10 October 2019 marked World Mental Health Day. Here’s how the financial services sector is working to make life better for its employees and end the stigma
by Bethan Rees
Visit the CISI mental health portal
In support of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, the CISI launched a mental health portal, which aims to encourage conversations around mental health in financial services, and to help “end the stigma around discussing mental health issues for its global membership, financial services professionals and staff”, according to the press release by Lora Benson MCIPR, CISI head of media.
It is in response to a question the CISI asked of its members in 2019 and 2018, about whether they would feel comfortable talking to their manager about poor mental health – 55% of members in 2019 said they would, an increase of almost 20% from 2018, when just 46% said they would feel comfortable. This question was in turn a response to “alarming statistics published by AdviserPlus in 2017", that indicated that a third of absences in the financial services sector were due to mental ill health.
The portal offers a toolkit of practical information, resources, powerful stories and contacts for helpful organisations, and aims to “cultivate a healthy mind to help those in the financial services community reach their full potential”.
Dr Stephen Pereira MD, FRCPsych, DPM, MSc, MBBS, a consultant psychiatrist, and Piers Connolly, a senior financial services director, are also featured in a podcast on the portal, which explores ideas that have arisen from the CISI’s 2018 survey.
CISI press release
Personal days for wellbeing
At Scotiabank, a Canadian multinational bank, employees will be able to take two additional paid personal days in support of mental health and wellbeing, according to CSRwire.
From 1 January 2020, eligible employees in Canada will have access to five paid personal days in total, and the flexibility to use these whenever they choose – in addition to annual leave days and agreed paid sick leave. Barbara Mason, group head and chief human resources officer at Scotiabank, explains the thought process behind the decision: “Our people are our most important asset, and their wellbeing is a top priority for Scotiabank. We strongly believe that by offering employees greater flexibility to take time off to achieve greater work-life balance, our employee population will be healthier and happier, and therefore enabled to perform at their very best.”
Scotiabank also provides Canadian employees and their families with CAN$3,000 per year in mental health coverage to use for services such as psychologists, psychotherapists and family therapists at no cost to the employee.
CSRwire article
Wellbeing for brokers
In Australia, a mortgage aggregator is stressing the importance of mental health within the mortgage broker community, according to Malavika Santhebennur for The Adviser.
Choice Aggregation Services’s CEO Stephen Moore is urging the sector to be more conscious of mental health, particularly given the disruption caused by the banking Royal Commission (read more on this here) and regulatory changes, Santhebennur reports. “As we all go through change at times, we need to be able to speak to someone, we need to be able to gain additional perspective, share views, and vent,” Moore says.
The aggregator also partnered with suicide prevention charity R U OK? in September 2019, to help mortgage brokers deal with the fallout of regulatory changes. The partnership provides educational sessions on mental health and practical guidance for exercising mindfulness.
The Adviser article
What more can be done to support mental health in the financial services sector? Leave your comments below.
Seen a blog, news story or discussion online that you think might interest CISI members? Email bethan.rees@wardour.co.uk.