FUTURE TALENT November - January 2019/2020 | Page 19

FRONT OF HOUSE
F
MAKING MENTAL
AND
EMOTIONAL
HEALTH A
STRATEGIC PRIORITY
If people’s energy lies at the heart
of organisational performance, leaders
must invest in safeguarding employees’
mental and emotional wellbeing.
| Geoff McDonald
THE MOST LIMITING
RESOURCE IN BUSINESSES IS
THE ENERGY OF THEIR PEOPLE.
Every organisation I go into is
committed to keeping people
p hy s i c a l l y s afe i n t h e
workplace. So why would they
not also commit to keeping
people emotionally and
mentally safe? The most
important driver of individual,
team and organisational
performance is the ‘energy’
of people; that human
capacity to perform well to
get things done. We often
refer to people as our most
important asset. I suggest it
is the energy of our people
that is the most important.
MOST WORKPLACES TEND TO
DIMINISH PEOPLE’S ENERGY.
People are frazzled, working
to incredible deadlines, with
little time to rest and recover.
It’s today’s pace of change;
this constant ‘being on’ and
not being able to take time
out to reduce cortisol levels
in the brain. That stress
eventually becomes distress
and people get ill. The
common forms of mental
ill health, such as depression
and anxiety, are now the
leading cause of absence
from workplaces in the UK.
CONNECTION IS KEY TO
ENHANCING WELLBEING.
In Lost Connections, Johann
Hari links the increased
incidence of mental ill health
with the fact that we’ve lost
our ability to connect – to a
sense of meaning, to values,
community, friends, family, to
nature and a positive future.
At its best, work gives people
a sense of purpose, routine;
the opportunity to connect.
These touch points are critical
in enhancing people’s lives
and wellbeing. Mental health
initiative, Minds in the Wild,
runs challenges that help
leaders and employees learn
to reconnect, pushing them
out of their comfort zones
and developing agents for
change, willing to address the
stigma of mental ill health at
work. My recent experience
on a challenge in the
Himalayas, with a large
financial institution, bears real
evidence to this.
WE MUST POSITION
PEOPLE’S HEALTH
AND ENERGY AS A
STRATEGIC ENABLER
People’s energy should be
considered one of the most
impor tant drivers of
organisational performance,
and given the same level of
importance as skills,
behaviours and experience in
contributing to an individual’s
performance. It should attract
the same level of investment
(financial and human) as any
other strategic enabler would
draw. This push should be
CEO-led and facilitated by
finance and HR with support
from communications and
occupational health.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR
PROTECTING WELLBEING LIES
WITH BOTH ORGANISATIONS
AND INDIVIDUALS.
O rg a n i s a t i o n s s h o u l d
undertake an infrastructural
scan to understand any issues
(ways of working, policies,
processes, systems) that
might be enhancing the
stress of their employees –
and have the courage
to intervene. Be sure to
distinguish between
emotional health (how people
feel) and mental health
(people’s cognitive ability).
Set individuals a wellbeing
development plan in
the same way that you would
a skills development plan,
where they talk to their
line manager about
their physical, mental and
emotional health and how
they are using the wellbeing
resources the company
offers to enhance their health,
energy and ultimately their
performance.
WELLBEING WILL BE A
COMMERCIAL DIFFERENTIATOR
GOING FORWARD.
Today’s talented young
people going into businesses
ask “what is the role of this
workplace in society? What is
its purpose beyond growth
and profitability? What is it
doing to help me to maintain
my health and life-work
balance?”. Companies such
as Unilever, LNG and Anglian
Water are making a play in this
area, to attract, retain and
engage the best talent. As
forerunners shine a light on
these issues, other firms will
have to start addressing them
as well.
Geoff McDonald, former global
VP for HR at Unilever, is a
mental health campaigner,
advocate and consultant to
workplaces, and co-founder
of Minds@Work. He recently
co-launched mental health
initiative Minds in the Wild.
mindsinthewild.com
October
November
– December
– January 2019 // 19