A group of 13 first-year analysts at global investment bank Goldman Sachs recently published a survey online<\/a> detailing their gruelling experience at the firm. The results revealed an average of 95-plus hours a week, total dissatisfaction with their social lives (due to work), and a staggering 77 percent admitting to being a victim of workplace abuse.<\/p>\n It says a lot that these analysts are campaigning to \u201conly\u201d work past midnight for \u201ctruly urgent\u201d projects and to have a maximum 80-hour work week \u2014 still more than double the national average.<\/p>\n Of course, this scenario isn\u2019t representative of all teams with Goldman Sachs, and certainly isn\u2019t limited to one firm. The deep-rooted toxic work culture and the sentiment of earning that blockbuster paycheck is an inherent problem across financial services.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s not a comprehensive list, we\u2019ve looked at three areas where finance firms could make a significant impact in improving the lives and mental well-being of their employees.<\/p>\n Research by Deloitte (the world\u2019s largest professional services network) suggests that bucking these deeply-ingrained work cultures<\/a> will be very difficult since they\u2019ve got long, deep roots at these institutions.<\/p>\n The biggest challenge to protecting employee mental health is that it must come from the top, from those few who survived the sleepless nights, fractured relationships, and repeated burnout and bouts of depression. If they did it, the reasoning goes, so should those trying to follow in their footsteps.<\/p>\n Even if a directive comes from senior management to focus on mental health, employees still depend on their specific managers and leadership teams to put the hours into it \u2014 hours they probably don\u2019t have, because they\u2019re overworked.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to talk about striking a healthy work-life balance, but these messages have to be underpinned by tangible support services and a robust infrastructure if we are to address mental health issues meaningfully. These companies need to mean it<\/em>.<\/p>\n Many employees in financial services understand they\u2019re going in for a hard ride. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to put in long hours, work hard, grind, and climb a ladder \u2014 that\u2019s a brilliant driver for many people.<\/p>\n But workplace culture prevents employees from having healthy discussions about how tiring and hard it is. Across all industries, one-third of workers are concerned that they will face some kind of retaliation<\/a> for seeking mental help \u2014 the situation is even more dire in financial services.<\/p>\n A huge proportion of finance workers would never comment on how tired they were, or how outrageous a client was acting, or whether something was giving them anxiety. The reason? Fear of job security.<\/p>\n If we can transform the workplace into a safe zone where people can acknowledge and discuss these things in a constructive way, knowing they won\u2019t get fired or thrown off certain projects for talking about it, it helps the employees get weights off their chests, builds a sense of oneness and camaraderie, and helps the firm move forward.<\/p>\n Issues of diversity and inclusion are absolutely paramount in this conversation. It isn\u2019t easy to implement on a global scale, but if finance firms can demonstrate that the many contrasting needs of their employees (due to religion, beliefs, disability, and political views) are being met, it will distinguish itself and attract more talent that will build on this progress.<\/p>\n Policy around mental and physical health, communications, and work hours could also have a transformative impact on the day-to-day lives of workers. It\u2019s not the headline-grabbing changes we expect from today\u2019s media, but rather the planting of seeds that take root slowly, pushing out the toxic weeds.<\/p>\n Companies can also use their positive engagement with mental health as a competitive advantage over other firms and industries\u2014done correctly, this could be worth at least as much to new prospects as salary or benefits.<\/p>\n Addressing mental health doesn\u2019t even need to be an empathetic decision\u2014it can be a raw financial one. Research from Loch Associates<\/a> in the UK found that the average return on every \u00a31 spent on mental health was \u00a34.20. The CEO of Deloitte UK mirrored this sentiment, stating that, \u201cRecognizing that championing mental health and supporting employees makes good business sense and that inaction comes at a demonstrable cost.\u201d<\/p>\n We also cannot pretend that any change in these companies exists in a vacuum. If we protect employees by cutting hours, then the company can\u2019t deliver results in the expected timeframe of clients, so those expectations need to change. What if that opens them up to undercutting by competition?<\/p>\n It will be decades before today\u2019s entry-level bankers and accountants (with their new-age views on mental health and workplace culture) are at the helm as CEOs and decision-makers. But knowing that as many as 58% of business leaders<\/a> do not truly know what their responsibilities are with regard to employee mental health, we can\u2019t afford change to come so slowly.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/health1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAcknowledging the problem and its real effects<\/h2>\n
Ending the stigma around mental health discussion<\/h2>\n
Introducing and standing by the new policy<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/health2-1024x683.jpg\")
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