Corporate attitudes towards mental illness? 'Cut it out'

Corporate attitude to mental illness? 'Cut it out'

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By HR Wolf

I’m a HR Director. Let’s get that out of the way. I know some people don’t like us, and many don’t understand what we do. This is my first blog entry. It’s about my own experience as a senior executive seeing the reality of corporate attitudes towards mental illness. Bias, ignorance, fear and brutality. I’ve seen them all. Funny thing is – I live with anxiety, and at times, depression. Sometimes I can’t leave my house in the morning. Sometimes I can’t even get out of bed. I medicate, which helps.

It’s Brighter Outside

Living with a condition which I know remains a taboo topic in corporate life has put me in a position where – despite all the excellent #wellness programmes provided to support employees, and initiatives like #timeforchange – the reality I see has made me keep my own condition a secret. As a result, I stay in my own little cave, looking out and wondering how far we have actually come. So, I guess this blog is also helping me come out of my cave. It’s brighter outside.

‘You know this man has a history of stress and mental illness. He can’t cope. We need to take costs out, and improve performance… maybe we should get rid of him?’

This was from a CFO in a FTSE 100 business. And it is typical of what I’ve heard over the years. Yet, this same person came up with the normal platitudes such as, ‘employees are our greatest asset’, and ‘we want to be an employer of choice’ when speaking publicly.

Is Mental Health Understood in the Workplace?

Do you get my meaning? Don’t get me wrong – I’ve rolled out several programmes on Wellness, Mindfulness and educating leaders on unconscious bias. In fact, I’m even proud of some of them as I know they made a difference to employees who felt lonely, misunderstood and frustrated. Similarly, they also helped leaders think about mental illness in a more rounded way. So, yes, I could share success stories (and there are many out there!)

Do you think mental illness is tolerated or understood in corporate life? I mean, understood to the extent where employees can be open about discussing it? I’m not convinced and think the reality at the top of big business is one driven by short-termism, reporting on figures, and keeping key stakeholders happy. Cost pressure, inconsistent leadership quality, lack of time to think and not enough senior folk who are willing to ‘voice up’ and help drive attitudinal change is a toxic mix.