Informal Peer Support (Part 1)

Many workplaces already have informal peer support, meaning coworkers have been watching out for each other, both effectively and ineffectively, for a long time. Advancing formal peer support is adding to this sense of responsibility to watch out for each other, not an attempt to replace it. At the same time, peer supporters who offer good listening and good counsel (practical advice) must know the limits of their ability, such as when a coworker wants or needs professional psychological help.

Peer support can provide what a person in distress needs the most.

■ Someone they recognize and trust.

■ Someone they do not have to explain the job to.

■ Someone whose core message is, “You are not alone.”

A coworker may automatically qualify as someone recognized, but know that their trustworthiness precedes them. As peers, there is theoretically not a hierarchy, unlike a manager or even a therapist.