How Peer Support Is Redefining Workplace Mental Health

Across all sectors, organizations are recognizing the growing impact of mental health on their people and workplace culture. While awareness and resources have increased, mental health continues to be one of the leading causes of both short- and long-term disability claims. Many approaches to workplace mental health still focus primarily on clinical care or performance management – treating symptoms or managing behaviors. Clinicians focus on treatment, and leaders focus on behavior – yet what lies between those two perspectives is where the real opportunity exists.

That space in between is where human connection lives. It’s where an employee feels safe to share what they’re going through, where a colleague listens without judgment, and where small conversations can prevent larger struggles down the road. Peer support brings that connection to life inside the workplace, helping employees feel seen, valued, and supported before challenges escalate into crisis or absence.

Through structured peer support, employees can connect earlier, learn to support one another with empathy, and strengthen their own sense of belonging and well-being. Peer support also helps reduce stigma around mental health, creating space for open dialogue and shared understanding at every level of an organization.

Join Stéphane and Mike as they explore how organizations can move beyond traditional approaches to foster cultures grounded in compassion, trust, and resilience. Drawing on years of leadership experience, lived insight, and organizational learning, this session will explore how peer support complements existing resources such as Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAP), counseling, and wellness initiatives. Through real-life examples and shared reflections, Stéphane and Mike will illustrate how peer support can enhance organizational approaches to mental health – strengthening connection, reducing burnout, and fostering a more compassionate, engaged workplace culture.

This session will also highlight how peer support can benefit both employees and organizations alike. For individuals, it provides a safe, confidential way to seek understanding from someone who “gets it.” For workplaces, peer support fosters early intervention, improves employee engagement, and reduces financial losses from absences, disability, and staff turnover.

This webinar offers insight and inspiration for those looking to strengthen mental health and well-being in the workplace. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how peer support can fit within different organizational settings – regardless of size, sector, or structure – and how it can complement existing approaches to employee wellness.

By placing human connection at the heart of workplace culture, organizations can move beyond reacting to mental health challenges to building resilience, trust, and compassion into everyday interactions. When employees feel supported not just as workers, but as people, workplaces thrive – becoming healthier, more connected, and better equipped to face the challenges of a changing world.