Mental Health - U Shaped Recovery

Question: Are you looking at risks associated with emotional issues like frustration, depression, isolation, alienation, resentment, etc? Please give an overview of the mitigation plan.

The fear created by the pandemic and the isolation created by the lockdown have had the biggest ever impact on mental health. Fortunately, companies have found a variety of solutions that mitigate the problem. All 16 participants shared their insights and their company’s practices to tackle this issue.

ABHILASH BALAN, CISO at Digit Insurance

With a remote work environment and loss of human connect, we do see these emotional phases in employees. But our HR team tries its best to foster motivation, productivity and mindfulness through various initiatives. From a tech point of view, we utilize all tech resources to ensure our employees are empowered to work from home without a hassle. Team connects, training modules, appraisals and meetings are all there and we have a business continuity plan in place that helps employees to work smoothly even from home, thus helping to mitigate these risks.

ANIL PINAPALA, CEO at Vivifi India Finance

We have strong HR and administrative policies and practices to ensure that there are continuous community activities and independent feedback systems that help identify emotional issues arising out of work or non-work circumstances and provide assistance to our employees. In our organization, we have created a transparent process and safe space wherein our co-workers don’t feel any reservations in speaking about emotional issues or issues related to their mental wellbeing. In fact, we make a conscious effort to choose plans with health insurance companies where there is adequate support provided to our employees with access to adequate care on mental-health issues.

AVNEESH TRIVEDI, CRO at Moneyboxx Finance

Yes, focusing on emotional quotient of employees is very important in current scenario. Continuous engagement with employees and devising plans on their overall mental and physical wellbeing has been a very critical area. We focus on helping employees to keep mental calm through regular pranayama and yoga. Creating a positive

environment with right messaging (Dos and Don’ts) has helped in boosting employee morale in these turbulent times.

BIKASH CHOUDHARY, Appointed Actuary & Chief Risk Officer at Future Generali India Life Insurance

Uncertainty breeds anxiety, and we are living in uncertain times. Between rising numbers of covid cases, questions about the ongoing challenges and the economic fallout of the pandemic, we don’t know what will come next. And that’s taking a toll on our mental health. This unprecedented situation is clearly demonstrating that individuals are largely and emotionally unprepared for the detrimental effects of the large scale and prolonged effects of the pandemic.

In the current situation, anyone can experience crippling levels of stress and anxiety now and due to the remote working environment people managers need to be alert for signs that indicate employees are struggling to cope. We recognized these challenges early on and implemented the following to help employees manage their wellbeing, work-life balance and proactively work with emotional issues due to the pandemic:

(i) Dedicated break-hours – Fixing break-hours helps an employee take note of the time to relax and ease out the pressure of work during work hours. We have dedicated lunch and break times with instructions of not scheduling or attending any meeting during those fixed timings. We call it ‘Me Time’.

(ii) Digital Signoff – We all experienced long and odd working hours during the initial days of lockdown. Over time, things improved but I believe it still requires revisit and improvisation. All employees are encouraged to log off by 7 pm unless they are working on anything which is businesscritical, which needs to be notified to the line manager.

(iii) Self Care – Encourage employees working remotely to take time for self-care and movement/exercise during the workday.

(iv) Quick check-in – We conduct a quick round of checkins from participants at the beginning of every virtual meeting to see what’s on people’s minds, personally and professionally.

(v) Sharing information – We arrange sessions by leaders who are empathetic and who talk personally about challenges that they understand people are going through.

(vi) Tele-Wellness Services: We tied up with Truworth, a telewellness partner to provide our employees with on-demand medical consultations, online pharmacy and medical test booking services. These services were extended to their family members as well.

BIRANCHI MISHRA, Head – Credit, Risk & Product at Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency

Both employees and the company are reeling from an unprecedented amount of change. Employees at all levels continue to be worried about their health, the wellbeing and health of family members, in addition to performance pressure. Our company’s leadership makes sure employees feel heard, supported and led with empathy. Management, team leaders have regular informal interactions with employees individually and in groups, address concerns in the most productive way possible. We prioritize the safety and wellbeing of employees and release guidance for working safely in general and during the pandemic. HR regularly arranges interaction with doctors and wellness experts to assist employees in dealing with their mental and physical health, which has never been more important.

DAMODARAN C, Vice President & Chief Risk Officer at

Federal Bank

The certification ‘ Great Place to Work’ is a testimony for Federal Bank’s employeefriendly work environment and HR practices. We consider human resource as the most important asset of the bank and take all steps to keep it vibrant. The pandemic has affected all human beings across the globe, psychologically, financially and physically. Social isolation, fear of contagion, fear of impact on family members, etc., can all cause distress. With full awareness of the reality, the bank has come out with timely HR support measures.

We have operationalized WFH, duly assigning priority for those staff who are considered more vulnerable to pandemic and wherever the risk of spread is assessed as high. The bank conducts webinars on health-related issues and arrangements are made for interactions with medical practitioners and counsellors. Round-the-clock counselling helpline is available for employees to seek assistance of trained persons to help them with their emotional issues.

The bank also takes care of expenses for treatment of employees and dependents. Emergency financial support is provided if any of the close relatives of the employee is hospitalized. The bank is taking exceptional steps in vaccinating all the employees and their dependents. The employee welfare measures, cordial relationships among employees and strong family bonding are the foundation stones on which Federal Bank is built and these factors have played crucial roles in keeping up the employee morale during these testing times. Various communications channels are open for to-and-fro communication between HR and employees and our MD & CEO reaches out to the employees at least once in a week through motivating messages.

GOPAL BALACHANDRAN, CFO & Chief Risk Officer at ICICI Lombard General Insurance

The uncertain times related to the pandemic can be extremely unnerving. However, staying resilient and calm is the best opportunity and option we have, if we have to win this pandemic war.

Employee welfare and safety are key components for all organizations. The pandemic outbreak has taught us that anything is possible and accordingly we have accelerated the digital ways of working to ensure that productivity is ensured in a WFH environment and employees can be safe and sound in their homes.

The company has also regularly engaged with employees by circulating educational material on safety and productivity and also urging employees to restrict travelling.

Again, mental health is a very important area which needs consideration. The company has organized digital wellness sessions for employees for which external experts are invited to address employees on the importance of good physical and mental health. They also provide valuable insights on staying fit and healthy through activities such as regular exercise, healthy diet plans, engaging in arts and craft, spending time with the family and similar other initiatives.

The company has organized hobby groups and employees are encouraged to be part of such hobby groups to ensure that they can pursue their hobbies and interests and engage with like-minded individuals on digital platforms provided by the company.

The company has also encouraged employees to spend more time with their families and whenever any employee achievement has to be celebrated, the company reaches out to the employee’s family to ensure that it is a memorable event for the employee and family.

The company also has an in-house program called Santulan, which is a 24x7 assistance program providing employees access to trained counsellors while ensuring confidentiality. Employees can share their personal and professional concerns with trained counsellors, who would play a pivotal role in boosting psychological strength.

Through our IL Take Care App which has crossed 500,000 downloads, we even offer the facility of tele consultation or a doctor on call facility, for employees as well as customers.

K R MOHANACHANDRAN, Chief Risk Officer at ESAF Small Finance Bank

The current situation of widespread infection has a psychological impact on the employees of any organization. The WFH arrangements, distancing from friends and colleagues, infection, loss of life of some of the colleagues’ relatives, social restrictions, etc, cause anxiety for employees. Some of them are able to manage the stress by themselves, but we, as an institution, have taken many steps to address this issue and to support the employees, like employee connect programs, online training sessions, senior officials addressing the staff in a structured manner, counselling arrangements, medical support, etc. Advisories are issued by the corporate office periodically. Personal contacts by senior officers with those employees who are tested positive for covid-19 provide relief to the employees.

PRITHVI CHANDRASEKHAR, President Risk & Analytics at

InCred

Yes, we believe WFH can have an impact on the mental health of our employees. The most important mitigant is ongoing employee engagement. We are making sure that our employees are constructively involved in substantial work, and embedded with their teams, despite WFH. Further, we also support employees with flexibility and resources if they ever need to deal with more severe mental health issues.

RAKESH BANSAL, Chief Risk Officer at Hero Housing Finance

Our company hired a psychologist to deal with these issues and he was available on call. We kept the team engaged by giving them exciting projects on portfolio analysis and policies and process analysis of various companies. We also helped them develop new skills during the lockdown.

ROOPAM ASTHANA, CEO & WTD, Liberty General Insurance

The current pandemic situation and its related complications have created the ground for emergence of mental health problems and emotional issues within employees and these are a risk to the long-term wellbeing of any organization. Our WE CARE health program for our employees has identified that one of the root causes for anxiety, fear and related emotional challenges is also misinformation. To address this, we have organized Medical Expert Talks for our employees and families in regional languages so that they can better understand the 2nd wave of the pandemic. It helped put at rest many doubts and allay fears.

A robust Employee Assistance Program with expert counsellors available on call, in regional languages, is another effort to solve the issues. Additionally, we realised that many families were grappling with some challenges like how to talk to children about covid, how to quarantine without loneliness, and we have organized seminars on such topics.

SADAF SAYEED, CEO at Muthoot Microfin

We are effectively reaching out to our employees to provide awareness and ensure psycho-social support through our online HRMS and learning platforms. We promote and ensure that employees are engaged in relaxation activities.

Rediscovering healthy hobbies or activities are promoted through various employee engagement activities like cooking, painting, photography contests, etc. We stay connected 24x7 through our helpline numbers in case employees are in need of any support. Further, we have contacted each and every employee from HO to take feedback on their safety and wellbeing. We have also facilitated free online consultations for employees to connect with a mental health professional by phone or videoconference through Practo mobile app and another doctor on call facilities.

SUNDER NATARAJAN, Chief Compliance & Risk Officer at IndiaFirst Life Insurance

Mental health i s di r ec t l y r el at ed to productivity and is underrated. While we may have rarely seen mental health issues surfacing pre-covid, the same is not true in the last one year. Even now, we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg. In an office environment, we may witness the effect it has on productivity and behavior while the cause would have remained a mystery. In the times we are living in today, both cause and effect are a challenge to detect and assess.

The mitigation has to be both proactive and reactive. Simple yet effective measures to engage the team have made a difference to us. While some of these are done for knowledge enhancement, connecting over a coffee for 30 minutes and chatting up, and seeing each other’s faces have also made a big difference. Leaders are encouraged to reach out to the affected team and family to offer help. Small wins are applauded and celebrated instantly. We set up helplines a few years ago and they have started buzzing last year.

SUJAY DAS, Chief Risk Officer at MoneyTap

The pandemic has brought i n many uncertainties in the lives of people. Many people have been working from home for the past one year with restricted movement as well. Lots of screen time and difficulty in separating office and home timings have made it important for the companies to start thinking of better ways to get work done. Managers have been asked to be very proactive in speaking to their teams about shutting screens and doing off screen activities. It’s important for mental health reasons that people be reminded to nurture hobbies, read books, gardening, yoga, meditate, or anything else that can bring some relief from it getting too overwhelming. Even suggestions such as playing board games, cooking new dishes, music and other activities are encouraged.

The HR team has been very timely with their efforts to bring in external help wherever needed, and making sure people feel more secure in the troubling times. We make sure that employees and individuals are getting help with medical tests, covid sick leave, leaves for caregivers and for vaccination purposes, vaccination drives, care packages, accommodation, transport, food, (for people staying alone, or far away), mental health counselling, wellness webinars every week, etc.

VENKATA JAYARAMAN M., Chief Risk Officer at Fincare Small Finance Bank

Remote working seems to cause higher fatigue levels than being in office. There are instances of losing interest or motivation, start and end time pressure, natural distractions, lack of meaningful socializing, pressing issues, both at work and personal front. The bank has tried to navigate this challenging phase by providing flexibility of work from home/remote location to ensure personal comfort, no strict start-end timings, regular leadership town-halls in order to alleviate fear and anxiety and regular team interactions about health and wellness, both physical and emotional.

The bank offers leave/financial benefits, offers support groups in case of infections for self/family members, engagement groups for social interaction, R&R as usual, special R&R and events, motivational posts in internal groups, social media buzz about bank’s progress and fight against covid. All these have helped us create positivity and buzz in the organization’s fight against the pandemic.

VIJAYALAKSHMI NATARAJAN, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at Aviva India

E mot i o n a l d i s t r e s s h a s increased phenomenally in covid situation and the extended lockdown, especially when self, close or extended family members and friends are affected. The mental stress increases manifold under the situation of work from home as well considering there is least face to face contact with fellow employees.

To address this most employers are directing this risk on the ongoing business by creating support systems both on formal and informal platforms with ample employee outreach programs. Mandatory team connect with leaders, participation in seminars and conferences, extensive usage of safe communication platform for face-to-face engagements, connect with a doctor to address both physical and mental issues, maximizing safety protocols while at work in office, tie-ups with medical support platforms for medicines, consultations, hospital care, health care support are among initiatives that have been taken up by the company. Personal touch to show that ‘I Care’ is key to connect and embrace employees during these stressful times.

Living the value of ‘Care More’ to help our people and

support them in fighting the challenges of the availability of medicines, hospital beds, oxygen, ventilators, tests/vaccination etc, we have created Aviva War Room - a group of 50 volunteers who track the leads for medical supplies in real time, verify them and answer the distress calls. Some of our other initiatives include an in-house ‘Happiness Campaign’ to help our people combat stress, anxiety, anger, depression, cultivate happiness, resilience and mindfulness in these turbulent times using activities, micro steps, videos, stories etc. A similar campaign (WFH -Work Feeling Happy) had a positive impact last year during Lockdown 1.0 and we hope to create a positive impact with this exercise ensuring our people do not feel isolated or depressed. We have collaborated with Dr.Lal Path Labs & Apollo Pharmacy for discounts and home collection of blood samples and delivery of reports. We have also tied up with Practo to offer complimentary online consultation to all our employees, and their family members, with some of the best doctors across India.

These initiatives have strengthened the belief of our people that the organization stands with them in all ups and downs. We will continue our efforts to ensure safety – physical and psychological - for all our people until we sail through these challenging times.

SUMMARY

The participants in this round shared a wide variety of responses. We summarized them and divided them into 6 broad categories.

1. Time Related:

i. Dedicated break hours to help employees take note of the time to relax and ease out the pressure of work during work hours. ii. Encourage employees to log off by a particular time, unless they are working on anything which is business-critical. iii. Ask managers to be very proactive in speaking to their teams about shutting screens and doing off screen activities. iv. Encourage employees working remotely to take time for selfcare and movement/exercise during the workday.

2. Health Related:

i. Vaccinating all the employees and their dependents. ii. Mobile app for tele consultation with doctors. iii. Psychologist on call. iv. Encourage Pranayama and Yoga. v. Tele-wellness services covering medical consultations, online pharmacy and medical test booking services, for employees and family members.

3. Finance Related:

i. Emergency financial support if any of the close relatives of

the employee is hospitalized.

4. Work Related:

i. Strong HR and administrative policies and practices to ensure that there are continuous community activities. ii. Independent feedback systems that help identify emotional issues arising out of work or non-work circumstances. iii. Making sure that employees are constructively involved in

substantial work. iv. Help employees developed new skills during the lockdown.

5. Communications Related:

i. Transparent process and safe space wherein co-workers don’t feel any reservations in speaking about emotional issues or issues related to their mental well-being. ii. A quick round of check-ins from participants at the beginning of every virtual meeting to see what’s on people’s minds - personally and professionally. iii. Creating a positive environment with Do’s and Don’ts. iv. Session from leaders that are empathetic and talk personally about challenges that they understand people are going through.

v. Wellness webinars to assist employees in dealing with mental and physical health. vi. Seminars on how to talk to children about covid and how

to quarantine without loneliness. vii. Medical expert talks for employees and families in regional

languages. viii. Social media buzz about the company’s progress and fight

against covid.

6. Hobbies Related:

i. Organize hobby groups on cooking, gardening, painting, photography, meditation, music, etc, and encouraging employees to be part of such groups.