Global execs commit to mental health – Times of India

MUMBAI: Mental illness is increasingly becoming an epidemic of sorts. According to global data, around one in every nine people live with a diagnosable mental health disorder. It’s not just the worrisome stats, there’s also an economic cost on account of poor mental health and it extends to the workplace.
Poor workplace mental health impacts employee productivity, attraction and retention. The issue has taken centre-stage not just for international health agencies, but also for multinational companies.
“Since high performance is a priority, companies are now taking the lead in battling the mental health challenge to create a positive working culture, and improve engagement and work satisfaction among employees,” Diana Han, chief health and well-being officer at Unilever, told TOI in an exclusive interview.

Han was here for the ‘Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health’ (GBC) world leadership round-table, to raise awareness and strike conversations on the issue with over 90 C-suite executives. GBC is a business-led collaboration committed to creating mentally healthy workplaces across the world, with Unilever, BP, BHP, Deloitte, HSBC, Sodexo, Visa and WPP as founding partners. “In one of the major initiatives to mitigate the crisis, we are building a global community of business leaders committed to prioritising workplace mental health in their own organisations and to sharing learnings, insights and good practice that will help to build a road map for change,” she said.
The idea is first to “normalise” conversation around mental ill health because of the huge taboo around it. “This will help in creating empathy and awareness, while promoting an open culture to eliminate the stigma. By sharing stories and experiences, companies and their leaders can take proactive steps to work towards creating positive mental health, supporting one another and reducing stress,” says Anuradha Razdan, executive director, HR, HUL and VP (HR), Unilever south Asia. Over 100 global business leaders have signed the pledge to support good mental health in their organisations.