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* Financial executives open up about personal struggles
* Companies step up support during COVID-19 crisis
* Help not always reaching frontline, junior staff
(Adds KPMG UK chairman resignation)
By Iain Withers
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - From a burned-out bank boss to
call centre workers isolated at home, the financial sector is
suffering a surge in mental health issues exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the industry's cut-throat reputation, senior bankers
have responded to the extra strain by rolling out additional
help and opening up about their own vulnerabilities.
"It's okay to feel overwhelmed by what life is throwing at
me and mine," wrote Susan Revell, deputy chair of the $41
trillion asset Bank of New York Mellon's Europe, Middle East and
Africa business.
In a handwritten note Revell, along with other BNY
colleagues, shared personal experiences with the institution's
48,500 staff. She juggles work with caring for elderly relatives
and other family struck with ill health and redundancy.
"You can't pour from an empty cup," Revell told Reuters. "If
I'm not in good shape then I can't support either my family or
my colleagues."
Her note encouraged colleagues from Brazil to Hong Kong to
share their own stories and advice.
While banks have for several years been paying greater
attention to wellbeing, new initiatives from free therapy to
online yoga have proliferated during the pandemic - though they
are not always reaching junior staff.
In England, a major global banking centre, as many as 10
million people will need new or additional mental health
support, The Centre for Mental Health charity says.
SPOTTING SIGNS
One high-profile bank boss to open up was digital lender
Monzo's founder Tom Blomfield who found managing a fast-growing
start-up too much once COVID-19 piled the stress on. The
35-year-old stepped down as CEO last year to become president
and left completely in January.
"On the Friday that London went into lockdown, three
separate funds phoned me up and said: 'Look, this investment's
not going ahead,'" he recounted to The Guardian.
"I was stressed, definitely. I suffered anxiety that
impacted my sleep. Did I border on depression at times? I don't
know ... There's this myth of the superhero founder who sleeps
four hours a night and reads 500 books a year and is up hiking
before dawn kind of garbage. If it's true, I've never met that
person."
Helping to reduce stigma, other executives to share their
battles in recent years include Lloyds CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio
who took leave for stress-induced insomnia in 2011 and former
Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Gadhia who had post-natal
depression.
"Constantly talking about this helps to make it a safe
environment to bring issues up," said Helen Cook, chief HR
officer at NatWest where colleagues at all levels have shared
and offered support among themselves.
Despite progress, charities and unions say employers must
make extra effort to look out for staff.
Picking up on signs is hard with homeworking, so banks
including Goldman Sachs and Lloyds have staff on the lookout
virtually.
"We train our mental health first aiders to look out for
body language cues," said Goldman Sachs executive director Beth
Robotham, who has spoken publicly about her own past anxiety
attacks.
"In a virtual environment, lots of the same rules apply, but
it's more difficult - for instance it's much easier to lose eye
contact. But you may notice the person opts out of being on
screen and you're not sure why, or they seem heavily distracted
when they weren't before, or are showing up late."
Recruiters say mental health is now more likely to come up
in hiring discussions, but candidates are still rarely open
about existing conditions.
"Examples from leaders are hugely influential and helpful.
However, people who are still en route to proving themselves in
their career are hesitant to do the same," said Sophie Scholes,
a partner at headhunter Heidrick & Struggles.
"This particularly applies to recruitment processes where
candidates are nervous to self-identify and mostly would choose
not to."
Other evidence suggests old attitudes die hard in top ranks.
Bill Michael, UK chairman of big four accountancy firm KPMG,
resigned on Friday after an investigation was launched into
comments first reported by the Financial Times newspaper that he
told consultants to "stop moaning" about the pandemic.
"I am truly sorry that my words have caused hurt amongst my
colleagues," he said in a statement.
'ZOOM FATIGUE'
Among the raft of new initiatives, NatWest has seen 5,500
staff sign up for online therapy courses just six months since
launch.
Lloyds has signed up 13,000 people to meditation app
Headspace, while Monzo offers online yoga and started classes on
meditation and managing stress this year.
BNY has increased leave for carers and introduced virtual
"tea and talk" sessions.
"Every business in the world has now got mental health on
its boardroom agenda. I never thought it would happen this
quickly," said Poppy Jaman, chief executive of the City Mental
Health Alliance.
"As we face a global mental health crisis, 2021 must be the
year that every business takes action."
The limitations of online support have, however, been
exposed during the pandemic.
"Banks like other sectors have done what they can to
mitigate the impact of loneliness by setting up things like pub
quizzes, yoga and meditation," said Paul Barrett, head of
wellbeing at the Bank Workers Charity (BWC).
"But I'm not sure they work as well as they might because of
'Zoom fatigue'. If you're using a screen all day, do you then
want to use it for a coffee morning?"
Set up in 1883 to support former and current bank staff, the
BWC has seen a spike in calls to its helpline since the
pandemic, especially for financial and relationship counselling.
Not all have accessed help, however.
Trade union Unite recently supported a bank call centre
worker who suffered from anxiety and said he was laid off for
taking longer than the one minute gap allowed between calls.
The union was unable to challenge the decision as the person
had been there less than two years, Unite's national officer
Dominic Hook said. Reuters was unable to verify the case.
"My fear is so many people don't see the support available
and even if they do, they don't have the time to access it,"
Hook said.
Banks contacted by Reuters said mental health challenges
should not hold people back in careers and support was
accessible 24/7 through employee assistance helplines.
One of the most crucial messages is to tell people they can
take time off or work flexible hours if struggling, said Emma
Mamo, head of workplace wellbeing at mental health charity Mind.
"Providing staff with some downtime to rest and recuperate
is absolutely vital and can prevent worsening stress, poor
mental health, sickness absence, and even falling out of the
workplace altogether in the long run," she said.
(Reporting by Iain Withers;
Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
