Creating a culture around mental wellness

The first step in promoting the prioritization of mental health for Nextdoor employees was to encourage conversation around this historically stigmatized topic. “You’ve got to create an environment where people can start to talk about their own circumstance,” explained Power, a veteran of tech giants Yahoo, Google, and Square. He acknowledged that equally as important was ensuring that “managers are comfortable and fluent with that type of conversation.”

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Modern Health’s full spectrum of resources provides a global reach

With a global workforce spread across 11 countries, providing support required a partner with the ability to reach everyone, regardless of location, language preference, or need level. Modern Health’s ‘One Front Door’ approach to mental health allowed Nextdoor to frame this resource as something for everyone. “There’s a different conversation I’m trying to start by saying ‘use Modern Health,’” Power voiced, comparing the platform to other vendors that promote a single offering, which “start with a solution rather than starting with the right topic.”

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To date, more than a third of Nextdoor’s global workforce is engaged in the Modern Health platform, and their leadership is encouraged by how their employees are utilizing all that the platform has to offer, though one area has stood out to their team. “People love the coaches. Our workforce is community-minded, so intrapersonal support is a big need,” says Power. He likened Modern Health’s network of high-quality coaches to “a community of experts” that each employee has to assist them in whatever areas of their life they want to focus on.

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Power highlighted the importance of offering mental health support before a critical need hits. He gave the example of Nextdoor managers using Modern Health tools for stress management amid the COVID-19 outbreak. “Right now, managers will take these tools and put them to work immediately.”