WEBINAR REPLAY
Support in the Workplace: How Mental Health Factors into Productivity
Learn about the mental-health challenges workers face and how companies can address their needs.
WEBINAR REPLAY
Learn about the mental-health challenges workers face and how companies can address their needs.
Mental-health disorders are on the rise. According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, 970m people, or one in eight people worldwide, suffer from them. Many people may be predisposed genetically to mental-health problems, but family or social issues, financial worries, ill health and trauma also contribute to the condition. Furthermore, since workers spend roughly one-third of their life at their job, organizations have a responsibility to help their employees manage their mental health.
As well as this moral argument, there is also a business case for better mental-health services at work. Mental-health problems can weigh heavily on an individual. But they can also impact the bottom line. It is estimated that in 2030 mental illness will cost businesses more than $6trn. Lost productivity can be attributed to increases both in absenteeism and presenteeism, when unwell people come to work at less than full capacity.
But even employers who want to support workers’ mental health are challenged by tight budgets, heavy workloads and uncompromising corporate cultures. Diversity is a challenge too. Multinational firms with global workforces will have to manage cultural differences, like stigmas towards mental health leading to shame and ridicule, while other cultures encourage open discussions. Therefore, multinationals must take a nuanced approach to developing mental-health policies.
The best firms ask how their staff are feeling and listen to the answers. Others offer flexible working, days off for mental health and employee assistance programmes to improve mental-health services. What other best practices can help support workforce mental wellbeing? How can global businesses in particular prioritize mental health?
Why attend
Join Economist Impact for “Support in the workplace: how mental health factors into productivity”, a virtual event sponsored by Lyra Health, to learn about the mental-health challenges workers face and how companies can address their needs. Hear from leaders in mental health and business as they share their experiences, successes and insights for supporting workforce well-being.
Discussion topics will include:
Co-leader Healthy Workforces and Chief Scientist,
McKinsey Health Institute
Global Head,
Well-Being Standard Chartered
Senior Manager, Workforce Transformation, Lyra Health
Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Prof. of Psychology, Yale University, Host, The Happiness Lab Podcast
Rewards & Wellbeing Director Experian
Joe Grasso, a clinical psychologist by training, is the vice-president for workforce transformation at Lyra Health. He oversees Lyra’s product suite for supporting workplace mental health and leads a team of experts who consult with employers on their management practices, corporate policies and learning and development programmes. He has been interviewed by national media outlets, including CNN, Fast Company and the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, for his perspective on workforce mental health topics. Before joining Lyra, he managed the implementation of a national training programme for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he also led quality-improvement initiatives and conducted research on health services. His peer-reviewed research spans topics including integrated healthcare, psychotherapy outcomes and the intersection of social identities and mental health. He holds a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Jacqueline Brassey is a co-leader of the healthy workforces collaboration and director of research science at the McKinsey Health Institute. She is also a research fellow at VU University in Amsterdam and an adjunct professor at IE University in Spain. She is a member of the advisory council of the World Wellbeing Movement, the advisory board of Wellbeing at Work and the steering committee of the healthy workforces initiative of the World Economic Forum.
She brings to her roles around 25 years of international experience in business and academia, including ten with Unilever in the Netherlands and Britain, and more than ten with McKinsey & Company in the Netherlands and Luxembourg. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international business and languages from Avans University of Applied Sciences; bachelor’s and master’s degrees, cum laude and summa cum laude, in policy and organization science from Tilburg University; a PhD in economics and business from the University of Groningen; and a joint master’s degree in affective neuroscience from Maastricht University and the University of Florence. She has authored, co-authored or presented more than a hundred articles, books, book chapters, podcasts and scientific papers.
Rachel Plaistowe is the global head of well-being at Standard Chartered, and is responsible for developing and executing a strategy that reframes well-being as an enabler of sustainable high performance for over 80,000 colleagues across 52 markets. She is passionate about addressing the root causes of work-related mental ill health and amplifying the drivers of workplace well-being, examining cultural factors such as sustainable working, respectful workplace behaviour, empathetic leadership, psychological safety and inclusion, rather than solely delivering wellness initiatives, tools and benefits.
Ms Plaistowe has more than 16 years of experience in financial services, across a variety of human resources and legal roles. She previously held positions as a financial services litigation lawyer at Hogan Lovells and Standard Chartered, chief of staff to Standard Chartered’s general counsel, and head of employee relations strategy and development.