In a recent survey by Gi Group India, a leading human capital solutions and services provider, the state of mental health in Corporate India was discussed. The study was titled ‘All in the Mind: the state of mental health in Corporate India’ and highlighted the role an individual’s workplace plays in causing, furthering, and perpetuating mental illness.
The sample size of the survey was divided into two prominent categories: employees and employers. 1088 employees and 368 employers from leading small, medium, and large-scale businesses based out of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Pune took part in the survey.
The report included inputs from industry experts. The report kept in mind the various stakeholders of the organisation: employees, employers, and the human resource department.
The pandemic has brought to light the importance of work-life balance more than ever. Topics of mental health, well-being, and awareness.
Marcos Segador Arrebola, Managing Director, Gi Group said, “It is clear that the pandemic has increased the recognition as well as receptivity of mental health issues in our country specifically in the corporate sector. Being one of the world’s largest staffing groups and an integral part of Corporate India, we believe that shining light on a nebulous, but critical problem must concern us beyond business as usual. Through the study, All in the Mind: The state of mental health in Corporate India’, we have set out to give shape to the seemingly amorphous entity. As an organization committed to its ethics, Gi Group wishes to focus on a formidable issue that concerns the nation, and the world, and look at possible solutions.”
Key Findings
What is one of the leading causes of mental health issues in employees? Most (77%) employers feel it is due to the long working hours. However, 79% of the employees pointed out that key leaders in the management are to be blamed for worsening mental health conditions in corporates. There was clearly a miscommunication here. The areas that lead to the highest amount of stress are anxiety over career growth (34%), work-related stress (42%), and work-life balance (49%).
The report pointed out that only a few of the respondents were able to keep their mental health in check. 21% of the respondents suffered due to reduced salaries. Whereas 29% of the respondents suffered due to extensive work hours.
The employers did acknowledge the importance of mental health in organisational growth. However, a small number of employers (30%) believed that it has no impact on the growth or performance in an organisation.
Organisational policies lacked a functional structure that could address mental health issues. Only 14% of the surveyed had proper policies in place to serve mental health issues in the office. A layer of informal conversation however was seen around mental health. 54% of the people surveyed acknowledged that they dealt with mental health concerns in an informal way. A lot of organisations are now opening up to the idea of mental health and are sensitising people around the same.
The top sectors of mental health awareness were noted in IT/ITes ( 64%) and BFSI (57%). The lowest-performing sectors were FMCG (50%) and the Automobile (53%) industry.
Cities like Chennai and Bangalore performed better than other Indian cities in terms of mental health awareness. Delhi NCR was at the lowest in terms of mental health awareness.