Inspiration
As HR professionals, we saw SMBs struggle to prioritize mental health without resources for anonymous tracking, manager training, or measuring impact. Industry data showed 4:1 ROI on mental health investments—but small teams lacked tools to capture this. We set out to build a platform that removes friction from wellbeing management, centered on privacy and actionable insights.
What it does
WorkplaceMentalHealth is a cloud-based SaaS platform for SMB HR teams and leaders. It enables anonymous pulse surveys, manager training on mental health support, EAP usage tracking, department-level wellbeing heatmaps, and automated ROI reporting—all while protecting employee privacy through full anonymization.
How we built it
We started with user interviews with SMB HR leaders to map core pain points, then designed a modular architecture (React frontend, Node.js backend) hosted on AWS. We integrated Chart.js for visual heatmaps, Stripe for subscription management, and generic EAP APIs for utilization tracking. We prioritized privacy by building aggregation logic to avoid storing identifiable employee data.
Challenges we ran into
The biggest hurdle was balancing data granularity (for actionable insights) with full anonymity—we had to redesign survey result storage to ensure no individual data could be traced, even at the department level. We also faced challenges aligning EAP API integrations across different providers, so we built a flexible middleware layer to standardize data inputs.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We created a platform that delivers meaningful, aggregated insights without compromising privacy. Early beta testing with 5 SMBs showed 80% adoption of manager training modules and 90% completion of pulse surveys—proof the tool meets real-world needs while keeping employee trust front and center.
What we learned
We learned that privacy is non-negotiable for mental health tools—users (HR and employees) only engage if they trust data is anonymous. We also discovered SMBs prioritize simplicity over complexity, so we stripped back advanced features to focus on low-effort workflows that fit into existing HR processes.
What's next for this project
We plan to expand EAP integrations to support more regional providers, add predictive trend analysis for early intervention, and build mobile-optimized micro-training for managers on-the-go. We’ll also introduce industry-specific benchmarking in ROI reports to help SMBs compare their progress against peers.
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