Taking care of your mental health shouldn’t cost you a promotion

Although the industry is rife with competition, promotions are not always worth it if they’re costing you your mental health, say experts in Canadian Underwriter’s recent webinar, ‘What’s on your mind? A mental health check.’ 

And just as managers wouldn’t discount a candidate from a promotion for any physical illnesses, that consideration should also extend to those struggling with mental illness, webinar panellists said. 

Panellists responded to a question from a webinar attendee who said their workplace requires employees to be in the office regularly, which makes it challenging for someone to move up in the company if they’re absent from the workplace for any period while dealing with a mental health challenge.  

“How do you approach the subject or help people who are having issues with mental health and may miss out on promotion because of this?” the audience member asked via chat.  

“I think it comes down to the outcomes you want to drive, right?” says Neha Gupta, director of corporate strategy and customer experience at Allstate. “I understand you need to be in the office a certain number of days to be able to contribute and drive work. But what I would like us to consider is, if we are seeking promotions, at what cost?  

“What are you giving up? What is the tradeoff you’re making? Is it worth it in the end to get something when your well-being, whether it’s mental or physical, might be suffering?” 

P&C pros are suffering in silence largely due to the pressure to perform, finds CU‘s inaugural 2024 Mental Health Survey. Eight hundred and sixty-five P&C insurance professionals answered the survey, which was conducted last August, at the height of the country’s worst-ever season for natural catastrophes.   

A full 58% of industry professionals reported they hadn’t taken a single day off over a period of a year to address a mental health issue. Fourteen percent said they’d take one day off, and 16% said they’d taken two or three days off. 

Many verbatim survey responses highlighted “competition” and “promotion” as their reasons for not taking time off. One respondent simply said, “cutthroat industry,” when asked why they feel uncomfortable talking about mental health issues in the workplace. “Weakness would have an effect on partnership potential.” 

But leaders should consider the ways employees contribute without always meeting the in-office requirement, Gupta suggests. 

“We all need to drive results. We’re all looking at the bottom line. But what that might mean for each employee might be a bit different than the traditional norms that we have set up,” she says. 

For example, in her own workplace, Gupta is given flexibility to “[work] during the afternoon if I have an appointment in the day,” and enables her to prioritize her well-being when needed.  

“Promotions are great. We’re all very ambitious folks,” she says. “There’s a time for everything, and I do think that wellness is something we should prioritize as highly as our careers.” 

Employers should not be denying employees promotions based on their health status, says Christina Fuda, mental health training coordinator, communications and public affairs, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.  

Mental health in the workplace should be viewed in the same way as physical health, she says. 

“Imagine if it was a physical illness — we wouldn’t be asking that question,” Fuda says in response to the audience member’s question about promotion. “If that employee had to go off because they had a heart attack or they got cancer, would we be denying them a promotion because they needed some time to get well for a physical illness? 

“I think we forget that [our brain] is the most powerful organ we have. And that’s what mental illness is…It is your brain getting sick. And our brains are all going to get sick at some point in our lifetime, no different than other organs in your body.” 

All managers and leaders should be trained on and fully understand the connection between mental and physical health, says Tammie Kip, co-founder of FIHT (Friends of the Industry Healing Together) and past president of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association. 

Plus, she adds, it’s important for individuals to prioritize their well-being in and out of the workplace. “We all are juggling so many different things in our lives, and the thing that always falls short is taking care of ourselves,” she says.  

 

Feature image by iStock.com/maruco