Lyra Health, a mental health benefits platform, is launching a program to treat members with complex conditions such severe depression and substance use disorders. The program, called Lyra Complex Care, will add to the company’s already-existing suite of mental wellness benefits, which include employee assistance program (EAP) services, therapy, and coaching.

The company, which is headquartered in Burlingame, California, was launched in 2015; David Ebersman, former chief financial officer at Meta, serves as CEO and co-founder. As of 2022, it had raised $915 million at a $5.58 billion valuation. Over the past five years or so, Lyra has been doing more “to support people with higher-acuity needs,” Smita Das, the company’s senior medical director of psychiatry, told HR Brew. This might look like providing medication management for members dealing with severe depression or bipolar disorder, or offering dialectical behavior therapy to people with suicidality.

Lyra is typically thought of as an EAP model, and while it does offer EAP services, such treatment goes beyond the offerings of a traditional EAP, Das said.

How Lyra Complex Care works. Lyra has partnered with facilities including Mount Sinai, Hazelden Betty Ford, and Charlie Health to provide complex care. Members will have access to over 250 locations treating over 30 different mental health needs, Das said, as well as virtual care options.

Keep reading here.—CV

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Starbucks is introducing new accessibility features that the company hopes will benefit disabled employees and patrons at its new US retail locations.

Starbucks unveiled its Inclusive Spaces Framework on Feb. 16 at the newly opened store in Washington, DC’s Union Market neighborhood, and will incorporate it into all new US locations going forward. The move is part of the company’s overall strategy to make its stores more accessible to employees and customers with disabilities. It developed the features in partnership with disability organizations and the company’s disability ERG, and tested them in its trial lab in Seattle.

The new accessibility features include:

• Order status boards, for employees who may be unable to verbally alert customers when an order is ready.
• Lower counters, to help wheelchair users or people who are short easily reach coffee machines and point-of-sale systems.
• Soft lighting that reduces glare and shadows, which can impede people with visual impairments.

The new features are meant to not only make work easier for existing employees, but expand who the company can hire, Emily MacKinnon, director of inclusive design at Starbucks, explained during a tour of the Union Market location.

Keep reading here.—KP

Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will focus on skills-based hiring.

The history. For decades, US society has dictated that a college degree is key to a successful career. But as the cost of tuition has risen, higher education has become increasingly unattainable.

In recent years, however, some employers have prioritized skills over degrees, according to a December Boston Consulting Group report. Skills-based hiring can help expand the candidate pool from which HR is recruiting, Mila Singh, VP of people and culture at Catchafire, an organization that connects professionals with nonprofits, previously told HR Brew. And employers including Google, IBM, and Walmart have all adopted a skills-based approach to their hiring practices, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) noted.

Fast-forward. In 2022, 29% of the paid jobs posted on LinkedIn did not require a college degree, up from 20% in 2019, according to the platform. There is a misconception that those without college degrees don’t have the skills required to make it in the workforce, Angela Briggs-Paige, head of people and culture at the nonprofit Opportunity@Work, told SHRM.

Keep reading here.—AS

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: One in four employers have adopted AI within their HR functions. (SHRM)

Quote: “Paid parental leave not only provides financial security and healthier outcomes during a joyful time in our workers’ lives, but also bolsters the Commonwealth’s hiring, recruitment, and retention efforts as we strive to be one of the top employers in the nation.”—Neil Weaver, Office of Administration secretary for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on the state’s new paid parental leave policy (ABC27)

Read: Layoffs can damage an organization’s reputation. HR can keep an ear to the ground and manage perceptions. (HR Executive)

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