How Affirm’s Mental Wellness Community Group is Changing the Stigma Around Mental Health in the Workplace

Why is it important to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month?

Each year, in May, Mental Health Awareness Month provides a natural opportunity for the Affirm Mental Wellness@ community group (CG) to reflect upon our mission of acting as a mental health resource for Affirm employees, as well as raising awareness for mental health in the workplace. It has been a challenging two years in this arena, and many individuals have had to manage a lot of external stressors, periods of intense uncertainty, and rapid changes. This has led to a higher incidence of stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. However, with challenges come opportunities, and I have observed how both the Mental Wellness@ CG and Affirm have evolved to meet and support employees where they are.

How did the pandemic change the way this group supported Affirmers??

Prior to the pandemic, my two co-leads and I were very focused on creating high-quality, high-impact programming for the Mental Wellness@ CG and the rest of Affirm. We planned detailed agendas for our monthly meetings, organized fireside chats with Affirm executives, and hosted a Wellness Fair as well as various other events that we marketed to the entire company. While these were impactful towards driving the Mental Wellness@ CG’s mission of creating awareness around and de-stigmatizing mental health discussions in the workplace, it also took a lot of time and energy. As the pandemic hit, the CG worked on shifting our strategy to better meet the needs of Affirmers. Though unintentionally at first, we started coming to our monthly meetings with no agenda, simply providing an open floor to the group to share and discuss their experiences navigating the intense changes, how it made them feel, and what they were doing to manage their mental health in this environment.

?To our surprise, we started to see engagement within the CG increase rapidly! We had higher attendance and more people speaking up, and we received more positive feedback and appreciation for the CG than ever before. As the increased engagement and positive feedback continued, we learned a powerful lesson: simply creating space for individuals to share their experience and receive support from others around mental health is incredibly impactful.??

How has Affirm made changes to better support the mental health of employees?

At the same time, Affirm also recognized the pandemic’s impact on individual employees’ mental health and wellness, and took meaningful steps towards addressing this issue. Affirm proactively asked the co-leads of the Mental Wellness@ CG to present in front of the entire company at multiple All Teams, where we openly discussed the mental health challenges the pandemic was presenting as well as provided tips and tricks for managing through such challenges. This further de-stigmatized the conversation around mental health at Affirm and created a sense of community around navigating a common, challenging experience. Additionally, Affirm continued to offer Spring Health as a health benefit, which provides employees with several free virtual therapy sessions, helping to reduce the barrier to receiving initial mental health treatment, which can often feel like the hardest step. Further, while Affirm has a flexible time off policy, it noticed that employees were taking less vacation during the pandemic and also experiencing more burnout. In response, Affirm introduced Away Days, which are days when Affirm offices are closed to observe holidays and provide a break. In 2022, U.S. employees received a total of 25 Away Days, on top of their other time off benefits.?

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What are some of the impactful mental health benefits Affirm offers?

This January, Affirm made some meaningful updates to our health care benefits that are truly extraordinary. As most people who go to therapy know, finding an amazing therapist with whom you can genuinely connect can be an extremely challenging process. On top of that, therapy tends to be rather expensive, and most therapists operate out-of-network from insurance providers, meaning generally you have to cover most of the cost out-of-pocket. However, Affirm now covers out-of-network therapy costs as if they were in network. In San Francisco, for example, where a therapy session can cost more than $200, this can add up to thousands of dollars of savings a year.

?While the pandemic has created so much collective pain and trauma, one of the silver linings is the spotlight it has put on mental health, moving it from the fringes of society into the mainstream. The Mental Wellness@ CG looks forward to continuing to work with the company to support our employees and make sure Affirm continues to invest in prioritizing employees’ mental health and wellness. Learn more about the mental health and wellness benefits we offer our employees here .?