How do we move beyond the mental health checkbox to deliver effective people strategies that result in happier, healthier teams? This question was at the heart of a panel discussion led by Fortune’s Next to Lead Editor Ruth Umoh at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit.
Sponsored by Calm, Investing in Resilience: A Strategic Approach to Mental Health Benefits featured Accenture’s Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer Angela Beatty, Google’s Chief Medical Officer of Global Employee Health Dr. Zini Stone, and Calm’s General Manager and SVP of Calm Health Chris Carey.
Here are three takeaways from the panel discussion:
1. Fostering employee resilience is a strategic business imperative
Resilience may be a controversial term but the concept is fundamental to the health and success of organizations.
“We really believe that at the heart of resilient organizations are resilient individuals, and it’s really at the core of our value proposition,” said Beatty. “How do we help our people feel net better off?’”
At Accenture, it comes down to supporting employees across four dimensions: purpose, growth, a sense of belonging, and well-being, which includes emotional, physical and financial well-being, according to Beatty. “That’s really the foundation and the platform for resiliency and our value proposition for our people.”
Stone echoed the importance of supporting holistic health. “What we know to be true is that physical health, mental health, social health, financial health are all interconnected. One affects the other.” She emphasized, however, that people in different parts of the world and the country are at different places in this conversation. “So the starting line for me is to understand where your people are . . . and then having the tools and resources and all the things that help them build that resilience.”
Resilience, as described by Stone, is having the ability to rise to the moment in a way that doesn’t affect well-being. “When [employees] have to sprint, are they able to sprint? Do they have that recovery that they need? . . . When they’re asked to take on a new challenge, are they able to do that with their whole selves in a way that allows them to really put their mind into it, put their energy into it, and feel really good about the outcome of what they’re doing?”
Fostering resilience in employees has a real impact on the bottom line, said Beatty. “When you unlock that potential of people through those four dimensions, you have a 5% revenue growth, bottom line impact.”
2. Consistency and customization, leadership, and amplification are ways to elevate mental health in the workplace
At Accenture, elevating mental health starts with offering a core foundation of support that’s consistent across their locations in 150 countries. “We want to be true everywhere we operate,” Beatty said. She cited Calm, Thrive, and Nudge as examples of programs and benefits the company offers at scale to promote mental resilience and well-being.
On top of that foundation, Accenture offers country-specific programs and benefits, said Beatty. The company analyzes data to understand employee needs, the uptake of programs, how employees are doing, and then customizes benefits by location.
Stone spoke to a multifaceted strategy at Google that includes taking mental health out of its silos “and making a true cross-company strategy.”
Rather than confine mental health to the HR department, the security and resilience team, or the occupational health group, “we actually brought together a governing body that brings everybody from all of these different groups together,” Stone said. “We also included our real estate and workforce services team because one of the things that affects people’s health and well-being at work is actually the physical environment.”
From there, the governing body created a shared strategy and language and intentionally engaged leaders in the organization, according to Stone. “What was really important was taking the time to get the leaders of those organizations in not just signing up but in consistently showing up over and over again as advocates for the messaging and for the work that’s being done.”
A well-known brand, Calm can play an important role in elevating an organization’s mental health strategy and boosting utilization of its full suite of benefits, Carey explained. For example, Calm Health offers employees a mental health screening and uses the results to guide them to their employee assistance program or other appropriate resources. “We really see our role as amplifying the rest of the benefit strategy, leveraging the Calm brand.”
3. Outcomes, experience, and accessibility are key to vendor fit and ROI
Vendor fit starts with outcomes, said Carey. “If we want to have a long-term relationship with our partners, we have to prove value . . . And so we’re laser-focused on [making sure] we’re not just driving engagement but also long-term utilization that leads to outcomes.” For example, when an employee with subclinical needs enrolls in and completes a Calm Health clinical program, do their scores on the mental health screening improve? Do employees with more severe needs become aware of and use the behavioral health services available through their EAP? “We start with the end in mind.”
Stone emphasized the need to tie outcomes to specific objectives, for both selecting the right vendors and showing ROI. “What is the problem we’re trying to solve and is there a true evidence basis?
“Health and wellbeing are two sides of the same coin. They’re connected. And so being able to think about what is the outcome that we’re aiming for? How do we measure it?” For example, the effects of a cancer screening program are going to take years to show in terms of reduced rates of a particular type of cancer or reduced progression of the disease. “So it always comes back to identify[ing] the problem we’re trying to solve and then what are the. . .very few handful of core metrics that we’re going to use to measure that ROI.”
Stone also emphasized the importance of the employee experience along the way. “Because it’s very, very clear that if somebody doesn’t have a positive experience, that they’re not going to go out of their way to do it again. They’re not going to be compliant with the recommendations or the therapy that they need, and they probably won’t follow the referral recommendations given to them through that service . . . It can be a really positive domino effect or a negative domino effect.”
Accessibility is also key, according to the speakers. “We want to make sure that we’re not bringing in solutions that are so niche that they only help people in one very specific area,” said Stone. Striking the balance between supporting a specific need and being too niche starts with the data that we’re able to track in terms of what we’re seeing in our claims, what we’re seeing in the direct feedback from employees and our annual health surveys, . . and really working to make sure that we’ve got that balance.”
Beatty noted that different ways of promoting programs can make the difference between seeing adoption and not. “We’ve had good success if we go through our ERGs (employee resource groups) and they’re helping to promote and share the value.” Creating a centralized hub – a one-stop shop – has also made an impact, she said.
For additional insights about emerging stressors for employees and the role of artificial intelligence in mental health, please watch the panel discussion in its entirety.
