Feeling stressed, burned out, anxious or sad? You’re not alone. An estimated 264 million people are living with depression globally. And in the U.S., one in five adults experiences a mental health challenge each year.

We know a calm, positive workplace can improve mental health by reducing stress, building a culture of belonging, increasing professional satisfaction and self-esteem and enhancing productivity.

For those reasons and so many more, we take mental health seriously. And we’re committed to doing all we can to help our Associates maintain and protect their mental health. Here’s a quick look at what we offer our Associates:

• We recently expanded our Associate Assistance Program (AAP) to reach Associates around the globe. This program provides Associates and household members with free, confidential counseling and referrals for personal, work, emotional, legal, financial and career support – at no cost to them.
• Our “How Are You?” campaign encourages Associates to have conversations that address how Associates are feeling, including their mental wellbeing. Resources include conversation guides for managers to help Associates feel comfortable expressing their feelings, drive more meaningful conversations and access professional mental health support, when needed.
• Mars Veterinary Health (MVH) has pursued a relentless focus on mental health and extend that support to the global veterinary industry through its own publicly available dedicated wellness website to help those caring for animals access the support they need.
• Associates have access to our “Mars Be Well” hub, with everything from podcasts to exercise classes to important links and tools for mental and physical health.
• Our Energy for Life course empowers Associates and teams to manage and grow their energy capacity to meet demands at work and home.
• We encourage Associates to take time to re-energize via “Meet Smarter,” a proprietary Mars tool that shortens default meeting times to provide five- to 10-minute breaks between meetings.
• The Mars Ombudsman Program gives Associates an informal, confidential and neutral channel of communication aimed at resolving any work-related issue.
• A particularly special group of Associates, our Mars Be Well Influencers, drive Mars Be Well initiatives across their local teams and offer valuable insight to help shape our culture of wellness at Mars.

In the world we want tomorrow, everyone is thriving. And now more than ever, our Associates’ mental health and resilience are paramount.