2023-12-29 22:32:23
As 2024 approaches and COVID-related shutdowns fade into memory, businesses everywhere are trying to establish a new normal.
Some of the largest Wall Street companies have moved to bring employees back 5 full days to work in the office, others see a competitive advantage in allowing permanent remote work, while there is a conservative mix between the two.
There are also some changes in workplace culture that are not going away, as a decades-long shift in how employers and employees interact accelerates. Workers who keep their personal struggles with stress, depression, and anxiety inside without revealing them to anyone also feel more comfortable sharing their pain and seeking help.
Having been muted during the pandemic, calls for workplace support are on the rise, and many employers are starting to see such things as a way to attract and retain employees. This means that white-collar managers need to deal directly with mental health issues and work-life balance with personal ones, whether they like it or not.
Examples of this abound around us, but the transformation seems particularly noticeable in the financial services sector, as this type of work has always required long and difficult working hours, and many such companies have led efforts to bring employees back to the office.
Changes are already happening. Bank of New York Mellon recently increased the number of free psychotherapy sessions available to employees without a formal referral process. Goldman Sachs will also provide training on dealing with mental health problems for all executives at the beginning of next year.
The issue here is not about generosity or a sense of fatherhood, as the World Health Organization estimates that 12 million working days, worth one trillion US dollars, are lost annually due to depression and anxiety.
In the United States, about a quarter of adults suffered from mental illness during the past year, as was the case in 2021. For young people between the ages of 18 and 25, they are more than twice as likely to report symptoms as those who are 50 years old, and the percentage is 36%. % versus 14%.
Employers point out that providing mental health care helps reduce absences and prevents them from falling prey to long illness. In this regard, Jacqueline Arthur, chief human resources officer at Goldman Sachs, said: “We need to foster a culture that encourages people to talk about the challenges they face, and to raise their hands when they need help.”
She continued: “Early intervention is a really important key.”
Surveys also indicate that workers are increasingly focusing on the availability of mental health support when choosing an employer, and 81% in a recent Harris poll believed that this would be “important to consider in their next job search.”
But not everyone sees this as positive, as The Economist recently warned on its pages that awareness campaigns are causing Britons to “confuse normal responses to life difficulties with mental health disorders.”
There is also a fair amount of grumbling among senior banking officials and investors who point out that many of today’s leaders have been overtaken by harsh professional training programs that involve working 100-hour weeks, as well as relentless harassment and, in some cases, the throwing of staplers at some people.
While no one wants to go back to overt misogyny and bullying, they admit they find twenty-somethings a bit spoiled.
When some Goldman Sachs analysts presented a PowerPoint presentation complaining about the pressures of hard work in the midst of the investment banking boom in 2021, opinions on Wall Street were certainly divided on whether they were raising a legitimate complaint or were from the “snowflake” generation. » Fragile, and therefore they should look for a different profession.
If such complaints sound familiar, that’s because they are. Thirty years ago, books such as “Listen to Prozac” warned that the new antidepressants.
It would then reshape human personalities and lead to a “cosmetic pharmacology” that injects drugs into people who are not really sick, but in fact, the widespread use of antidepressants and improved coverage of mental health care are credited with declining suicide rates in the United States in the 1990s. The past, although deaths have increased slightly and gradually since then.
Today, HR departments report that employees are seeking support early, before illness strikes. Many younger employees come from universities, where mental health services were already available, and they expect similar support in the workplace.
Usage remains high for Covid-era innovations, such as online therapy sessions, mindfulness and meditation apps, as well as “well-being” days, which provide time off to recover and recharge.
However, many older people still don’t feel comfortable talking, let alone seeking help for mental health issues. This places a responsibility on companies to create an environment in which such discussions are welcomed.
In this regard, the rapid spread of voluntary employee workshops, “first responder” mental health programmes, as well as first aid, are positive steps.
But none of this will work without a change in culture. Therefore, both Citigroup and BNY Mellon took steps in this direction this month, by suspending mandatory work from the office during the last two weeks of December, as well as by appealing to employees to use this period to recover and strengthen their resolve.
“There’s a certain human dimension associated with allowing people to make sure they’re focused on their lives, especially at important times of the year,” Robin Vince, CEO of BNY Mellon, said in a recent interview.
Traditionalists may be upset by this, but it is smart to encourage self-care when human talent is the most important cost.
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