Why managers must be prepared to lead mental health discussions

One in four of us (at least) will be impacted by mental health, and yet accessing help is highly stigmatised. Mental health issues cost the global economy up to $5 trillion a year in lost productivity and this is predicated to rise to $6tr by 2030.

In the UAE alone a report by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) in 2019 pegged the potential cost of lost productivity at $4.79 billion.

Also by 2030, mental health issues are set to become the biggest cause of death. So why does this all still go unspoken in many offices and workplaces, both in the Middle East and globally?

Sir Ian Cheshire, who leads the Global Business Collaboration (GBC) for Better Workplace Mental Health, talks with Arabian Business about how the pandemic has shifted the conversation on mental health in the work place, shortcomings, and why he’s optimistic for the future of mental health being integrated into the office culture.

AB: Give us a helicopter view of the GBC and the work its doing.

The GBC has been started by a handful of truly global companies, who are seeking to build on their involvement in previous campaigns to come up with a global answer.

We’ve tried to focus on two main issues, which is how can we break down the stigma around discussing mental health at work in various countries?

This remains a massive issue, with 12bn work days a year lost through mental health. If people aren’t talking about it, it gets driven out.

The second element is to understand the practical, real-world tools that can help managers.

A lot of managers are very scared about broaching this topic and saying the wrong thing. And so what we’re trying to say is, look, this is a pragmatic business thing. This is about allowing our teams to be more productive, more engaged, happier, and supporting them, because that’s good for business.

AB: The last time we spoke we were both in lockdown, now here in the UAE at least we’re all back in the office and many where you are also back. So, playing devil’s advocate, we’re all sorted no? We’re all vaccinated, the pandemic is waning so the mental health crisis is averted, isn’t that the case?

The absolute inverse is true, which is that the hidden impact on mental health through this has been much worse than people think.

As leaders, we have to help manage this. The positive side is I’ve been really struck by the way CEOs around the world have really engaged with this topic in a way that I’m not sure they would’ve five years ago.

We won’t know yet the full impact of the pandemic, but it’s quite clear, you can’t have general health without mental health.

AB: Where have you seen the wins, we’ve had headlines at the French Open, the Olympics, news like Nike giving workers a week off, does that give you hope at least? Is it beginning to bed in?

I think we’re seeing the green shoots. And in some cases, we’re seeing substantial change. I’ve seen a number of organisations where the uptake on mental health work support tools has been phenomenal in the last 18 months.

We’re very conscious that different geographies are at different points in this journey. There’s real sensitivity and real reluctance to even start the conversation [in some places].

At GBC, we’re trying to create hubs in places like the UAE, China, India, and Latin America and look at the cultural framework that allows us to start having a conversation. We don’t want a one-size-fits-all fix.

AB: Are you winning the financial argument? Are you winning the business case? And is there a growing body of evidence that backs that up, and eventually, you can now see CEOs make more money doing the right thing?

No, and I hesitate to spring to the defence of CFOs around the world, but my experience has been that they’re pretty pragmatic.

There’s a stat from Deloitte saying that engaged and happy and healthy employees are 13 percent more productive.

And I think what’s really encouraging is that we’ve got enough track record now already, before we get further down line, that the founders can point to real data so that we can actually show you how this works.

One of the most important bits is figuring out the right training for the managers, or those leading teams, so that they are confident enough to actually get into that conversation.

AB: Is there a trust issue here as well, because not only do we have it from the management side, but the employees have also to engage with this and trust that anything that they say won’t be weaponised against them.

There’s a really depressing statistic that only 2 percent of the people we talked to would want to talk to their HR department about mental health issues.

It’s not blaming the HR department. It’s a leadership and trust issue, which says, you’ve got to make the organisation a safe space to talk about this.

This is the hardest thing for people in the organisation to get comfortable with, and it’ll take a lot of leadership repetition, but leaders need to say: “This is not the way that you lose your job.”

It is going to take personal effort by leaders up and down the organisation.

AB: We see narratives like the Great Resignation in the US. Have we all just had enough of toxic workplaces, and what do the big companies need to learn from that? What’s the risk factor here in not paying attention?

It’s an interesting sub-theme of the pandemic that it’s forcing people to reassess what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and what their options might be.

And this is going to cause a global war for talent, no doubt about it. And organisations that can’t demonstrate their ability to work in this area will suffer. If you’re thinking seriously about your talent strategy, your culture, and what you want to achieve, this is a must.

But it starts with a senior-level commitment.

AB: So I’ve got to ask, how are you feeling? How’s your mental health? And are you getting better at talking about it about yourself?

Yes, and in fact, my colleagues and I will score ourselves each day on how we’re feeling on a one-to-10 scale.

I certainly find it much more useful. And by talking about yourself, you give permission to other people to say: “I feel this or I feel that.”

AB: The last time we spoke, and you talked about a book called Victor Frankel’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and we spoke about how there are still people out there that will be suffering from that kind of loss of perceived control. Is that a big tactic for people just to feel better about their life, to take control?

Well, I think there’s an interesting thing here, which is the illusion of control in most people’s lives. People start to confuse being active with achieving things. And it’s a classic trap of modern working life.

People start to confuse being active with achieving things. And it’s a classic trap of modern working life.

But actually, we have much more choice than we think we have about how we spend our time. We don’t have to be trapped by things; then you suddenly feel like you actually do get more real control because you choose how you want to spend your time.

It’s important for all of us to say: “How does this nourish me? How does this help me? How do I cut out the bad energy stuff and the stuff that brings me down?” And I think that’s a perfectly sensible conversation to have with all of us as teams.

AB: What does leadership mean and what do companies need to learn from that?

The simple answer is that businesses and organisations generally need to have much more honest conversations with their teams about what’s actually going on and what’s working for them and what isn’t working for them.

And the impact of the Great Resignation is you’re having a much more fundamental reflection from all working levels, about what they want to do, who they want to work with, and why.

So this is a chance to demonstrate that we are a place that will attract great people and look after them. Those that are brave enough to have the real conversations will discover a lot of rich conversations.