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ON TOPIC
business consulting services firm
CGI employs around 74,000 people
across 40 countries yet has found a
way to care for each of them with
its bespoke Oxygen programme.
“The three main risks to the
health and wellbeing of our
members (employees) are mental
health, ergonomics – things such
as crouching over laptops – and
physical, cardiovascular health,” says
Julia McDonald, CGI UK’s director
of talent acquisition. “We have a
strategy around that. I think a lot
of organisations think in terms of
wellbeing, but separately. It’s not
linked. You need to know why
you’re doing things and to have a
cohesive approach.”
Looking at the mental health
strand, in the UK alone, this means
186 first-aiders trained by MHFA
England, a member assistance
programme, mental health blogs
by employees, yoga and meditation
classes, resilience training and
webinars on subjects such as
sleep, mindfulness and autism. The
programme, which won a recent
best health and wellbeing initiative,
isn’t only cohesive, it’s flexible,
adapting to its planet-wide reach.
“Oxygen employs about 24
people globally,” says Anne Bartlett,
the company’s UK health and
wellbeing manager. “We have a lead
for the programme in most of our
major countries. I’m Oxygen lead for
the UK, but there is the equivalent
in Canada, the US, India, France, the
Netherlands and Sweden. Part of
the role is to interpret and apply
policies and initiatives which match
local needs and culture. What I do in
the UK, for example, is very different
from what my colleague does
in India.”
It appears to be working. While
McDonald points out that the
return on investment of most health
initiatives is inherently long term,
CGI has already reduced its mental
health-related absences, both in
terms of number and time taken.
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f course, in these wobbly
economic
times
organisations watch for
a ROI on every penny
88% of
job seekers
consider the
mental health
policies of
potential
employers
they spend. Results of initiatives at
Thames Water and CGI show
tangible benefits, but the sage view
goes beyond statistics.
“We look at absenteeism,
but I think a bigger problem is
presenteeism, where people are
there in body, but not engaged, not
achieving much,” says McDonald.
“Looking after health and wellbeing
pays dividends in terms of
engagement and productivity.”
Even the most Gordon Gekko-
esque CFO should know that healthy
employees equal healthy profits:
better staff retention, decreased
absence, increased creativity.
“The Thriving at Work report
estimated the cost to employers
directly every year at between
£33bn and £42bn,” says McGuinness.
“To the UK economy, it was nearly
£100bn per year. It also shows that
around 300,000 people every year
lose their jobs because of poor
mental health.”
A sound mental health plan helps
you hire the best people, too. A
survey by recruitment consultancy
Robert Walters revealed that 97%
of professionals believe employers
have a responsibility to support the
mental health of their staff – and
88% of job-seekers consider the
mental health policies of potential
employers. With sites such as
Glassdoor allowing employees to
rate their workplace, there’s nowhere
to hide shoddy practice.
Taking action on mental health
is the epitome of a ‘no-brainer’: so,
how to make it happen? “You get the
best engagement when you have
senior leadership buy in and senior
leaders talking about their own
experiences,” argues McGuinness.
“Alongside a grassroots movement,
the two things together can be
really powerful.”
At CGI, the Oxygen programme
was started by senior management,
who encourage openness about
mental health issues. It’s a similar
story at Thames Water, whose
commitment extends to the
company’s supply chain, with an
obligatory ‘essential suite’ of mental
health measures written into every
supplier contract.
“Health needed to be top of the
agenda on all the company board
reports,” says Simons. “Mental health
KPIs are reported at every board
meeting. It’s been there for six
years now.”
nce you have that
commitment, there are
organisations that will
help, including Mind and
MHFA England. You should also
speak to your peers about
what they’ve done to find out what
genuinely works.
“My hope is that we start to
see employers supporting each
other,” says McGuinness. “I think
that will have a big impact on large
organisations, on the supply chains
that they work with and impact
customers. I’d really like to see a
sector approach to this work.”
Madan agrees: “There is an
enormous amount of great
information out there,” he says. “I’d
like to see more of these agencies
stepping away from commercial
privacy and secrecy and sharing
best practices.”
There really are no excusable
barriers to safeguarding employees’
mental health. To pretend that the
workplace isn’t a major causal
factor in levels of stress, anxiety
and depression, or to pass the buck
onto employees, is ducking
responsibility. It’s bad for your
bottom line, too. FT
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March – May 2019
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