Covid-19 has thrown up new challenges for employees and employers overnight, including wellbeing. Poppy Jaman of City Mental Health Alliance UK explains why looking after mental health is critical to environmental, social and governance goals.
Poppy Jaman
After being the least talked-about element of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to date, social is very quickly rising to the top of the agenda. Mental health and wellbeing is a key part of the ‘S’ in ESG, as the UN warns of a global mental health crisis because of Covid-19. It has become a priority in the boardroom and, increasingly, in the investment community.
Creating a mentally healthy culture has long been a priority for members of the City Mental Health Alliance (CMHA). On a human level, our members recognise it is the right thing to do; even before the impact of Covid-19 was felt, we knew that one in four of us will experience mental ill health. Workplaces have a unique opportunity to protect and support the positive mental health of their people.
It is also the business critical thing to do. Before the pandemic, poor mental health was already costing UK businesses £45bn and 70 million work days each year. Now, Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, which demands fast and sharp changes from the sector.
New influences
Long-term home working; grief and loss; physical sickness; less time with the team; changing sense of purpose and belonging; worries about financial security; changing home-life pressures; isolation and loneliness are all factors that leaders have had to grapple with overnight for themselves and for their business. Organisations that don’t take seriously the factors that influence mental health in both the short and the long term will see severe impacts on productivity, innovation, retention of top talent and financial performance.
Mental health was never just a human resources issue, and that is now clear. During the pandemic, all of us will have at some point struggled with our mental health or have been close to someone who has. Millions of work calls and meetings started with ‘How are you?’, backed up by a genuine interest in hearing the response. This has been a refreshing and welcome change to business culture.
Meanwhile, empathy and compassionate approaches have surfaced in management styles. This is just one of the behaviours that I want to see continue as we move beyond the pandemic.
Key guidelines
There is no single ‘right way’ to build a mentally healthy workplace. It will depend on each individual business and culture. Broadly, CMHA members have all focused on three key things.
First, challenging stigma and increasing understanding of mental health within the organisation. Second, developing the skills and mental health literacy of all employees, from board level to early careers, via training and sharing of good practice. And, third, through sustaining and embedding the change by measuring it, and ensuring mental health practice is led and owned by business leaders and is integrated into the business’s strategic priorities.
Covid-19 has also brought the mental health of the communities and society, which businesses exist within, to the forefront. The financial sector has a significant role to play in rebuilding a future that is better for all. Leaders in the sector have been talking about their responsibility to ensure that the return to ‘business as usual’ incorporates radical changes in working practices; radical changes that enhance people’s mental health and have a positive impact on the environment, which in turn is good for society.
Ongoing challenge
For many people, their home will continue to be their workplace, and so mental health and wellbeing has to be a core design principle for future workplaces, as well as the products and services delivered.
It is very clear why embedding a mentally healthy culture adds to ESG credibility and makes a business more attractive to investors. A business that supports the mental health of its people will create psychological safety, where employees can be themselves and feel able to ask for help when they need it so that they can thrive.
This business will build trust with and increase the morale and loyalty of its people, and enhance its reputation. This all puts it in a stronger position to recover well and be more resilient to future shocks. Now, for the sake of your people and your business, is the time to act.
Poppy Jaman is CEO of City Mental Health Alliance UK, which includes Bank of America, Bank of England, BNP Paribas, the Financial Conduct Authority, Goldman Sachs, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo among its members.
