DB Schenker: the CEO's message that got people signing up

DB Schenker is one of the largest logistics operators in the world. In Poland and dozens of other countries it employs tens of thousands of people in warehouses, terminals, transport and offices. A large share of the workforce are men doing physical work. The company has worked with Mindgram for three years, on a single instance of the platform covering many countries.

The situation

A warehouse or a cross-docking terminal is the hardest place for a psychological support programme. Employees have no work email or computer. They work shifts, often in small towns. Their needs vary enormously: from an older warehouse worker in a small town, to a driver who is home once every few days, to a young mother in a regional office. Among men doing physical work, the word “psychologist” breeds distrust, and logging in with a work address feels like being watched. Then there are the languages: teams in different countries and staff from abroad, for whom support in Polish or English isn't enough. The company wanted one standard for everyone, from the CEO to the warehouse worker.

What they did

• A message from the CEO about mental health. Instead of an email from HR, employees received a personal message from the CEO: a mental health crisis can affect anyone, and the company offers concrete support for it. Sign-ups took off after that message.
• Sign-up with a company code. People create an account with one shared code, with no work address. The employer can't see who has signed up. That removed the fear of being monitored.
• One platform, many languages. Employees choose their language when they sign up and get content, consultations with specialists and video sessions in that language. Teams in different countries use the same programme. The crisis procedures handbook and materials are in the same languages, so local HR doesn't have to translate anything on its own.
• A low barrier to entry. The company chose a platform where people can start with a financial or legal advisor, and with a written consultation, no camera needed. For many people doing physical work, that is a more natural first step than a video call with a psychologist.

What changed

After the CEO's message, sign-ups took off in the group HR usually says “we'll never reach”: warehouse and terminal staff. A good share of the people who created an account use several kinds of support: a workshop, a consultation with an advisor, a conversation with a psychologist.

HR business partners got one standard for every country and job group. Instead of separate local solutions, they have one platform and one report, aggregate and anonymous. The argument that “it won't work for the people on the shop floor” no longer has any basis in fact.

The way people talk about it in the company has changed too. Since people from the warehouses signed up after the CEO's message, nobody has to argue any more that psychological support is a benefit “for the office”.

Mindgram makes our team more resilient by providing mental health support in 37 languages.

Anna Dąbrowska, Head of the HR Business Partners team, DB Schenker

What this means for you

• Have the CEO announce it, not HR. A personal message about mental health from the top does more than a poster campaign.
• Take the work email out of the equation. A company code gives anonymity, and anonymity brings sign-ups from people who are afraid of being monitored.
• One programme for everyone. The same package for the CEO and the warehouse worker, in the language the employee chooses, builds trust faster than separate versions “for the office” and “for the shop floor”.