Employee mental well-being needs to be a CEO agenda

Is talking about one’s mental health challenges still a stigma in India Inc.? While conversations about mental health are happening more openly today than what it was a decade ago, the reluctance to speak out continues. The fear of getting judged by seniors and colleagues still looms large. “Mental health conversations need to be part of leadership agenda, and not restricted to the HR function, only then would there be a real impact,” points out psychiatrist, Amit Malik, founder and CEO, Amaha.

In conversation, with Fortune India, the psychiatrist-turned entrepreneur (who a mental health hospital in Bengaluru and 10 mental health clinics across the country), says that organisations where the leadership team has been personally involved in mental well-being conversations have seen better outcomes. Excerpts:

Are organisations more sensitive towards mental health challenges of their employees?

The stigma still remains, but there has certainly been a positive shift. In 2016-17, when I first started Amaha, when we approached employer or the HR team, their response would be, is this really that important. They would tell us mental health was not priority for them. Today, the conversation is about how can we get you to work with our employees. What is your process and your delivery mechanism? Nobody's asking why. Most asking organisations are asking how.

More people are talking about their mental health challenges within the workplace. The are asking for mental health breaks, they are talking about undergoing therapy. Also, the general belief is that the prevalence of mental health challenges such as anxiety, stress etc are on the rise.

Isn’t this sensitivity limited to large organisations with deep pockets? I don’t see mental health being a priority for most.

There is your typical blue-collar, manufacturing type of employer, where things have moved, but not at the same pace. Things have moved a lot for those employing younger people and Gen-Zs. And, that is because those employees are asking for support more openly. For the Gen-Z’s adequate mental support has become a criterion to join an organisation.

Even in the blue-collar workforce, we are having conversations around suicide prevention, stress around financial inclusion and how that has an impact on mental health. But the conversations aren’t as fast-paced. There is a much faster shift in terms of employee perception and employer perception of the need to provide mental health services in the white collared workforce.

When you say white-collared employees are more responsive to mental-wellbeing, does that include tier 2-3 India too?

The recognition that there is a mental health challenge which needs to be addressed is increasing among the white-collared workforce in smaller cities and towns too. There is definitely a greater sense of awareness. Today, one is more aware about mental illness, and would not label a colleague whose performance is dipping as lazy, difficult or disinterested.

Which are the sectors which are spending more mental well-being of their employees? Which are sectors that are lagging behind?  

While the banking and financial services sector, IT & ITES are the biggest spenders, off late, hospitality, airlines and the pharmaceutical industry are also giving lot of importance to mental health.

The traditional manufacturing sector which hires a lot of blue-collared employees are the ones which are struggling to normalise.

Where does India stand when it comes acceptance of mental health challenges compared to rest of the world?  

It really depends on which part of India you are referring to. I think access to support in most parts of urban India is better than most developed markets. You can access therapy without wait time. Quality standardization is still a problem because regulation is not as widespread across all professional groups as it is in the West. But you can probably get an appointment more easily in urban India than you can get in the US or in London.

However, as you go deeper into the country, in rural India, both awareness and access drops.

You do agree that India Inc. may be doing better in terms of mental wellbeing acceptance, but it still has a long way to go? How can companies push the needle better?

I strongly feel this has to be driven by the leadership team. Let me give you an example - Nisaba Godrej, executive chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products, during the pandemic talked about her own mental health struggle with her employees across the globe. When she shared her own struggle, it helped break stigma. She said she had a condition, she underwent treatment, but is still running the organisation. Lived examples really help.

How can CEOs of organisations help in normalising mental health conversations?

I would ask them to do three things - first, listen to your employees and find out if they are struggling. Second, test the support pathways yourself. How easy is it to find help? Is confidentiality clearly explained? Is there a route to appropriate clinical care when somebody needs more than just a brief conversation? Third, give senior leaders the responsibility for following through the mental health journey of an employee. Review what has changed, and not simply look how many activities took place to drive that change. If a CEO can do these three things, I think they will be able to drive massive change in India.