---

This article is taken from the Winter 2023/2024 issue of

Think Global People magazine

Click on the cover to access the digital edition.View your copy of the Winter 2023 issue of Think Global People magazine.

---

Post-pandemic, mental wellbeing remains a very real issue for globally mobile populations. The latest AXA Global Healthcare ‘Mind Health Index’ shows only one in ten expats aged 18-24 are ‘flourishing’, with the majority (55%) reporting they are ‘languishing or struggling’ (the lowest outcomes). Over two-thirds (71%) are struggling with stress, 30% with depression and 16% with anxiety. The oldest group sampled (65-74) report their mental health more positively. Yet one in five – a figure similar to the general population – are still ‘languishing or struggling’.These findings have significant implications, not just for people’s quality of life, but also organisational performance. Data such as this, and the World Health Organisation’s message this World Mental Health Day that “mental wellbeing is a human right”, are therefore timely reminders for employers of their duty to support every employee. This includes creating the conditions for people to ask for help and receive treatment without fear of jeopardising their careers, wherever they are on assignment or in their career.For many employers, this will mean refreshing their thinking and upgrading approaches to recognise both the interconnectedness of work with mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing, and balancing this with much greater awareness of the impact of people’s lives outside the workplace in the workplace.

---

Related reading from Relocate Global

• Inclusive wellbeing: managing menopause
• Supporting international students’ wellbeing at university
• World Mental Health Day 2023: SPAN Symposium shines light on student wellbeing
• Women professionals get hybrid working boost

---

Checking in on mental wellbeing

Fortunately, many of the world’s largest employers are doing just that. Linking with the demand for greater transparency around the entirety of the ESG spectrum, ethical investor CCLA’S ‘Corporate Mental Health Benchmark 2023’ assesses the actions of 110 companies in 17 countries with more than 10,000 employees.Published on World Mental Health Day, CCLA’s benchmark shows that for 95% of large employers, mental health is universally recognised as an important business concern. Almost eight in ten now offer internal or external mental health support (78%), up from 72% in 2022. The benchmark also shows where much more can be achieved. The average score on the benchmark remains low at 28% (25% in 2022), fewer CEOS are championing the issue (17%, down from 19% in 2022) and 22% of companies fail to communicate the mental health training available to line managers.These findings are echoed across similar surveys of employees’ experiences, especially for men, who have historically found it more difficult to access mental wellbeing support. “It took me until my mid-20s to start to understand how to navigate those conversations,” says co-founder of The New Normal peer-to-peer support network, Benjamin May. “I grew up really working class. I was told to show strength. Then I began to explore my experiences, learn how to understand and articulate myself. If you keep holding things inside, then it will build up until you have no capacity left.”This interplay between social and cultural norms and employer intention and action was explored in Netherlands-based workplace training platform GoodHabitz’s engaging webinar, ‘Time to Thrive.’ Joining GoodHabitz HR director Sandrien Boogaard on the World Mental Health Day broadcast were Charlot Pagel, people and culture manager at Switzerland-headquartered outdoor clothing manufacturer, Mammut, Mar Casas, aeronautical psychologist at Spanish airline, Vueling Airlines, Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes, former Olympian and mental health inspiration, and host Aimee Clarke, editor-in-chief of Good0Habitz Studios.The pandemic, acknowledgement that at least one in five employees will be diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime, and the rising prevalence of burnout and stress – including while settling into new roles and lifestyles on assignments – means employees have higher expectations of their employers. That said, only 37% of the 20,000 employees GoodHabitz surveyed globally said they regularly discuss their wellbeing with their manager. This despite 78% saying a closer connection with colleagues and line managers would boost their wellbeing at work.“Now more than ever people need and expect mental wellness support from their employers,” said Aimee Clarke. “The goal is to raise the bar for workplace support, create positive culture change, improve personal wellbeing, organisational performance and productivity. Creating a workplace environment where your people feel it’s safe to open up is crucial for their wellbeing.”

Individual, team and organisation interventions

To create cultures where this can happen, Sandrien Boogaard said, “Wellbeing is a team sport. You need everybody to achieve results.” Yet as Dame Kelly Holmes pointed out: “It’s not easy, opening up. Is it going to show some kind of weakness?” Yet the reality is that mental wellness is everybody’s issue. “We all experience stress all the time, even though it is actually a mental health condition,” said Mar Casas.Sandrien Boogaard, who has worked with some of the world’s largest brands in people and culture roles, noted how wellbeing is taking a central role in organisations since the pandemic. “This is a wonderful movement. However, it’s also fair to say that there is an increase in sickness through mental health, which is very concerning. Employees also indicate that they don’t feel comfortable to open up at work.”A good starting point to address this dislocation between employee needs and what employers currently offer is to ‘humanise’ workplaces. This means recognising that employees are people with lives beyond work. “Events outside work influence your mental health,” said Sandrien Boogaard. “There is no stop button you can press when you walk into the office. You bring your sadness with you.”After acknowledging external stress, life events like relationship breakdowns and grief in people’s everyday lives, the second step is normalising conversations about mental health. “Having a socially supportive environment where you feel able to at least share ‘I’m not having my best day today’ is a wonderful thing,” continued Sandrien Boogaard.Describing GoodHabitz’s “individual, team and organisation” (ITO) approach, she added: “Wellbeing is a team sport so it’s something everybody can do. We can all look out for our colleagues with empathy and openness on an individual and team level. Managers too can have a conversation in regular one-to-ones around general wellbeing.”At the organisation level, “At GoodHabitz, we state that ‘everybody deserves a coach’”. It provides an employee assistance programme and partners with OpenUp so its people can access a coach whenever they need, without requiring HR or managers’ permission. Leadership from the top – especially given CCLA’s finding that fewer CEOs are championing the issue – is also critical for change. “Role models who open up can encourage others to do the same and is really powerful,” added Sandrien Boogaard, before handing over to veteran of the British Army, Dame Kelly Holmes, whose testimony is particularly relevant in the workplace context.

Changing mindsets around mental wellbeing

A well-known, high-achieving athlete, Dame Kelly Holmes is candid about her own experiences living with mental health issues. To help shift the conversation in organisations, she shared her story in the GoodHabitz webinar. “I think there’s a misconception that people that you see in the public eye - people like your boss who’s got a bigger job than yours, or somebody who you’re inspired by – don’t suffer with their mental health,” began Dame Kelly Holmes, underlining the importance of storytelling to mental wellbeing. “I hope that by telling my story, it’ll inspire you to realise that it’s about being human, about connecting, communicating and having the confidence to be you.“On the face of it, I’m this champion and everything’s perfect. The smiles you see as you cross the line, the flags flying and medals around the neck. But during my athletics career, I suffered hugely with my mental health.” In a situation that many at every stage of their career will be able to relate to, Dame Kelly Holmes went on. “I had ambition, I had hope, but I was also suffering a lot from identity crisis and from people believing I was something different to who I actually was; from me putting pressure on myself to prove I could be the best at everything I did. I put myself through challenge and mental trauma to try and reach everyone else’s expectations as well as mine.”This pressure to perform and not being able to communicate, share and receive the right support for what was going on below the surface ended in a breakdown. “When I was 33 and preparing for the World Championships in Paris, I had what we all know as a breakdown. I was sitting on the floor absolutely screaming inside, thinking that I don’t want to be here, becoming at that time a self-harmer. I didn’t know who I was because this wasn’t who I thought I was. I thought I was strong and powerful. I was a PT instructor in the army. I’m an Olympian. How can I be the shell of myself?“When I had professional burnout, it was because I had this narrative in my head that I had to keep going. I had to prove to everybody I deserved the position I had. But at the end of it all, I was just a human being, just one person who strived to be the best version of herself, but I put all these external pressures on me.“At some point, there is a breaking point when your mind doesn’t get help. So many people go through life hiding their feelings for fear of judgement. Maybe feeling embarrassed. Maybe thinking you don’t want to worry other people. But why should you suffer in silence? The best thing that’s ever happened to me is when I started to tell people my story and get help. It’s not easy opening up. But it’s a strength to be open and transparent. It doesn’t stop you being a successful person.”This message is a powerful one. People drive companies forward. Therefore, recognising every aspect of our humanity, including the many life events that impact our wellbeing, investing in and equipping individuals, teams and organisations to do this is critical if we are to improve outcomes and quality of life for everyone.

---

Read the latest issue of Think Global People magazine. Download your copy here.

Find out more about the Think Global People and Think Women community and events.

---

Subscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all the latest international assignments and global mobility news.Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.

©2024 Re:locate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.