“Not acknowledging that millions are dealing with mental health conditions is costing an enormous amount both in terms of dollars and cents and, more importantly, people's lives."
Arianna Huffington
Mental Health at Work Mini-Conference, May 2018
"I personally would like to thank Mind Share Partners for all of your support of this ERG and community from the very beginning when we were unsure, driven, and quite a bit scared on launching something that would make us so vulnerable. You provided resources and insight that gave us direction, hope, and reminded us that what we were creating would matter to our peers. To which, you were right. I'm thankful for Mind Share Partners, what you stand for and all that you're creating in this new area of diversity, inclusion, and belonging."
"After the Mind Share Partners conference, we created our own Mental Health Fund, since our health insurance excludes it, and talked about it so our team knew we had their back and they'd be covered for emergency care for suicidal thoughts, etc.
It's a start. Stigma runs deep. It's good that [Mind Share Partners] is helping workplaces talk about it!"
Just launched! Join our Mind Share Partners Institute certificate program.
Just launched! Join our Mind Share Partners Institute certificate program.
. Case Study .
Neustar
Industry: Information Technology
Size: 2,000 employees
Location: U.S., Europe, Latin America, India
Time frame: August 2020 - November 2020
Offerings:
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Executive Team session
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Extended Leadership Team session
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Certification of HR Team through Mind Share Partners Institute
Result highlights:
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92% of Neustar leaders had a better understanding of their role of a leader in supporting mental health at work.
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100% of Neustar HR team members had the knowledge, skills, and strategies to create a culture of support for mental health at Neustar.
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100% of Neustar HR team members were more likely to take action on programs, initiatives, or other activities related to creating a healthy workplace culture for mental health.
About Neustar
Neustar is an information services and technology company and a leader in identity resolution providing the data and technology that enables trusted connections between companies and people at the moments that matter most. Neustar offers industry-leading solutions in Marketing, Risk, Communications, and Security that responsibly connect data on people, devices, and locations, continuously corroborated through billions of transactions. Neustar serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide, including 60 of the Fortune 100.
The Context
In early 2020, Neustar realized that the pandemic would challenge them in more ways than simply moving their workforce to a virtual environment. They received early feedback from employees that the new reality of an integrated work-home life was adding stress to an already pressure-laden situation.
In response, Neustar’s CEO drove the creation of the company’s COVID-19 Guiding Principles, one being “Be proactive about mental health.” In May 2020, Neustar also launched a Mental Health Framework to serve a foundation for their mental health strategy.
The framework, included four pillars Physical Health (e.g., walking challenges), Relaxation (e.g., meditation and yoga classes), Balance (e.g., time management and financial wellness seminars), and Getting Help (e.g., clinical psychologist-provided tips on recognizing warning signs).
While their mental health framework provided a strong start, Neustar knew they needed additional guidance, recognizing that embedding support for mental health into the day-to-day culture was something that would take time. As Neustar was creating their framework and searching for ongoing education and support, a psychologist recommended Mind Share Partners as a thought partner.
“Without a framework in place, plus the motivation and dedication to consistently address the topic of mental health, it will be one more box that gets checked with little long-term impact or value to your company.”
- Carey Pellock, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, Neustar
The Solution
Mind Share Partners partnered with Neustar to take a comprehensive approach to creating a supportive workplace culture for mental health. This included:
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Executive Team: Two-session series for their executive team to discuss key tools for leaders and align on mental health priorities.
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Extended Leadership Team: Session with Neustar’s extended leadership team to discuss why mental health matters at Neustar, the role of leaders, and opportunity areas as an input into Neustar’s Mental Health Framework.
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HR Team: A four-session Mind Share Partners Institute cohort for Neustar’s entire HR team.
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The Impact
Neustar has seen positive impacts across the sessions given the participation from executive and extended leadership, as well as their HR team.
Following the session with the extended leadership team, nearly 90% of leaders surveyed...
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Had a better understanding of their role of a leader in supporting mental health at work.
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Had a better understanding of mental health, stigma, and how they show up at work.
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Felt more comfortable talking about mental health at work.
Following the Mind Share Partners Institute sessions with Neustar’s HR team, 100% of Institute post-survey respondents:
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Were more likely to take action on programs, initiatives, or other activities related to creating a healthy workplace culture for mental health.
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Had the knowledge, skills, and strategies to create a culture of support for mental health at Neustar.
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Felt comfortable if a colleague or someone who worked for me approached me to talk about a mental health condition or symptom that they were struggling with.
“When leaders remove the stigma from the term mental health and focus on facts, we can significantly change how it is viewed within an organization. Stigma arises from a lack of awareness, education, perception, and a focus on mental illness vs. mental health. At Neustar, we strive to put health first.
Thanks to the guidance and support of Mind Share Partners, we are much better equipped to be proactive about mental health; and better prepared to identify the warning signs associated with declines in mental health.”
- Charlie Gottdiener, President and CEO, Neustar
“Having members of our staff—our peers—be vulnerable in front of others [helped] model behavior for those that aren't as comfortable with [talking about mental health]. This hopefully starts to show them that it's okay to be vulnerable because it will help show others that we all go through things and we can all support each other.”
- Neustar Extended Leadership Team training participant
“[The training was a] great approach to increase awareness and receive practical tools we can start using right away”
- Neustar Executive Team member
Looking Forward
Looking forward to 2021, Neustar will be focused on training managers, continuing to build out their mental health framework and strategy, and exploring an employee resource group for mental health.
Carey shared, “While we are still in early days, we have now established a cadence and cultural integration that will hopefully serve us well as we continue to tackle the pandemic head-on, and well into the future. We have work to do, but now with a baseline for how to move forward and train our teams, we are confident we will continue to make progress on this topic.”
Following the executive session, the firm’s senior most leaders were galvanized to create a safe and supportive environment for mental health, develop firm-wide norms to address underlying workplace stressors, and begin identifying concrete goals for supporting mental health.
“[Mind Share Partners] does a great job setting expectations, framing our path forward, sharing content, and leading our discussions. [They were] able to hold our team accountable by employing consistent follow up, easy interaction and specific instructions. And [they] specifically [have] allowed us to be vulnerable, creating a safe space for open dialogue and learning.
From our first interaction to our most recent, it has been nothing but an exceptional partnership.”
- Carey Pellock, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, Neustar
