accessibility and ensuring our associates can find support easily in their times of need. Our internal Time to Talk website allows associates to view the catalog of representatives, their contact details, a brief description of them, and the languages they speak. Our representatives speak more than 10 languages combined, offering employees the opportunity to speak in their preferred language to make conversations more comfortable. All our events are open to Blue Yonder associates, and in recent months, the business has invited our representatives to speak at departmental meetings.
We hope to continue to provide more opportunities for people to volunteer and join our network in the coming months.
Next week, some of our Time to Talk representatives share their stories of what mental health first aid means to them.
