Mental health issues can affect anyone, at any time. Working hard to overcome stigma and stereotyping, we take a layered approach to mental health. This includes educating and bringing people together, offering support and actively promoting it. But in the last year we’ve started building on top of the standard approach: shifting from centering solely on individual responsibility to include care at the team and organizational levels.
In many ways, Thoughtworks’ mental health efforts were already very community-focused. We have several active global communities on the topic of mental health, with hundreds of participants and daily engagement. In these informal spaces, our people can connect, share experiences and insights.
As our business isn’t designed in a traditional line-management style, we’ve also built support into our day-to-day structure. Client Leadership Teams provide this structure for consultant teams, ensuring each team member is supported, with the People team in each region on hand as needed. Our internal Communities are another way Thoughtworkers connect around shared experiences. These groups organize talks, run training and workshops, plan socials and mobilize on key issues.
Thoughtworks also has a dedicated Workplace Experience function, which prioritizes bringing people together; in person or virtually. The point is that connection takes place regularly, for both work and fun; helping people make long-lasting friendships and building belonging. It is only when belonging and trust exist that people feel comfortable and are more likely to talk about any concerns, ask for support or adjustments.
The Workplace Experience team are the lynchpins of our office lives. They regularly post events and reminders across Thoughtworks platforms to raise awareness of the support and activities available, and encourage individuals and teams to build mental health moments into their day.
But while multiple networks exist and an ongoing program of activity runs year-round, we recognised that there's a tendency for narratives about mental health to lean into “self-care” as a solution. By no means problematic—we aren’t abandoning it, rather adding to it—self-care can go a long way to support and improve mental health. At its most basic level, self-care means self-awareness, recognizing when you're struggling often being the first step. It also means setting boundaries, practicing self-compassion and looking after yourself in terms of sleep and time out. But, by definition, it places the burden on the individual, often when they need support the most.
Evolving our approach, and working with our mental health first aiders, we’ve placed new emphasis on “team-care,” recognizing the importance of team dynamics on mental health in the workplace. Team-care means checking in with each other and building empathetic rituals that make space for people to share, comfortably and if they choose to, what they have going on in their lives. By adding team-care to the mix, there are more avenues for people to pursue help in a way that works for them.
As part of our inclusion calendar, Thoughtworks runs a focused mental health month each October. In 2024, the DEI team hosted a number of workshops on team-care, exploring why self-care alone isn’t sufficient, and how and why mental health should be a team effort. These were supported by a series of curated blogs. Gathered under the banner #ClientLife, the blogs provide bite-size explanations of what team-care looks like, helping everyone feel equipped to handle difficult moments and support each other.
October’s activities also focused on gratitude—specifically, how much difference gratitude makes when people recognize the efforts their colleagues go to. And how the benefits of taking a moment to reach out are reciprocal, boosting not just the person being thanked but the person doing the thanking.
As part of our spotlight on gratitude, Thoughtworkers were invited to share their appreciation for each other, with messages compiled into a “wall of thanks” in each region. Recognition at work—such a simple thing—can go a long way to improving mental health.
Whether it’s encouraging employees to have walk-and-talk meetings, ask for help or just feel more self-acceptance if they're having an off day, growing mental health awareness is something we’re grateful for and support in every possible way.