A former Goldman Sachs executive has urged banks to disclose workplace mental health statistics by the end of the year in response to reports that major banks are forcing workers to return to the office.
Employer push back against remote and flexible working has become more prominent as companies with large offices try to justify the cost.
However, former managing director of global recruiting for Goldman Sachs Ian Dodd (pictured) has warned that “hard-line return-to-office mandates are the ‘nail in the coffin’” for employee mental health.
He dubbed the mental health services currently offered across big banks “ineffective”, calling them “marketing ploys”.
Benchmarking mental health
A 2023 report from CCLA Investment Management, which benchmarked workforce mental health at large global firms, found that 75 percent of the companies assessed had made formal commitments to flexible working. But just 26 percent explicitly linked the benefits of flexible working with supporting workplace mental health.
The report also indicated that employers need to do more to support mental health at work. The average company score for mental health was just 28 percent. This score was based on employer evaluations against 27 criteria covering management commitment to improving mental health, policies at the company, governance and management, leadership and innovation and performance reporting and impact.
An average score of 28 percent puts a large number of companies in the second to last tier for mental health performance. It indicates that companies have begun to formalise their approach to workplace mental health management and disclosure, but there is more work to be done.
This is despite 95 percent of the companies recognising mental health as “an important business concern”, according to the report.
Financial firms Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase are among the companies in tier 4 of the report’s benchmark.
Dodd urged banking sector employers to move towards newer mental health policies that are characterised by accountability. He also said that widespread disclosure of mental health statistics by large organisations would “incentivise them to start taking it seriously – and spark a shift in their outlook towards their staff”.
Dodd said return-to-office mandates are proof that large organisations, especially banks, are not taking the protection of their employees’ mental wellbeing seriously.
He said that such mandates “affect the mental health of their talented staff” and went on to suggest that employers should be held accountable for any potential harm.
He added: “The mental health services currently offered by these large banks are in most cases superficial – they side-step the real problems and needs and represent mere marketing ploys.
“Their offerings mostly comprise ineffective and adrift employee assistance programme (EAP) services, mental health first-aider courses that fail to address the root causes of harm to their employees, communications about the availability of limited on-site psychological professionals – despite the cultural barriers to uptake – and limitations to support available to employees through private health providers.
“They need to publish honest disclosures about the epidemiology of mental health conditions among their staff, the effectiveness of their support, and – most importantly – the performance of strategic leadership and cultural programmes in addressing their current lag.
“Mental health deserves to be, and should be, a top priority for these banks – their names, logos, and heritage no longer give them protection from scrutiny.”
Dodd has personal experience of the current mental health services deployed across big banks. In 2022, he filed a personal injury claim against Goldman Sachs for the effects he claims its culture had on his mental and physical health. A spokesperson for Goldman said: “We believe these claims are completely without merit.”
