Too often, mental health is perceived as an individual responsibility. We’re conditioned to believe that if we’re burnt out, anxious, depressed, or just not ourselves, it’s a personal problem—one we should address and resolve on our own.
This is not only untrue, but it has a profoundly negative effect on our well-being.
Human beings are social creatures. We thrive in community and, on the flip side, we struggle in isolation. There are many studies that confirm this, but one of the most compelling comes from the Vietnam War, which found that soldiers who had high levels of social support upon returning from the war were 180 times less likely to develop PTSD.
Another study found that people with the highest social support (close family connections, thriving friendships, etc) experienced a 37% lower rate of major depression than those with the least support.
These types of findings demonstrate the importance of a collaborative approach to mental health, not just in our personal lives but in our professional ones as well.
If employers want to inspire their teams, boost company culture, and create a more united workforce, it’s time to shift from focusing on individual mental health to embracing a team-based approach. But what does that look like, exactly?
One of the best ways to take collective action in the workplace is to set team-based mental health goals. By working together towards a common objective, employees can achieve measurable progress while supporting one another in shared initiatives.
Today, we’ll explore examples of mental health goals that benefit your team and your company, creating a win-win for everyone.
10 Team-Based Mental Health Goals to Set in 2025
1. Limit Weekly Meeting Hours
Meetings can drain productivity, leaving employees feeling overwhelmed and constantly behind. One of the best ways to tackle this is by implementing a company-wide policy that limits meeting hours for everyone.
For example, capping meetings at 8 hours a week could make a huge difference. The specifics will depend on your company’s needs, but the key is raising awareness about the negative impact of excessive meetings and giving employees the power to manage their own time.
2. Increase PTO Usage
Supporting team mental health means encouraging employees to take the paid vacation days, sick leave days, and other forms of time off they’re entitled to. When employees step away to recharge, they return refreshed, more focused, and ready to tackle challenges.
You can set PTO goals like:
- Ensuring personalized alerts are sent to employees each quarter, reminding them to review and use their PTO.
- An annual team goal to collectively use at least 90% of allotted PTO by December 31st.
- Host a friendly competition where the first team to fully schedule their PTO for the year wins an incentive.
3. Train All Managers in Mental Health First Aid
When managers are trained in mental health first aid, they become powerful allies for their teams. They can spot the early signs of stress, offer support, and connect employees with the right resources.
By making MHFA training mandatory for managers, you can ensure your company leaders are capable of providing the guidance and support needed to make meaningful changes.
You can set company goals like:
- 100% of new managers must complete MHFA training within three months of their hire date.
- Quarterly MHFA training sessions will be held to ensure all managers are trained within the year.
- Every manager will complete MHFA training by the end of Q4.
4. Boost Daily Break Utilization
You don’t always have to think big when setting workplace mental health goals. Small targets are often a great way to motivate your team and achieve sustainable, long-lasting results.
Let’s take the daily breaks your employees are entitled to. Every employee in Canada is required to take a 30-minute lunch break if they work an 8-hour shift, and two thirty-minute breaks for every 10-hour shift—but many skip these breaks or cut them short in order to keep up with the demands of their role.
Setting goals to ensure your team members are utilizing their full daily breaks is a simple yet highly impactful way to protect the mental health of your team.
Great examples of daily break goals include:
- Have 100% of teams take their full daily breaks consistently for one month by the end of Q2.
- Launch a friendly competition where teams earn rewards for taking full breaks every day.
- Have employees send fun, creative reminders (like gifs and funny messages) to their teammates to remind them it’s time for a break. Aim to have 90% of employees send a reminder or participate in the activity each week.
5. Acts of Kindness Challenges
We never know the struggles a coworker may be going through. A simple gesture of kindness is a wonderful way to let others know they aren’t alone and that they matter. If you’re looking for goals to improve employee wellness, committing to a company-wide acts of kindness challenge is a great way to make a difference.
You can get your entire team involved by sharing goals like:
- Create a points system where employees earn points for each act of kindness. Aim to have all employees earn 50 points by the end of each month.
- Host a quarterly Acts of Kindness Challenge with a goal of 500 logged acts of kindness across the company by the end of the challenge, and 80% of employees providing feedback on the impact.
- Host an Acts of Kindness day every month. On that day, match each team with another team (i.e. sales team gets matched with operations team), and challenge them to do something thoughtful and nice for each other.
6. Weekly Creativity Sessions
When your employees spend day after day focused on functional, performance-based assignments, it’s easy for them to start feeling depleted and uninspired. Making space for imaginative exploration can do wonders for restoring your team’s enthusiasm.
Try setting team-based mental health goals that encourage creativity, like:
Organizing monthly brainstorming sessions where teams develop fun or innovative ideas to improve workplace processes or morale. Hold one session per team each month, ensuring that every employee participates in at least one session during the quarter.
Create a shared mural, quilt, or digital artwork where employees contribute their designs or ideas. Ensure at least 80% of employees contribute to the project, completing it within six weeks.
Set up a physical wall, whiteboard, or corkboard for employees to share creative solutions or fun ideas for workplace improvements. Collect at least 50 unique ideas from employees within a month, with at least 70% of employees contributing at least one idea.
7. Conduct Workload Balance Audits
Employee burnout is a major cause of poor mental health in the workplace. One study found 42% of Canadian workers feel mentally or physically exhausted at the end of their workday—putting them at an increased risk for diminished productivity, increased absenteeism, and mental distress.
One of the best ways to raise awareness about burnout is by setting team goals that contribute to improved workload balance. This way, you can identify tasks that are unnecessarily time-consuming or redundant, and encourage honest discussions about workload capacity, which helps reduce stigma.
Here are examples of mental health goals you can set to better balance workloads:
- Schedule monthly task prioritization sessions to help employees and teams learn how to organize tasks effectively and delegate when needed. Achieve 90% participation in these sessions.
- Encourage employees to experiment with time-blocking techniques to allocate specific hours for focused work, breaks, and meetings. Have 90% of employees try time blocking for at least one week. If there’s an improvement in stress levels, implement it as a permanent practice.
- Distribute anonymous quarterly workload surveys to employees to assess workload levels and identify areas of imbalance. Aim to have at least 75% of respondents report manageable workloads within six months.
Strengthen Team Bonds With Mental Health Training
At Catalyst Mental Health, we know wellness thrives in community. That’s why our trainings go beyond lectures—they spark engaging conversations that bring your employees together, foster real connections, and drive meaningful change.
Ready to see your team thrive as a united force? Let’s make it happen.