Across organizations, communities, and public systems, there is a growing focus on how to better support mental health and wellbeing for employees, with efforts aimed at improving access, responding to increasing demand, and better meeting the needs of the people they serve.
In that context, a familiar pattern often emerges.
New approaches are introduced. Teams are trained. There is early momentum. Over time, things often drift back to how they were before.
This return to the status quo is a common challenge in implementing change. It highlights a common omission: creating the enabling conditions needed for change to succeed and be sustained.
As we continue conversations on workforce readiness, including through our recent Community of Practice focused on workforces poised for system change, this is the question we keep coming back to:
What actually helps change stick in real-world practice?
What we’re seeing across systems
Preparing the workforce for system transformation is not just about training or education. It is about how people are supported to apply change in real environments, under real pressures, over time.
Transformation within mental health systems is complex. It involves shifts in how services are delivered, measured, and sustained, as well as changes in how professionals think, collaborate, and make decisions.
In practice, many of the challenges associated with change are less about willingness and more about how change is supported within the system.
For example:
- Training happens, but ongoing coaching and support doesn’t always follow.
- Staff are open to change, but unsure how to apply it in practice.
- Leaders are often aligned in principle, but differences in interpretation, priorities, or reinforcement can make that alignment feel inconsistent in practice.
Change happens at many levels, from system-wide efforts to actions within the control of individuals and teams.
Many of these dynamics are influenced by default ways of working—such as urgency, top-down decision making, or a focus on perfection over learning. Over time, these can make it more difficult for new approaches to take hold, even when there is strong intent.
What actually helps
In our experience working alongside teams and leaders, what makes the difference is not just what is introduced, but the conditions that surround it.
When the right conditions are in place, teams are better able to adapt, apply, and sustain change over time. This often includes:
- Ongoing support following initial training.
- Clarity around how new approaches show up in practice.
- Leadership reinforcement and modelling over time.
- Opportunities for teams to reflect, adapt, and learn together.
These are simple in concept, but they are often the hardest pieces to sustain in practice.
Traditional training introduces new ideas. Without reinforcement, feedback, and opportunities to apply and adapt those ideas, even strong approaches can lose momentum.
Where to start (from theory to practice)
Shifting these patterns does not always require large-scale change. It often starts small by identifying everyday friction points and taking practical steps to address them.
In many cases, this begins with an intentional shift: moving from “What am I allowed to do?” to “What do I have the capacity to improve right now?”
In practice, this might look like:
- Identifying small, everyday process gaps or friction points.
- Clarifying expectations within your immediate team or role.
- Testing small changes within existing workflows.
Change doesn’t just occur at the system level. It is shaped by individuals and teams taking action within what is already in their control.
Workforce readiness consists of multiple and continuous milestones, developed through consistent support, clarity, and practice.
Moving forward
As systems continue to invest in transformation, there is an opportunity to shift the focus toward how change is supported and sustained in practice.
In our experience, the difference is not how much training happens, but whether the conditions are in place for change to take hold.
As you reflect on your own context, consider:
What is one small barrier getting in the way of change, and what is one step you could take to begin addressing it?
These are the kinds of questions we will continue to explore through our Community of Practice, where teams come together to reflect, share, and learn in real time. We look forward to continuing these conversations in our upcoming spring sessions. More information will be shared soon.
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For more information on how we co-design and implement innovative, flexible and sustainable mental health and substance use health care systems and service delivery, contact our implementation experts to explore your opportunities.
