10 October

This is Me talks to BNY's Hani Kablawi

This is Me collaborated on a conversation between Caroline Wright, CEO of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and Hani Kablawi, Head of International BNY and Executive Sponsor for HEART, BNY’s diverse abilities network.

Caroline: The Lord Mayor’s Appeal aims to find solutions for the most pressing societal issues in London and beyond, in order to create a better city for all.

Our pillars focus on an inclusive city, a skilled city, a fair city, and as we recognise World Mental Health Day, a healthy city through our This is Me campaign. Hani, how did BNY first become involved in This is Me?

Hani: BNY’s history with This is Me goes back over 8 years when the campaign was in its infancy.  We recognised the importance of open dialogue around mental health, and This is Me was the perfect way to help us on our journey.

We had access to resources and were able to demonstrate quick, visible impact through the green ribbon campaign. Since then, we have had a standing member on the This is Me SteerCo which has allowed us to give back and help shape the campaign advising how to grow and mature This is Me.

Caroline: We have ten measures of success on the This is Me journey, some being more challenging than others.  What has BNY’s experience of implementing the measures been like? 

Hani: There was never any doubt that we had senior level buy-in, in fact in our most recent global Town Hall our CEO spoke to the importance of good mental health.  Storytelling was perhaps one area we had to work harder at initially.

However, as people saw that they could tell their story and the feedback was always positive, it empowered us to progress from blogs to live stories and from there to films.  Ensuring you have a culture of psychological safety and mutual respect empowers colleagues to tell their story and for others to understand its ok to talk.

Caroline: We know that companies provide benefits packages for colleagues, but I am keen to know what BNY has done to shape positive mental health in the workplace beyond the standard benefits.

Hani: Understanding that our mental health can be impacted by life’s many changes has helped us shape how we support our colleagues.  For example, we have introduced a bereavement policy to provide added support at a time when people are struggling to come to terms with a loss.  As a global firm, we appreciate the challenge it can be for colleagues working in a different country from their families and so we have a ‘2 weeks work from anywhere’ policy.

In addition, we want to support colleagues who have caring responsibilities, so we have a Caregiver Leave policy where employees can take up to 10 paid days a year for planned or unplanned caring emergencies.  We now have a global network of almost 400 Mental Health Champions who are trained to look out for anyone struggling and signpost them to the right resources, including our Wellbeing Support clinicians.

Caroline: Is there anything in particular you are focusing on this World Mental Health Day?

Hani: We encourage a dialogue around wellbeing throughout the year, and World Mental Health Day gives us an opportunity to highlight our resources – including bitesize learning and personal resilience tools, manager training, and how employees can tap into our therapy and coaching benefits.

We’re fostering our sense of community around mental health – for example hosting small group ‘tea and talk’ sessions with our mental health champions and hosting a focussed conversation with our managers.

Caroline: Thanks for sharing so much about what you are doing at BNY Hani.  To close, any last thoughts?

Hani: It’s simply good business sense to create an environment where people feel welcome to bring their different perspectives to bear on solving problems, and where they feel treated fairly. By investing in the diversity of our people we help create a high-performing culture that drives positive commercial outcomes.

And we are committed to promoting a sense of belonging across our organization and supporting the wellbeing of our people so that they can do their best work, build great careers, and lead fulfilling lives. We know the mental health agenda will never be a ‘one and done’.

Accepting that there will be regional nuance to this topic in a global firm and providing the right support to our colleagues wherever they are will always be a priority for us.  We have made great steps already, and will continue to listen to our employees, work with our peers and ensure we support the mental wellbeing of all colleagues at BNY.

Learn more about This is Me here