When their world is better, they want to create a better world

Why we are prioritising employee wellbeing at IMI

With mental health now a mainstream issue globally, it was no surprise, when IMI surveyed its own people, that access to immediate mental health resources was their number one ask.

Supporting the whole person – and their family – is the aim of IMI’s new Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which launched globally at the beginning of June. This free, confidential programme provides short-term professional counselling for any work or personal issue. And an online resource hub with access to articles, checklists and advice on a wide range of topics around work, life, parenting, health and ageing is all part of the service.

“A programme like this with resources together in one place makes everything a little bit easier,” says Cassandra Perry, Head of Global Wellbeing & US Benefits, IMI Americas. “If you need a budget, it can help you create a budget. If you’re struggling with interacting and connecting with your teenage children, there are tools around that as well. And if you need help with your mental health, you can get on a call, you can even do it through live chat on your phone, and have access to a professional who can help you in whatever place you’re in.”

Why is employee wellbeing important?

When the mental health of employees takes a hit, so does the bottom line of a business, so prioritising employee mental health makes good financial sense. A recent World Health Organisation-led study showed an estimated return of £3.30 ($4) for every £0.82 ($1) invested in mental health support in the workplace.¹

“If you’re struggling at home, you’re going to bring those struggles to work, because your mind’s not going to be there,” Cassandra says. “Giving employees the tools and resources to thrive can reduce absenteeism, it can improve morale and it can make people overall more effective in life and at work.”

“When you overcome your challenges, your self-esteem goes up, your confidence levels go up. And that translates into every other aspect of your life,” she adds.

Having a good wellbeing programme for employees is a perfect fit with IMI culture, which values leadership with integrity. “Here, you’re a human being,” says Cassandra. “People see you and they hear you, and I think that makes a big difference.”

Completely confidential

IMI already provided an EAP in some regions before rolling it out globally. “In the first 10 days after we launched last month, we had 1,500 hits on the EAP site,” Cassandra says. “That was really encouraging to have 16 per cent of our population checking everything out.”

Whether service users want to email, text or phone the Freephone number to make contact, it’s an extremely accessible programme. But accessibility doesn’t guarantee uptake. Research shows that the biggest factor in someone’s decision to access a wellbeing programme for employees is whether or not their privacy and anonymity will be protected.

“I only get aggregate data, so everything about the programme is confidential,” says Cassandra. “We can see what different topics people are leveraging, but their privacy is protected: we can’t tell who’s leveraging it or where they live.”

How the wellbeing programme for employees works

One thing Cassandra can say, though, is how she’s used the service herself. “When my children left home, I had empty nest syndrome,” she says. “I called up and said: ‘Hey, just help me through this.’ A counsellor talked with me, pointed me to two articles and videos on the website, helped me connect all the dots and get through it.”

People ask for support with practical challenges too. “Parents coming back to the office from the Covid pandemic are finding a six- to eight-month waiting list for daycare. So someone from the EAP will call round different daycare facilities in their area to help them find a place for their children,” Cassandra says.

The EAP dovetails with existing wellbeing support. There’s a Mental Health First Aider team at IMI HQ in Birmingham, for example. A First Aider can now refer people to the global EAP for professional mental health help. Change Champions actively promote the EAP on IMI’s online networking platform Workplace. People can connect and chat on Workplace about wellbeing activities such as finance clinics, company challenges including 1,000 Random Acts of Kindness and organise around events like World Mental Health Day each October. It all adds up to a more collective approach.

Paying it forward

Ensuring that all employees feel valued and supported is central to IMI’s culture. Phil Clifton, Divisional Managing Director of IMI Hydronic Engineering and the executive sponsor of the company global wellbeing programme, worked with Cassandra on the EAP roll-out. “It’s important to recognise that all of us hit points in our life when we struggle,” he says. “It’s okay to not be okay at times. I once got the support that I needed through a similar programme. It really helped. Using a programme like this isn’t a sign of weakness, but of self-awareness and strength.”

Empowering people to resolve issues, then thrive, has a strong ripple effect and plays to the global engineering company’s better world ambitions.

“It gets people to a place where they want to give back,” Cassandra says. “When we’ve overcome challenges, our natural reaction as human beings is to think: ‘How can I make it better for the next person?’”

“If we can help our employees get to a place of winning, then they’re more open to creating a better world. When their world is better, they want to create a better world.”

SOURCE:

¹ World Health Organization. Mental health in the workplace. Retrieved 28 June 2022 https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/promotion-prevention/mental-health-in-the-workplace