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Mental health care hasn’t reached its Waymo moment just yet.

At the Lyra Breakthrough 2025 Conference, Dr. Tom Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, explored how AI has evolved in mental health. “I tend to sort of put this into a timeline where I think about how we did navigation,” he said. “When I was growing up, we had these paper maps to go on a trip, and now we use GPS. And I guess the question is: Are we ready for Waymo?”

His answer: Not yet. Autonomous AI therapy is still worlds away. But he emphasized that generative AI could still have a profound impact on mental health care right now. It has the potential to improve care navigation, patient engagement, and the quality of therapeutic interventions.

For benefits leaders looking to bring a mental health benefits provider on board, this development presents both opportunities and risks. By choosing a generative AI-focused vendor, you can empower your employees to live better and perform at their best. But if that partner has rushed into adopting the tech without proper human oversight, it can have the opposite effect.

At Breakthrough, Jen Fisher—Creator and Host of The WorkWell Podcast—discussed the benefits and drawbacks of generative AI in mental health with three brilliant panelists:

Their perspectives demonstrate how responsible vendors are embracing generative AI, creating a valuable learning opportunity for those who are looking to scale care for complex employee issues without compromising quality.

Discover how we’re using AI to bring life-changing mental health care to people across the globe.

Don’t let generative AI drift off course

Dr. Alethea Varra, Senior VP of Clinical Care at Lyra, tells her clients the truth, even if it’s hard to hear. Because that is what exceptional therapists do.

“My job as a therapist so very often is to sit down with a human in front of me and to tell them something that is not actually going to make them happy,” she shares. “I’m asking them to challenge their own beliefs, to challenge their own thoughts, to challenge sometimes very deeply rooted patterns of behavior.”

Generative AI, on the other hand, tends to tell people what they want to hear, even if it hurts them. Unlike traditional rule-based AI that follows strict protocols, generative AI learns as it goes, with the ultimate marker of success being whether the human user is happy with the response.

Its people-pleasing tendencies can have serious consequences. For example, a non-profit organization designed a chatbot to provide therapeutic support for disordered eating. But it started to give feedback that actually affirmed and exacerbated the user’s behavior. While it had clear parameters about appropriate responses, it still drifted from its therapeutic purpose, working against the very people it was meant to help.

Benefits leaders, ensure you’re selecting providers that prioritize clinically sound guidance over feel-good responses. Otherwise, you might end up with solutions that not only undermine therapeutic efficacy but also put employees at risk of receiving contraindicated advice.

The importance of the human touch

While generative AI carries risk, the potential it carries is too valuable to ignore.

Dr. Varra shares that moving forward requires that humans and technology work together. When mental health benefits providers embrace generative AI, they need to keep humans in the loop to prevent it from optimizing for satisfaction rather than effective treatment. “The intersection of AI and humans—it’s the magic we need to figure out,” she says.

This approach enables providers to enjoy the tech’s benefits without compromising patient outcomes. Responsible providers proactively assemble an oversight team first, then use AI for administrative tasks to establish clinician trust before rolling out therapeutic intervention.

  1. Establish clinical oversight
  2. Streamline administrative tasks with generative AI
  3. Apply generative AI to manualized therapeutic interventions
  4. Enable continuous monitoring and human intervention

Understanding the rollout of human-centered AI for therapeutic care can help benefits leaders like you understand the qualities to seek (and avoid) when evaluating potential vendors.

How responsible mental health benefits providers approach generative AI deployment

Step 1: Establishing clinical oversight

The humans in the loop can’t be just anyone. Dr. Varra notes that they need to be seasoned clinicians who can understand the subtle nuances between responses that sound good and those that are actually effective.

Forward-thinking providers are hiring clinicians specifically for AI oversight roles. They monitor human-AI interactions and create clear escalation protocols for concerning responses.

Red flag for benefits leaders: Your potential vendor can’t name the clinical leaders responsible for AI supervision.

Step 2: Streamlining administrative tasks with generative AI

Responsible providers are starting with low-risk generative AI applications that don’t directly impact care delivery. They’re using the tech to streamline time-consuming, manual tasks, like data capture and clinical documentation.

This simultaneously frees clinicians to focus on deeper engagement with their patients and builds organizational trust in AI capabilities. Briana Duffy, Market President at Carelon Behavioral Health, shares that mental health remains deeply human work, emphasizing the importance of the bond between therapists and their patients. “Human connection is so critical when it comes to the care journey,” she expresses. 

Technology should deepen rather than disrupt those essential relationships.

Red flag for benefits leaders: Your vendor doesn’t use AI to support clinicians in their day-to-day work.

Step 3: Applying generative AI to manualized therapeutic interventions

When it comes to applying generative AI to actual therapeutic work, Dr. Insel notes that it’s critical to start with manualized interventions, like using cognitive behavioral therapy to address a phobia. These interventions follow clearly defined, standardized steps that help minimize the need for subjective decision-making.

Psychoanalytic interventions, on the other hand, are not appropriate candidates for the use of AI. They’re more open-ended, with a focus on the therapist reading between the lines to explore subconscious thought, which would leave AI with far too much room for interpretation.

Red flag for benefits leaders: Your vendor doesn’t have a framework for determining when AI is appropriate vs. when human therapists must lead.

Step 4: Enabling continuous monitoring and human intervention

The rollout of generative AI for therapy is just the beginning. Leading providers are calling on their oversight teams to evaluate therapeutic interactions on a regular cadence and flag concerning patterns that need to be addressed.

Human intervention goes beyond correcting AI when it starts to drift. Providers also need teams of skilled humans who are prepared to respond when AI identifies patients in need of urgent care. 

Duffy’s team at Carelon can identify patients at risk of self-harm or suicidal ideation, typically five months prior to an attempt. She highlights that having that predictive capability is only valuable if there are skilled clinicians ready to perform trauma-informed, compassionate interventions when AI sounds the alarm.

Red flag for benefits leaders: Your vendor doesn’t have systematic review processes or established protocols for emergency response.

Moving into the future with confidence

Mental health benefits providers who thoughtfully balance AI with human oversight take advantage of everything the tech has to offer while keeping patients safe.

They care for larger populations by automating manualized interventions, while ensuring that patients receive constructive, not counterproductive, guidance. Meanwhile, by using AI to free clinicians from routine administrative tasks, like data capture and documentation, providers enable them to engage more quickly and meaningfully when human intervention is required.

For benefits leaders, partnering with a responsible vendor can create unprecedented value for employees. Your employees will have more immediate access to care when they need it. They’ll receive clinically sound care that helps them genuinely heal. And they’ll benefit from deeper, more meaningful relationships with clinicians when they need them the most.

When providers demonstrate that they are responsibly using AI, you can take confidence in the fact that your investment is having a deeply positive impact on the well-being and performance of each member of your workforce.

At 2 a.m., a mother on leave in Mexico City is overwhelmed by postpartum depression. In your London office, a manager is worried about a grieving employee. Neither knows exactly what to do, but they know they need help now.

These aren’t rare events—they’re everyday realities for a global workforce. When someone is struggling, a robotic dead-end or a delayed, impersonal response only deepens their sense of isolation. Mental health care isn’t one-size-fits-all, especially when your workforce spans continents.

At Lyra, humans are always available. We offer a round-the-clock Care Navigator with the clinical expertise and local knowledge to guide a crisis to a turning point.

5 ways Lyra redefines care navigation 

We’ve built a care navigation system designed for real impact: expansive, responsive, and always there. Here’s what sets it apart:

#1 Unmatched global reach with local expertise

Lyra has the largest care navigation network in the industry. With support in 220 countries and territories and 55+ languages, we connect employees with an in-country care navigator who understands the cultural and regulatory landscape. 

Impact: Consistent quality of care and local compliance knowledge across your global workforce, without adding administrative burden for your HR team. 

#2 The industry’s only 24/7 care navigation team

In case of crisis or a risk flag, members always have access to round-the-clock clinicians. This isn’t just a feature; it’s our global standard of care.

Impact: Employees aren’t left waiting during their most vulnerable moments, and HR teams can rest assured that crises are handled by experts, not left to managers.

#3 Integrated care for every need

From small concerns to serious struggles, our navigators are there every step, providing trusted support for:

Impact: A healthier, more resilient workforce and fewer distractions that pull employees away from their jobs.

#4 Human support, AI-enhanced

AI helps with administrative tasks so navigators can spend more time listening, understanding, and guiding people to the right care, freeing care navigators to focus on more complex and nuanced conversations. 

Impact: More time listening to members than writing summaries and a benefit that puts people first.

#5 Measurable outcomes

Last year alone, we supported more than 240,000 people worldwide—guiding them to the right care, so they weren’t left to figure it out alone. And this year, our care navigators proactively reached out to over 17,000 members who had been identified as high-risk, making sure they got the support they needed. The result is life-changing: 9 out of 10 Lyra members not only get better, they stay better.

Impact: Employees get the support they need quickly, and employers see stronger engagement, retention, and productivity.

Your trusted partner in mental health

When your employees can easily access care, they show up healthier, more focused, and more committed. With Lyra’s Care Navigation, you get:

Better care starts here

A mental health benefit only works if people actually use it. Lyra’s 24/7 global care navigation provides your employees with a lifeline whenever and wherever they need it. makes sure they can, with real people available for 24/7 support in any country, giving every employee a lifeline whenever and wherever they need it.

You can’t fix what you can’t see. An employee engagement survey shines light on the moments that make work great, and the ones that drain productivity. It’s the first step in turning feedback into smarter strategy and strategy into results that stick.

What is employee engagement? 

Employee engagement is how much people are invested in their work and their organization. When employees feel connected to a company’s mission and values, they give more, bring extra effort and creativity, and solve problems better. 

The stakes are high: Disengaged employees drain an estimated $8.8 trillion from the global economy. Employee engagement grows when companies support workplace wellness and equip managers with tools to understand and help their teams (including employee engagement surveys). 

Why are employee engagement surveys important?

A thoughtfully designed employee engagement survey is more than a measurement tool. When organizations not only gather feedback but also act on it, they can boost retention, strengthen trust, and improve both productivity and profitability. the results can make the difference between changes in retention, productivity, profitability, and trust. 

Gallup surveys on employee engagement and employee turnover found engagement surveys may help:

Turn feedback into action (and trust)

Collecting feedback isn’t usually a heavy lift. Acting on it is where many companies stumble. Only 21% of organizations run surveys three or more times a year, even though 58% of employees want more frequent check-ins. This gap between listening and doing can erode employee trust. But when companies design employee feedback surveys with action in mind—digging into what motivates people and turning insights into concrete steps—they don’t just boost engagement. They build the kind of trust that fuels innovation.

How to create an impactful employee engagement survey 

Your employee engagement survey can be more than a check-the-box exercise. It can spark real culture and performance gains when feedback is tied to visible action.

#1 Communicate intentions

Effective engagement surveys communicate why the employee survey matters, how HR will use the data, and what employees can expect afterward. Emphasize anonymity to encourage candid, honest feedback.

#2 Use the LEAD framework

Consider using the LEAD framework for survey questions. It ensures you’re covering areas that matter most to employees:

#3 Standardize with a 5-point Likert scale

A simple scale (Strongly disagree → Strongly agree) makes responses easier to track, compare across teams, and measure over time. Consistency is key. It helps you spot trends, identify strengths and weaknesses, and focus your actions where they’ll make the biggest difference.

#4 Drive high participation

Promote the employee feedback survey through email, team meetings, and leadership endorsements. It’s essential to dedicate time during work hours to complete tasks since this tends to improve response.

Taking action on employee engagement surveys

Running an employee engagement survey is just the beginning. What you do next determines whether employees feel heard or ignored.

Turn surveys into a tool that drives results

Employee engagement surveys work best when they’re purposeful, timely, and followed by action. Done right, they reveal what fuels your people, build trust through follow-through, and turn feedback into lasting business impact.

Trigger warning: Contains references to suicide and self-harm.

One of the most distressing scenarios for an HR leader is learning that an employee is experiencing a severe mental health crisis and may not be able to keep themselves safe. When a member of your team is struggling with suicidal thoughts or behaviors, your top priority becomes supporting them in receiving the care they need to successfully manage the current crisis and prevent future ones.

Unless you’re familiar with the ins and outs of specialized mental health care, however, you will likely find yourself flooded with a number of questions: Where do we start? Who provides this level of specialized care? How do we vet them for quality? What if there’s a waitlist when this person needs help now? How do I support their manager through this? What can we do differently in the future to catch the warning signs earlier?

This is the moment when you, your organization, and your employee are most in need of specialized, dedicated support to navigate the complex healthcare landscape and connect your employee to the high-quality care they urgently need.

Building a safety net proactively

When an employee’s safety and well-being are on the line, hoping for the best is not enough. An effective workplace suicide prevention strategy requires a comprehensive approach including:

Lyra takes the guesswork out of this process, providing access to the specialized care and support your employee and their family need.

Immediate access to evidence-based treatment

The treatment of choice for someone struggling with suicidal and self-harm behaviors is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT is a comprehensive treatment program that combines skills groups, individual therapy, and real-time skills coaching to provide your employees with the skills they need to manage overwhelming emotions, resist urges to harm themselves, navigate interpersonal relationships, and avert crises. With Lyra’s DBT program, members work with a team of expert DBT clinicians and have access to 24/7 skills coaching from trained professionals to assist them in applying new skills in their daily lives.

What sets Lyra’s DBT program apart is its accessibility. Whereas most comprehensive DBT programs have waitlists of three to six months, Lyra connects members to care in just days – ensuring that this life-saving treatment is available when it’s needed most. The Lyra DBT program is also more efficient, lasting four months instead of the standard six, thanks to Lyra’s between-session digital tools that reinforce skills practice throughout the week. Notably, the outcomes speak for themselves: 91% of members who complete the program demonstrate meaningful symptom improvement. This is the treatment you want your employees to receive if they are at risk of harming themselves.

Access to higher levels of care when needed

Although outpatient DBT can help many people through a crisis, some may need more intensive care to ensure their safety. Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) and partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) can provide a helpful step-up in care to prevent hospitalization, or serve as a vital step-down to help someone safely transition back to their daily routine and outpatient care.

Finding a high-quality intensive program in the midst of a crisis can be a daunting task, however, especially if you are starting from scratch. Lyra has done the hard work ahead of time, building a robust network of 1,000 trusted facility partners so that we are ready to act immediately when members need more support.

Support for the support system

When someone is in crisis, the people around them can feel the weight too. If you are not a trained mental health provider, helping someone navigate a suicidal crisis can be overwhelming and frightening. Family members, managers, and HR leaders alike may struggle with how best to support an employee in crisis and help them traverse the complex and often confusing healthcare system. With Lyra, you don’t have to navigate this maze alone. We provide dedicated support and guidance not just for employees, but for the families and organizations supporting them.

Be ready when your team needs you the most

A mental health crisis is one of the most difficult challenges a workplace can face—not just for the individual, but for their manager, HR leader, and co-workers. With Lyra, you have a pre-built, high-quality safety net that reduces risk, controls costs, and provides a clear path forward for everyone involved.

The support you put in place today can help your employees recover from a crisis and move forward in their lives with a renewed sense of purpose and the ability to navigate crises more effectively in the future.

Employee experience is the beating heart of your workplace. And for benefits leaders, it’s one of the most powerful levers you have to drive engagement, retention, and well-being. When employee experience is positive, people do their best work. When it’s not, even the best benefits can fall flat.

What is employee experience?

Employee experience is the sum of everything an employee encounters at work—interactions with co-workers, the tools and systems they use, leadership behaviors, culture, and support. It spans the entire employee journey, from their first interview to their last day. 

Employee engagement is the indicator. Business results like performance, turnover, and health care costs are outcomes. Employee experience is the input. You can’t demand employee well-being and engagement, but you can design an experience that makes people want to show up, stay, and thrive.

Why is employee experience important?

Employee experience shapes every corner of your organization, from performance to retention and innovation.

A strong employee experience can: 

Stages of the employee experience 

Employee experience unfolds over time, with each stage shaping how people feel and perform.

How to improve employee experience

A strong employee experience is about more than policies or perks. It requires clear strategy, consistent action, and a culture that puts people first. Here are some tips to boost employee experience:

#1 Measure psychosocial risks

Leaders need to understand how aspects of work are impacting employees adversely so that they can take action to make improvements. A psychosocial risk assessment can also help to measure outcomes like levels of psychological safety and burnout.

#2 Build psychological safety

People do their best work when they feel safe to be honest, take risks, and admit mistakes. Psychological safety is the permission slip your team needs to be fully engaged. It starts with small, consistent actions like leaders modeling vulnerability and inviting feedback, which signal that it’s safe to show up authentically.

#3 Get everyone involved

Employee experience isn’t just top-down. Research shows that even a 15-minute weekly check-in from a manager can significantly improve employee engagement and well-being. Equip managers to lead with empathy and consistency, give leaders the tools to act on what they hear, and invite employees to co-create culture and norms.

#4 Prioritize mental health

For today’s workforce, a supportive culture often matters more than salary. Culture is stronger when mental health is core, not a side benefit. Normalize open conversations, train managers to recognize burnout, and ensure employees have easy access to high-quality care. Small actions, like modeling boundaries or starting meetings with check-ins, reinforce that well-being is valued.The lasting impact of employee experience

#5  Provide real flexibility

Work-life balance looks different for everyone. Redefine it as freedom within a framework—whether that’s hybrid models, flexible core working hours, or recharge days during high-stress periods. For shift and gig workers, this could mean the ability to choose schedules that fit with personal commitments and childcare needs. 

#6 Fuel growth and purpose

People do their best work when they see a future for themselves and understand why their work matters. Generic learning libraries aren’t enough. Personalize development paths, connect employees’ work directly to your company’s mission, and celebrate the impact they create.

#7 Offer recognition that resonates

Recognition should be frequent, specific, and meaningful. Public shout-outs, peer-to-peer kudos, handwritten notes, team-based awards (“Most Creative Problem-Solver”), or even extra time off show people they’re valued.

#8 Supercharge your managers

Managers shape the daily employee experience more than anyone else. Equip them with training in particular for  hybrid leadership, trust-building, and sensitive mental health conversations. Give them the tools to support, not just supervise, their teams.

The lasting impact of employee experience

Improving employee experience isn’t a one-time initiative. It’s an ongoing commitment to your people’s well-being, growth, and sense of belonging. When you design that experience with care and intention, you build a workforce that’s resilient, high performing, and ready for what’s next.

One in four adults is a caregiver in the “Sandwich Generation,” caring for aging parents and growing children simultaneously while also trying to balance their careers.

This generation’s challenges took center stage at Lyra’s Breakthrough 2025 conference, where a panel of HR leaders discussed two colliding forces exacerbating the stress these caregivers are under: 

As a result, Sandwich Generation employees face increasing constraints on their time, with more than half reporting a sharp decline in their mental health as a result. 

If you’re looking to support these workers, offering a standalone hotline or hard-to-navigate therapy reimbursement perk isn’t enough. Your employees need a connected system of logistics assistance, financial guidance, mental health coaching, and flexible work arrangements that work in tandem to support their responsibilities. 

When all these systems connect, your employees can show up as their best selves at both work and home. 

At Breakthrough, Lyra’s Dr. Monica Wu and Dr. Jenson Reiser spoke with three remarkable leaders—all caregivers themselves—who are paving the way for more accessible, comprehensive mental health benefits: 

Here’s what they shared about where caregiving benefits fall short—and how successful HR leaders are addressing the issue with compassion and competence. 

Caregivers shouldn’t fly solo in moments of crisis

Traditional benefits structures create silos, leaving employees to connect the dots on their own. For example, a vendor specializing in elder care logistics might excel at sourcing assisted living facilities. However, they might lack the mental health resources, financial counseling, or flexible work guidance to fully support an employee caring for their aging parent. 

This disconnect forces employees to piece together solutions across multiple platforms. And when someone is spending their time caring for aging parents and young children, the last thing they need is to add “benefits manager” to their list of personal responsibilities. 

On the HR side, this fragmented benefits setup makes it hard to make decisions about what benefits will move the needle. Without visibility into where caregiver employees are struggling and which combination of benefits has the biggest impact, your team can’t intervene in a meaningful way. 

Dr. Monica Wu, lead clinical product manager at Lyra Health, highlights that one-third of Sandwich Generation caregivers leave the workforce altogether—a devastating blow to companies who lose experienced talent and institutional knowledge, not to mention the additional burden on remaining team members.  

Streamline benefits navigation via warm transfers

Innovative benefits leaders are tackling this problem by integrating their caregiving benefits and educating employees on complementary resources. 

This means preparing vendors to facilitate warm transfers—where one vendor connects an employee directly to another service provider—at critical moments. 

For example, when an employee contacts elder care services, the vendor should also be able to directly connect them with a mental health counselor, rather than providing the employee with a phone number to call. This makes it easier for employees to get the care they need when they need it.

Here’s how you can put less work on your caregiving employees, while connecting them with every resource they need. 

How to build a collaborative caregiving vendor network

1. Establish cross-vendor knowledge sharing and referral protocols

Train your vendors’ front-line staff on the specific services, eligibility requirements, and value propositions of complementary vendors. This includes referral protocols that dictate how a vendor should respond when an employee reveals interconnected needs.

Stephanie Hosig and the benefits team at Northwestern Mutual, a financial services company with thousands of employees, saw the value of Lyra and Wellthy’s integration firsthand. With Wellthy focused on navigating the logistics of family care and Lyra providing mental health support, the connection between the two solutions created a smoother path for employees to get the right help. 

Now, when a Northwestern Mutual employee mentions caregiving stress or burnout, their Wellthy care coordinator can highlight Lyra’s mental health resources and offer a warm transfer.

At national security tech company Peraton, Bernadette Long shares that the benefits team has created a “trio of key vendors” to support caregivers across behavioral health for children (Rethink), caregiver support (Torchlight), and mental health support (Lyra). Each member of the trio understands how the others support different aspects of employee and family needs, and makes referrals as needed. 

Pro tip: Identify keywords and themes that can clue in one vendor about where a complementary vendor may help. 

2. Build cross-vendor reporting systems

Integration isn’t the end of the story—you should also set up shared reporting to gain insight into how employees are navigating your benefits system.

This involves capturing referral volume, acceptance rates, and outcomes metrics across vendors.

For example, both Lyra and Wellthy provide Northwestern Mutual with reports that show which employees utilized the two services together, allowing Hosig’s team to understand how effective the integration is and identify the impact on employees receiving dual support. This data enables more strategic benefits planning and vendor relationship management. 

Pro tip: Use this data to identify internal influencers who may want to share their stories and encourage other employees to make the most of their benefits. (More on this in the next step.) 

3. Use community to help employees discover benefits 

Foster communities where employees can connect with others in similar situations and where they can openly share their stories about seeking help. This peer-to-peer sharing helps employees discover benefits through trusted colleagues who understand their unique challenges.

For example, Peraton’s most engaged employee community is its caregivers community, where members share how Lyra has helped them better themselves and better show up for their loved ones. 

At Cummins, a global power technology company, Kate Fisher and her team help employees discover benefits through ongoing mental health programming, such as Lyra-guided “Mindful Monday” meditation sessions and regular panels on mental wellness with Lyra VP of workforce transformation Dr. Joe Grasso. These touchpoints serve as a stepping stone for employees to learn about caregiver support. 

Pro tip: Invite employees to pitch new communities that could support their individual experiences, and identify how your benefits can play a role in the conversation. 

A safety net of support 

Connecting your benefits helps you go from offering one-off programs in a vacuum to weaving a true safety net that catches your employees when they need it the most. 

When vendors and peers can guide employees to the support resources they need, you prevent thinly-stretched employees from getting lost in the shuffle—or worse, leaving your company altogether due to burnout.

At the same time, you’ll gain powerful visibility into how employees actually use their caregiving benefits. Armed with the data you need to continuously refine your offering, you can maximize benefits utilization, and more importantly, genuinely support employee well-being at work and home alike. 

The workforce is on the verge of a seismic shift. This evolution will create an unprecedented multigenerational workforce, as Gen Z grows to represent more than a third of the global workforce over the next decade, while the first members of Gen Alpha will begin their careers. At the same time, with one in three workers over 50 by 2035, the needs of experienced employees are also changing.

For benefits leaders, this five-generation dynamic creates an urgent mandate. A strategy built for the workforce of yesterday won’t meet the demands of tomorrow. The key is to understand these generational distinctions to build a future-proof benefits plan that drives engagement, well-being, and retention for all. With the right support, this rich mix of experience and perspectives can become a powerful driver of innovation and growth.

Advantages of a multigenerational workforce

When you bring together people from different life stages, you build a more resilient and innovative workforce. A multigenerational workforce offers: 

Multigenerational workforce challenges

The benefits are clear, but they don’t come automatically or immediately. Supporting an age-diverse team requires intentional leadership and flexible policies. Consider these potential friction points:

Generational profiles: what drives support and motivation

Each generation has unique life experiences and different support needs. While every individual is different, certain generational patterns can offer insight into what people may value or need at work. 

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)

Known for loyalty and a strong work ethic, Boomers can be members of multigenerational workforces who value respect, purpose, and recognition. Many are balancing work with caregiving for aging loved ones or managing chronic health concerns.

What helps: Discreet, high-quality mental health support; guidance for retirement transitions; flexible schedules to manage caregiving duties.

Generation X (born 1965-1980)

Often the bridge in a multigenerational workforce, Gen Xers value work-life balance, autonomy, and competence. Many may be navigating midlife pressures like aging parents, children at home, and financial stress.

What helps: Flexible care options; digital access to therapy or coaching; tools for managing stress and burnout.

Millennials (born 1981-1996)

Collaborative and purpose-driven, Millennials prioritize flexibility, growth, recognition, and values alignment. They can expect mental health care as a core benefit. 

What helps: Therapy access, mental fitness tools, coaching, and leadership development that promotes both personal and professional growth.

Generation Z (born 1997-2012)

The newest entrants to the multigenerational workforce, Gen Z often values authenticity, inclusivity, and continuous feedback. They expect transparent leadership, strong DEI commitments, and real support for well-being and burnout prevention. 

What helps: Mobile-friendly, on-demand mental health resources; inclusive policies; support for stress, anxiety, and burnout prevention.

10 tips for managing a multigenerational workforce

So, how do you effectively manage a multigenerational workplace with varying values, preferences, and needs? 

#1 Lead the individual, not the age bracket

Actively challenge your own biases—for example, assumptions like “young people are entitled” or “older workers resist change”—and get to know your team members for their unique skills, goals, and needs.

#2 Focus on results

Clearly define expectations and success metrics, then grant your team the autonomy to meet those goals. For instance, instead of mandating a strict 9-to-5 office schedule, focus on whether deadlines are met with high-quality work, regardless of where or when it was done.

#3 Create space for all voices

Don’t assume silence is agreement in a multigenerational workforce. Encourage dialogue by asking questions like, “What ideas haven’t we considered yet?” and give equal weight to all types of knowledge and insight. For example, in a project meeting, ask both, “What does our past experience on similar projects tell us?” and “What new tools could make this more efficient?” 

#4 Use multiple communication channels

Communicate in ways that reach everyone and make information easy to absorb. For instance, follow up a company-wide email about a policy change with a discussion in team meetings and a summary on your internal chat platform.

#5 Offer recognition in ways that resonate

A multigenerational workforce requires that you move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Offer a range of rewards: public praise, stretch projects, bonuses, or learning opportunities.

#6 Encourage two-way mentoring

Formalize knowledge-sharing through reverse mentorships, pairing entry-level employees and season pros to exchange industry knowledge and best practices. 

#7 Be mindful of team dynamics

Avoid age-related jokes or assumptions. Offer inclusive team events suited to diverse schedules and lifestyles. For instance, instead of only planning evening social events, also organize team lunches or morning coffee chats that appeal to different lifestyles in a multigenerational workforce.

#8 Prioritize fair evaluation

In hiring and performance reviews, use the same objective criteria for everyone. For example, use a structured interview process with the same core questions for all candidates applying for the same role to reduce unconscious bias.

#9 Build psychological safety

Train managers to foster trust and openness so employees feel safe sharing concerns or new ideas. For example, when a team member raises an issue with a project timeline, rather than getting defensive, a manager can respond with,“Thanks for bringing that up, let’s talk through it,” to encourage open dialogue.

Managers should  remind themselves that their perceived idea of the “right” and “wrong” way to approach completing a project may be generationally influenced, and should avoid labeling things as such (even to themselves), to be open to ideas in a way that encourages diverse and honest feedback.

#10 Tailor mental health support across life stages

Gen Z faces a crisis of loneliness and burnout. Millennials are grappling with imposter syndrome and financial stress. Gen X may be sandwiched between caregiving roles. And Boomers often manage chronic health conditions while planning retirement. 

Each generation in a multigenerational workforce carries a different weight. For some, it’s a crisis of loneliness, imposter syndrome, or burnout. For others, it’s the stress that comes from financial issues, caregiving, or managing chronic health conditions. That’s why tailored mental health support is a necessity. Offer flexible options like therapy, coaching, and on-demand tools that meet employees where they are, whether that’s navigating major transitions, managing stress, or seeking purpose. 

Harness the power of a multigenerational workforce 

The strongest organizations are those that harness the unique contributions of every generation. When you replace stereotypes with strategy, your organization won’t just survive the future of work—it will define it.

At Lyra, we’re proud to partner with benefits leaders who think boldly and prioritize the mental health of their employees by visibly and meaningfully integrating mental health into their broader company strategy. Salesforce has demonstrated a willingness to push limits and think boldly about the future of workforce mental health, and is the winner of Lyra’s 2025 Workforce Mental Health Award for Innovative Company of the Year. Earlier this year, we had the privilege of speaking with Felicia Cheng, director of global well-being design and strategy at Salesforce, to discuss Salesforce’s partnership with Lyra and how mental health support is an essential component of business success. 

What is your philosophy around caring for a workforce?
I see my role in the organization as creating the environment and the conditions for employees to thrive in their wellbeing and to feel safe to seek care whenever they need it. It’s also important that when they do choose to seek care, we offer them the highest quality of resources and care with quick access.

What do you or your members love most about the Lyra benefit?
What I love most about the Lyra benefit is the guarantee of evidence-based care and outcomes. That gives me peace of mind every night when I go to bed, knowing that I’m putting our employees in the right hands and the right care. What I hear from our employees about what they love most is the match they make with their Lyra therapist. They’ve said to me that “It feels like a match made in heaven.” It’s incredibly important to them that they find someone they can trust and connect with and they find it in Lyra.

What’s the next big thing you’re working on? 
As a leader in AI CRM, we know that technology is only half the equation. The other half is the human talent that wields it. With the incredible pace of change in AI, it’s also natural for our employees to experience levels of uncertainty at times. We’re focused on turning that uncertainty or anxiety around AI into a growth mindset, accelerating innovation and further bridging that Human + AI Connection.

If another benefits leader asks you how or why they should make the case for a mental health benefit, what would you tell them?
I would tell them that mental health is a business imperative – not just a Benefits one. We are seeing the cost of poor mental health, with higher health care claims and mental health leaves as short- and long-term disability claims continue to rise, especially in North America. There’s also a huge cost in employee productivity and presenteeism. 

I think of mental health as a foundation, like a building. It’s often unseen, but it’s really important. So you can have the best strategies and tools, but if the foundation is shaken (i.e., your employees are suffering from anxiety, depression, or burnout), it could collapse. Strengthening the foundation of mental health through a mental health benefit is critical to achieving business outcomes and your business goals.

“When you’re trying to create change, and then try to convince everybody at the same time, it just doesn’t work like that,” clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith told an audience of HR and benefits leaders. Dr. Julie Smith spoke on how to move from workplace initiatives with limited adoption to those with organization-wide impact at Lyra’s Breakthrough 2025.

The bestselling author of “Open When…” and content creator had a different approach: forget about changing everyone all at once. Instead, focus on the internal influencers who can model small changes that have a big impact. This could be anything from leaders taking 10-minute recovery breaks between meetings to speaking openly about their mistakes in front of their team.

Dr. Smith shared these insights in a recent conversation with Lyra’s SVP of Customer Success Susan Wyatt, where she challenged how organizations think about workplace mental health initiatives and shared her secrets for reaching a younger audience, such as Gen Z employees. (Shocker: they don’t respond to lectures.)

The problem with the big shiny “roll out”

Too often, organizations roll out company-wide initiatives expecting universal adoption. But instead of widespread enthusiasm, they get resistance from a skeptical majority while the few willing participants get lost in the noise.

“When you plot a population of people,” Dr. Smith explains, “you’ve got innovators, early adopters, and then this whole chunk of people who won’t consider change until they see that most other people are doing it.”

Her advice? Stop trying to convince the resistors and start with the willing few.

Why “word of mouth” beats company mandates

When Dr. Smith left the NHS in England and started her own practice, she was sure she’d have to learn to promote herself. Instead, her clientele grew entirely through word of mouth—even in mental health, where you might expect people to stay silent.

Dr. Smith has observed this same word-of-mouth principle in workplace settings. When organizations create mental health initiatives that have a genuine impact, employees naturally share their experiences with colleagues who might also be struggling.

“When someone finds it helpful and gets better, they can’t wait to tell someone else,” Dr. Smith explains. This is where leaders play a crucial role. By modeling healthy behaviors themselves, they can kickstart the culture shift they want to see across their organization.

The 10-minute revolution

Dr. Smith’s solution centers on how leaders can use micro-modeling—initiating small, authentic actions that take ten minutes or less but create powerful ripple effects throughout their organizations. When a manager visibly takes breaks between meetings, publicly uses a mental health resource, or openly discusses a project failure, these brief moments of authenticity can encourage a culture of trust and open communication.

It also tackles a hidden drain on workplace well-being. “Technology has filled all our in-between moments with things that feel productive but are actually triggering stress responses,” Dr. Smith notes. Each stress response creates a kind of debt that accumulates throughout the day. Small moments of authentic leadership are powerful, as they show people that there’s a better way to take breaks, and can help stop systemic cycles of stress and burnout.

In the case of recovery,

If you took 10 of those 20 minutes and went outside and just sat on a bench, then when you go into your next meeting, you’re going to be able to perform a lot better.

— Dr. Julie Smith

But here’s what makes this revolutionary: when one person consistently models this behavior and others notice their intentional actions and improved performance, it creates what Dr. Smith calls “healthy envy.”

Micro-modeling in action

Begin by thinking about change as something that grows from within. People learn by watching their peers, not by hearing “what works” from senior leadership. “We’re social beings,” says Dr. Smith, “we learn by watching each other.” If a coworker is engaging in a behavior that’s creating clear positive results, it will have an impact. Those choices, says Dr. Smith, “become the campfire stories that shape your workplace culture.”

When leadership models healthy self-awareness and conflict-resolution, that behavior impacts their team—who may then go on to model those same skills for others.

Here are three key behaviors worth modeling: 

The Recovery Choice: Take breaks instead of checking emails between meetings. Sit on a park bench and just breathe. Mindfully eat a snack. Go to your car and listen to a guided meditation, or even a run to boost your endorphins. Any of these choices will lower your stress response and prepare you to enter your next meeting with a clear mind.

What this looks like in action:

The Humanity Moment: Particularly important if you’re in a leadership role—when you make a mistake, acknowledge it. Model what it looks like to repair and then move forward. Because people on your team “won’t do what you say,” says Dr. Smith, “they’ll do what you do.”

What this looks like in action:

The Curiosity Response: One of the primary goals of therapy, Dr. Smith says, is to create some distance between a patient’s feelings and their response to those feelings. The goal is to get a wider view, and this same technique can be used in any moment of stress. Instead of immediately judging a challenging situation, try to view it from a place of curiosity. “Help me understand” can be your mantra.

What this looks like in action:

The compound effect

It will come as no surprise to any human being that stress accumulates throughout our day. Scrolling between meetings, checking emails during transitions, or responding to constant notifications isn’t good for our well-being. In fact, the more we try to seek productivity in every moment, the more stress we feel.

Recovery works in reverse. “You’re not suddenly going to feel all zen because you took 10 minutes out,” says Dr. Smith, “but if you take that 10 minutes every day, you’re going to feel different over time.” The same compound effect applies when leaders consistently show vulnerability after they make mistakes or approach conflicts with curiosity rather than judgment. These small, repeated actions gradually shift how teams communicate and support each other.

Small positive changes build an arsenal of tools that make it more likely that you’ll pull yourself out of negativity during stressful periods, rather than succumb to them. When your team sees you consistently bounce back from challenges using these techniques, they begin to believe they can do the same.

Finding influencers on the inside

Influencers are everywhere. Anyone who can showcase impact through their example behavior is an ideal internal influencer for your organization. It could be a team lead, a longtime employee, or an early career worker.

When considering who to approach about micro-modeling and spreading the word on a new mental health initiative, focus on those who are naturally open-minded, welcoming, and “willing to give it a try”.

As an HR and benefits leader, you can also serve as an influencer. In addition to practicing recovery behaviors yourself, you can model genuine human behavior at work by:

Above all, people want to feel seen in their daily human experiences. Dr. Smith has seen this as a therapist and content creator. The videos that spark the most reaction, especially from younger audiences, are the ones that illustrate a shared experience—being truthful about common mental health struggles, rather than trying to “educate.”

As you’re communicating new initiatives to employees, focus on true-to-life moments, rather than clinical mental health language. “Younger groups want to feel that they’re not alone experiencing things for the first time,” says Dr. Smith, “but it’s actually true of multiple generations.”

How to make long-lasting change, 10 minutes at a time

If you’re an HR or Benefits leader remember: you don’t have to tackle everything at once. In fact, starting small with influential early-adopters will generate the kind of “healthy envy” that will spread to your entire organization.

Here’s how:

  1. Start with the willing: Identify early adopters, don’t try to convince everyone simultaneously
  2. Model the behavior yourself: Take recovery breaks, show authentic humanity, respond with curiosity
  3. Focus on relatable experiences: Frame support around universal human moments rather than diagnoses
  4. Create space for authentic connection: Enable those “campfire” moments where people share common experiences

When Dr. Smith talks to her patients about how small changes accumulate, she doesn’t explain—she demonstrates:

Little by little, she takes a dropper full of red dye and drips it into a container of water. One drop barely makes a difference. By ten drops, the water has taken on a pinkish hue. By the time she’s emptied the dropper, the water is bright red.

Small positive changes accumulate. When you model that being human at work is acceptable and beneficial, you create the kind of psychological safety that makes it possible for others to do the same.

The compound effect works in both directions, Dr. Smith says. “Choose which way you want your water to change color.”

When a new CEO changed company strategy overnight, one product manager didn’t panic. She used her adaptability and communication skills to rally her team around a new plan. An HR specialist defused tension between co-workers by leaning into his empathy and active listening skills. What could’ve been a meltdown became a breakthrough.

These are just a couple examples of employee strengths in action. Whether it’s staying calm under pressure, building trust, or solving tough problems, every employee brings unique strengths to the table—and organizations thrive when they make the most of them.

What are employee strengths?

Employee strengths are the skills, traits, and talents that help people succeed at work. Some are technical, like data analysis or project management. Others are interpersonal, like empathy, collaboration, or adaptability. Often, strengths reflect a person’s values and interests, making them especially energizing to use.

When companies recognize and develop employee strengths, they see better performance, higher engagement, stronger retention, and more resilient teams.

Common employee strengths that drive success

Here are a few employee strengths in the workplace that fuel high-performing teams:

Why developing employee strengths matters

Helping employees build on their strengths in the workplace isn’t just good for morale. It drives results across your business. Here’s how:

How to nurture employee strengths in the workplace

Developing employee strengths takes intention, but it’s not complicated. Here are a few ways to get started:

By combining these elements, companies can build an environment where employee strengths are recognized, amplified, and woven into everyday work. When you help people do more of what they do best, they show up stronger—for themselves, their teammates, and your business. That’s the power of investing in employee strengths.