Happy Minds 2.0: A Mental wellbeing initiative

Mental wellness is a state where your mind is in proper order and functioning. If you are positive, happy, able to control your thoughts, emotions, and behavior, then you are mentally well. The word wellness not only describes your internal elements, but it can also refer to a multidimensional, personal, and holistic view of health and well-being.

Recently you observed world mental health day on October 10, and its theme was declared by World Health Organization as "Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority". In order to achieve this goal, many businesses adopt strategies to promote mental wellness. Are you aware of a firm called Proctor and Gamble (P&G)? If yes, well and good. If not, here's a brief description. This firm is an American consumer goods giant belonging to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, which delivers hygiene and personal care products.

What is "Happy Minds 2.0"?

The firm(P&G) announced the next version of "Happy Minds" as "Happy Minds 2.0". Here, the firm shifts its focus from mental health to mental wellness.

Initially, through mental health, they recognize the symptoms of distress, spread awareness, and support their employees. Also, with the help of monthly webinars with experts, the firm emphasizes general awareness of mental health and the breakdown of mental stigmas.

For mental well-being, the firm focuses on counseling services, preventive mental health diagnosis, and leadership training to recognize mental well-being. It identifies the changes that take place by means of indicators within groups at the workplace and the impact of flexible working systems on employees.

Why mental wellness?

A person with sound mental health can perform well and enjoy day-to-day life efficiently and effectively. Multiple factors affect mental wellness, such as biological factors, life experiences, and socio-environmental factors. Now, why do you need mental wellness? Because through it, you will realize your capabilities, set and achieve your goals, manage stress, reduce hardships, and handle challenges. Also, you can enjoy a physically active life and connect with people for positive relationships.

Key areas of the upgraded version.

You are aware of the fact that every initiative has a specific objective and achievable goals. Similarly, this initiative has some predefined key areas, such as:

·       Proactive Interventions: The firm has flexible policies, a concept of 'pause and recharge week' to reduce stress, and creates 'no meeting zones' in which employees have more time for themselves and their personal needs. Here you will find expert support for employees to manage their health, nutrition, parenting, and social relationships.

·       Creating Safe Spaces: It is a holistic environment where workers may feel comfortable discussing, speaking up, and sharing their ideas, thoughts and feedback. The "We care Helpdesk" supports employees based on their mental well-being and the amount of time required for better results.

·       Manager capability to tackle bias: The firm empowers the manager cum counselor to identify the mental well-being within the group, between two groups, and in the whole firm by a proactive approach. Here you notice that managers have a specialized toolkit and training for measuring the effectiveness of each employee.

·       Enablers of mental well-being: To increase the efficiency of the initiatives, the company provides one-to-one counseling sessions for employees. They can choose to receive expert counseling via teleconsultation or in-person at the workplace.

Other aspects

There is a very common proverb that one size does not fit all, and you should be aware of this. Similarly, the firm has developed a policy framework to formulate "Happy Minds 2.0" for its employees. Also, they are aware of the fact that if employees are happy and healthy, they will definitely bring their best to work.

"We believe our employees are our most valuable asset and we truly care for them and their families. We have undertaken deliberate efforts to prioritize their health and well-being, which is yielding visible results"

Srinivas P.M, head-HR, P&G India & Sub-continent.

The CEO acknowledges employees as assets and mental wellness as a short-term investment to prevent attrition and increase productivity. Overall, P&G India has made progress in mental wellness among their employees. Their employees feel more empowered and aware. Also, it helps them to feel more comfortable and open in talking about any subject.

Conclusion

The world is living through multiple changes at different levels at a fast pace. Or you can say that changes are as fast as the flip of a coin. In such an environment, employee engagement and job satisfaction is the primary area of concern. Like Proctor and Gamble, many other firms also work on mental wellness. For example, Accenture has "Employee Assistance Programme", Thoughtworks has "Do with Compassion" project, InMobi has "21-Day leave" for well-being, along with yoga and sessions with psychologists, Intuit has two programs one is "Well-Mind" program, the other is "Well-being for Life" program, and CSS Corporation has "Round the clock employee assistance".

Here you can understand the core idea behind the whole initiative and the different modes of operating or implementing the process of mental wellness.

Way forward

Your mind is one of the most powerful organs in the body. It controls the behavior and functionality of all other organs. If they become unstable, they disrupt the entire functioning of your body. Both physiological and emotional health is essential for success in different phases of life.

People should be aware of the implications of mental well-being and be motivated to keep their minds healthy on a similar note as they maintain physical health. Mental and physical health are inseparable, and if both are in harmony, we can say that a person is healthy and well. It is wise to seek assistance from experts if the balance of psychological and physiological well-being falters. At the end of the day, only well-being can lead to both individual and organizational growth and development simultaneously.