World Mental Health Day | What India Inc is doing to improve employees’ mental well-being

75 percent of the employers acknowledged the presence of a stigma in their workplaces. Amid all this, expenditure on mental health has been meagre at best.

Mental health at Indian workplaces has received a lot of attention in the last two years, in the wake of the pandemic. According to management consultancy McKinsey, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to mental health in the workplace is instead becoming “do ask, do tell, let’s talk.”.

On World Mental Health Day, Moneycontrol interacted with a cross-section of major corporations to find out what kind of policies they have adopted to address employees’ mental health issues.

Starting with biases

According to McKinsey, before implementing any initiatives, leaders need to employ a pull factor towards the services offered, since many employees (37 percent) with a behavioural-health condition have indicated that they would avoid treatment as they didn’t want people finding out about their mental illness.

Further, 75 percent of the same employers acknowledged the presence of a stigma in their workplaces. Amid all this, expenditure on mental health has been meagre at best. But that is changing at some companies.

FMCG giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) India has decided to launch awareness campaigns among managers through empanelled specialist counsellors. This is to enable the managers to identify mental well-being indicators within their workgroups, by spotting issues early.

Further, leaders are also encouraged to conduct regular check-ins with their team, to understand and help address anything that is on their minds.

“We have also equipped leaders with a specialised toolkit, which acts as a ready reckoner in case of any mental well-being concerns within their workgroups, as well as training to view the situation devoid of any biases,” Srinivas PM, Head of HR, P&G India Sub-Continent, told Moneycontrol.

IT major TCS has a different approach. It has introduced the Emotional Wellbeing Leave or EWB. These leaves are approved with a “no questions asked” policy.

As with the sick leave policy, the provision of supporting documents from a counsellor or psychiatrist is mandatory for approval of EWB leave beyond three days.

“This is to ensure that necessary steps are taken by the associate and timely support for the same is provided by the organisation for sustained wellbeing,” says Sangeeta Chandran, Global Head, TCS Cares.

‘Mitr’ for everyone

In India, nearly 65 percent of healthcare spending is out-of-pocket by individuals. The remaining 35 percent is highly fragmented and comes from several central and state govt funds and insurance companies, per health and wellness benefits platform ekincare.

Tech major IBM India has decided to cover mental health aspects in its employee insurance design. And for people with diagnosed mental health conditions, it also has a special case management protocol.

An employee assistance program (EAP) has been in place at IBM India since 2005 by the name of ‘Mitr’, a Sanskrit word for 'friend’. It is a free confidential programme available to all employees and their immediate families.

Employees can avail of counselling for their emotional health issues. “Utilisation of this programme has been high. Employees have benefited greatly from it,” says Thirukkumaran Nagarajan, VP and Head of HR at IBM India/South Asia.

In all this, physical health holds equal importance. Over 10,000 employees participate in various physical wellness programmes such as walkathons, Zumba, and yoga.

Measuring the impact

Whether it is 24X7 free professional counselling for employees and their families or Emotional Wellbeing Leave, TCS associates’ satisfaction with mental well-being support was reflected in the annual pulse survey, with a score of over 96 percent for the last two years.

“[The] innovative policy change provided the clear message that it was ‘Ok to not be Ok’ and ‘It was OK to speak up about your mental health concerns,” says Chamdran of TCS Cares, adding, “The stigma around mental health has reduced considerably.”

At P&G India, more than 80 percent of employees have availed the check-up facility dedicated to addressing the mental well-being needs of employees as and when needed. It includes a mental well-being check-up as part of the annual preventive health check-up available to all employees.

“Recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work across a diverse workforce, P&G India has evolved its mental well-being programme basis real employee experiences and feedback,” says Srinivas.