For years, employers have invested in traditional mental health benefits like insurance plans and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Yet many employees still struggle to access timely, personalized mental health care.
Long waitlists, limited therapist availability, and difficulty finding providers who align with employees’ personal or cultural needs continue to create barriers to care across the U.S.
Forward-thinking organizations are beginning to recognize that supporting employee wellbeing requires more than simply offering benefits on paper — it requires making care genuinely accessible.
That’s exactly what Hatch set out to do.
By taking a people-first approach to mental health support, Hatch built a workplace culture centered around flexibility, wellbeing, and meaningful access to care. Here’s what that looked like in practice — and what other organizations can learn from it.
The Challenge: Expanding Access to Meaningful Mental Health Support
Like many employers, Hatch already offered traditional mental health resources through its healthcare plan and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
However, despite having these resources available, employees still faced challenges accessing therapy in a timely and personalized way.
This issue has become increasingly common across workplace mental health systems. Employees often encounter:
- limited provider availability
- long wait times
- difficulty finding therapists who accept insurance
- or challenges finding providers who align with their personal, cultural, or clinical preferences
As Hatch continued growing its remote workforce, leadership wanted to ensure employees had easier access to mental health support that felt approachable, flexible, and genuinely useful.
The company’s people-first philosophy also played an important role in shaping this approach. Hatch viewed employee wellbeing as an essential part of building a healthy, sustainable workplace culture — not simply an HR initiative.
Why Traditional Mental Health Benefits Often Fall Short
Many organizations assume that offering mental health coverage automatically guarantees employees can access care when they need it. In practice, navigating traditional mental healthcare systems can still be difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating for employees already experiencing stress, burnout, or emotional exhaustion.
Even employees with strong healthcare coverage may struggle to:
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Find therapists who are actively accepting new patients
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Identify providers who align with their preferences or lived experiences
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Navigate complex insurance systems
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Schedule appointments within a reasonable timeframe
These challenges have become more visible in recent years as demand for therapy and mental health support continues increasing nationwide. For employees already under pressure, complicated access processes can become another barrier preventing them from seeking care altogether.
As a result, many employers are beginning to rethink how workplace mental health benefits are designed and delivered.
The Solution: Accessible, Personalized Mental Health Support
To improve access to care, Hatch partnered with Samata Health to provide employees with a more personalized and accessible therapy experience.
Through the program, employees were able to access sponsored therapy sessions with licensed providers through a digital-first platform designed to reduce friction throughout the care process. Employees could search for therapists based on factors such as clinical specialties, communication style, cultural background, identity preferences, and areas of expertise in order to find support that felt more aligned with their individual needs.
The experience was intentionally designed to make accessing care simpler and more approachable. Rather than navigating lengthy intake processes, phone calls, or extended waitlists, employees could explore providers and schedule sessions quickly through the platform.
This approach reflects a growing shift in workplace mental health benefits toward personalization, accessibility, and employee-centered care experiences.
Supporting Wellbeing in a Remote Work Environment
As a fully remote organization, Hatch also recognized the importance of supporting employee connection and emotional wellbeing beyond therapy access alone.
Alongside the mental health benefit, employees gained access to therapist-led workshops, educational resources, and conversations focused on topics such as burnout prevention, stress management, emotional resilience, and navigating remote work challenges.
Creating opportunities for open conversations around mental health helped reinforce the company’s broader commitment to employee wellbeing and psychological safety. Rather than treating mental health as a reactive resource used only during moments of crisis, the organization approached wellbeing as an ongoing part of the employee experience.
The Impact: Strong Engagement and Continued Investment
Employee engagement with the mental health benefit remained consistently strong over time, reflecting both employee interest in accessible care and the importance of reducing barriers to support.
Within the first year of the partnership, Hatch employees completed hundreds of therapy sessions through the platform. As utilization continued growing, the company expanded the program to include additional sponsored therapy sessions and extended support to qualifying adult dependents.
The organization also experienced engagement levels significantly higher than traditional Employee Assistance Program utilization benchmarks, which are often reported in the low single digits nationally. More importantly, the benefit became part of a broader workplace culture focused on supporting employees in meaningful, practical ways.
Hatch’s commitment to employee wellbeing has also been reflected in broader workplace recognition, including multiple “Best Places to Work” distinctions that highlight the company’s investment in workplace culture, flexibility, and employee support.
Building a Workplace Culture That Supports the Whole Person
Hatch’s approach to employee wellbeing extended beyond mental health benefits alone. The company continued investing in policies, programs, and workplace practices designed to support employees more holistically, recognizing that wellbeing influences not only individual health, but also long-term engagement, collaboration, and organizational sustainability.
This people-first philosophy reflects a growing understanding among employers that employees perform best when they feel supported both personally and professionally. Mental health support, flexibility, and psychologically safe workplace cultures are increasingly becoming important parts of the modern employee experience rather than optional benefits.
What Other Employers Can Learn
Hatch’s experience reflects a broader shift happening across modern workplaces. Employees increasingly expect mental health benefits to be accessible, easy to use, personalized, and designed around real-world needs rather than difficult systems or complicated processes.
Organizations are also recognizing that investing in employee wellbeing can positively influence workplace culture, retention, engagement, and long-term organizational health. While no single benefit solves every workplace wellbeing challenge, reducing barriers to mental health support can make a meaningful difference for employees navigating stress, burnout, anxiety, or other emotional health concerns.
As employers continue evaluating how to better support their teams, accessible mental healthcare is becoming an increasingly important part of building healthier and more sustainable workplaces.
Final Thoughts
As conversations around workplace wellbeing continue evolving, more organizations are recognizing that meaningful mental health support requires more than offering benefits in theory. Employees need care that feels accessible, personalized, and easy to navigate.
Hatch’s people-first approach highlights how modern employers can support employee wellbeing through thoughtful mental health strategies that prioritize both accessibility and employee experience. For organizations looking to strengthen workplace culture and better support their teams, investing in approachable and employee-centered mental health resources is becoming an increasingly important part of the future of work.
