PRESS RELEASE

Marketers urged to lead charge in fight against mental health stigma

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing is urging employers to implement measures to protect staff mental health as government’s furlough scheme nears end
• The appeal comes after CIM and Hays found almost half of employers failed to provide any form of wellbeing support to marketing teams during first lockdown

In the run up to World Mental Health Day, the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has called upon the marketing community to lead the charge against workplace mental health stigma, amid concerns of a “mental health pandemic”.

While approximately 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem each year, a survey by the Office for National Statistics shows the number of adults in Britain with depression has doubled during the pandemic; with new sweeping restrictions adding to the psychological strain endured by many since the outbreak of COVID-19.

With the government’s furlough scheme coming to an end on October 31 and many employees again being advised to work from home, the coming weeks will prove a difficult transition for many.

For marketers, the consequences of social isolation and enforced absence from the office has had a severe impact on mental wellbeing. Research from recruitment experts Hays into the views of 16,200 people, revealed half (49%) of professionals across the UK stated that their employer did not provide any wellbeing support during the first lockdown with over three-quarters of professionals (77%) say their employer has a responsibility to look after their wellbeing. 

Ashley O’Neill, Yorkshire board member at the Chartered Institute of Marketing and UK marketing manager at Proactis, said: “Organisations need to start normalising mental health and positioning it as something to be managed like physical health – without judgement or stigma.

“This change needs to be more than a short-term campaign or sporadic email, it needs real long-term cultural change, and who better to spark this and lead the charge than the very people who utilise their skills daily to influence people, change mindsets and communicate messages – marketers.”

Despite being the leading cause of sickness related absence from work, with 70 million working days and approximately £2.4bn lost annually, there is still a stigma attached to the topic of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

In response, CIM have issued five of O'Neill's key points where marketers can utilise their skills to lead the charge in the fight against workplace mental health stigma:

1. Looking after employers’ wellbeing should be a long-term initiative for any organisation. Marketers are well versed in devising strategies. Use these skills to layout objectives and signpost a plan of action for achieving them, using your analytical and communication skills to build a case for investment
2. In the same way you would take the time to learn about your customers, talk to your colleagues to better understand their thoughts on the company’s culture and internal attitudes to mental health. Share these findings to highlight issues and the actions being taken – doing this will help lay the foundations for a business-wide change in attitude
3. The best way to destroy mental health taboo is to undermine it through education. As professionals in communication, marketers are well placed to work with HR/Learning and Development departments to help develop and shape training content that is carefully tailored to the appropriate audience and communicated effectively to engage them
4. Marketers have a wealth of expertise managing campaigns and this is exactly what is called for to help change an internal culture. Use your marketing toolkit to make mental health part of your organisation’s rhetoric. Get involved and lead the charge
5. Don’t forget your own team in your efforts. Make yourself approachable, discuss people’s mental wellbeing in 1-2-1 meetings, and if you are comfortable doing so, share your own experiences. Most importantly, demonstrate a commitment to wellbeing by taking care of your own.

O’Neill concludes: “As marketers, we have the skills to help our organisations break through the stigma that all too often surrounds the topic of mental health, not only with our direct teams, but throughout the wider business.

“Marketers understand people and how best to get messages across, making them the perfect people to lead the mental health debate.”

For COVID-19 advice and support for CIM members visit: https://www.cim.co.uk/membership/advice-and-support-coronavirus/

-ENDS- 

Notes to editors

For media enquiries

For further media information, please contact Pelican Communications on david.anthony@pelicomms.co.uk or 01457 820807

For CIM enquiries

James Delves
CIM Head of PR and External Engagement
james.delves@cim.co.uk  

Corinne Lavictoire  
PR Executive
corinne.lavictoire@cim.co.uk

About CIM

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the world’s leading professional body for marketing, with over 28,000 members worldwide, of which there are over 2,500 Chartered Marketers. CIM’s mission is to create a marketing advantage for the benefit of professionals, business and society with a focus on export, data and skills. CIM believes marketing is the critical factor in driving long term organisational performance.

CIM provides members and organisations with five key benefits: 

• Partnership – CIM is a professional and organisational partner to support performance and career development
• Education – CIM allows individuals and businesses to continuously upskill
• Information – CIM keeps members up to date with the latest marketing thinking, and keeps organisations at the forefront of practices
• Connection – CIM provides access to services, expertise and peers
• Recognition – CIM is the global benchmark of professional competence

For more than 100 years, CIM has supported, represented and developed marketers, teams, leaders and the profession as a whole. There are 120 CIM study centres in 32 countries and exam centres in 132 countries worldwide. In the last year, over 7,500 people registered at over 230 UK CIM events. Find out more about CIM by visiting www.cim.co.uk.