SHRM26 Debrief · Health & Wellness · #2603

The Recovery Friendly Workplace: A People-First Approach to Workforce Well-Being & Inclusive Culture

with Cheryl Brown Merriwether

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~64 min, distilled

Recovery-friendly workplaceSubstance use disorderMental health

"The most common lie in the workplace is, 'I'm fine.'"

What it was about

Substance use disorder and mental health issues are widespread among working adults yet almost never addressed proactively by employers. Building a "recovery-friendly workplace" through psychological safety, changed language, and peer support can turn struggling employees into a grateful, loyal, high-retention workforce instead of a liability.

By the numbers

75%

of individuals who meet a clinical definition of addiction are currently working

67%

of HR professionals in a Hazelden Betty Ford research study said they know they have a substance use problem but don't know what to do about it

3 to 10%

typical utilization rate of EAP programs among those with access

Key notes

Genuinely check in on employees beyond a surface-level 'how are you': the most common lie in the workplace is 'I'm fine,' so create space for people to share what's really going on.
Recognize that substance use disorder is classified as a mental health condition (comorbid in about 46% of cases) and should be addressed under existing mental health and wellness programs rather than treated as a separate compliance issue.
Build a business case using free calculators (e.g., National Safety Council's mental health and substance use calculators) that quantify the cost of absenteeism, turnover, and incidents tied to behavioral health issues, since C-suite buy-in requires data.

The contrarian takeSHRM's mental health certifications and framing don't fully cover substance use disorder, even though it's clinically classified as a mental health condition. The speaker argues HR still treats it as a separate, purely compliance and reactive issue (drug testing, discipline, termination) rather than folding it into proactive wellness support.

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Swap one scripted 'how are you' check-in per team for a real one, and use 'use disorder' instead of stigmatizing language.

Say this in your next leadership meeting

75% of people who meet the clinical definition of addiction are working today, so recovery support belongs in our wellness strategy, not just compliance.

Watch out for

Waiting for a critical incident or 'reasonable suspicion' before engaging, instead of proactively supporting recovery and well-being.
Assuming EAP programs solve the problem: only 3-10% of employees with access actually use EAP, and many misunderstand what it's for.
Trying to identify addiction by signs and symptoms, which the speaker says is unreliable and often leads to misjudging normal tiredness or personal struggles as something else.

Fun fact · Cheryl Brown Merriwether

She holds six credentials (SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CM, CRSS, CPRC, MHR) and once ran executive HR at AT&T, a Fortune 100 company.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperThe Hidden ROI of Mental Health: Building Recovery-Ready Workplaces That Retain and Revitalize TalentBuilds on peer support and psych safety with ROI numbers to sell it upward.⇄ The counterpointStop Demanding Fruit from Dead Soil: A Repair-First Approach to BurnoutCounters that softer language can't fix burnout without repairing the system first.✦ The unexpected oneActor James Marsden on Career, Craft, and ExperienceAn actor's case for judgment-free feedback mirrors the same stigma-reduction instinct.