More than 80 CEOs and leaders of companies, including Fortune 500 businesses and high-growth startups, have signed a pledge to continue prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.
The pledge – organised by Thrive, the behaviour change technology company founded by Arianna Huffington, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) – has brought together over 80 companies to sign a pledge committing to continue prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of their employees through the uncertain times that lie ahead.
“We created the pledge out of concerns we are hearing that as the economic times are getting tougher, the advances made during the last two years in support of employee mental health and wellbeing could be lost,” said Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive. “What makes it more urgent is that, as Karen Lynch (CEO of CVS Health, a signatory to the pledge) put it, mental heath is ‘the collateral damage of the pandemic.’ Which is especially troubling because it’s in challenging times that we most need to double down on our mental resilience. And we deliberately included both Fortune 50 companies and high-growth startups, as hiring freezes and other cost-cutting measures are already happening across the board.”
SUPPORTING EMPLOYEE MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING
“Now more than ever, employers must commit and provide adequate resources to support their employees’ successful mental health and wellbeing,” added Johnny C Taylor, Jr, SHRM President and CEO. “It’s not just good for their businesses – it’s also the right thing to do. I’m proud to join Thrive in bringing together these business leaders to reaffirm their promise to keep employee mental health and wellbeing a priority.
“SHRM will continue using our platform with over 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries to drive greater awareness of this critical issue and the pledge; as well as sharing best practices among signatories through an annual report highlighting the progress made on this commitment.”
THE PLEDGE
The pledge, outlined in a full-page ad in The New York Times today, states:
“The times are uncertain. Our commitment to mental health is not. In the past two years, employee wellbeing and mental health have moved to the centre of the business agenda. Business leaders have seen firsthand the growing mental health crisis and responded to the urgent need for employers to support the wellbeing of their employees.
As we continue through challenging times, we reaffirm that employee mental health and wellbeing remain as essential as ever. That’s why we’ve come together to pledge to continue prioritising the wellbeing and mental health of our employees through the uncertain times that lie ahead — and maintain our investments and commitments in this critical area. Because it’s in times like these that organisations most need to nurture their collective resilience.
We’ve made tremendous progress in understanding the importance of employee well-being and mental health. If we’re going to set our employees and our companies up for long-term success, we need to build on the lessons of the past two years.”
COMPANY SIGNATORIES
Signatories include the following business leaders and companies:
Public Companies
- Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer, Accenture
- Jennifer Hanson, Chief Human Resources Officer, EVP of People & Culture, Accolade
- Gloria Chen, Chief People Officer & EVP, Employee Experience, Adobe
- Melissa Anderson, SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer, Albemarle
- Gail Boudreaux, President & CEO, Anthem
- Melissa Arnoldi, EVP & Chief Customer Officer, AT&T Consumer
- Tristram Roberts, Group Human Resources Director, Barclays
- Betty Thompson, Chief People Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Rick Badgley, EVP, Chief People & Administrative Officer, Brinker International
- Cynthia Ryan, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Cigna
- Francine Katsoudas, EVP & Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer, Cisco
- Nancy H. Brown, Chief Culture & Engagement Officer, CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)
- Lisa Chang, Global Chief People Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
- Laurie Havanec, EVP & Chief People Officer, CVS Health
- Silvio Amorosino, Chief Human Resources Officer, North America, Danone
- Anna Moulton, Chief Human Resources Officer, Dentsu
- Melanie Collins, Chief People Officer, Dropbox
- Perry Stuckey, SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer, Eastman
- Laura Fuentes, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Hilton
- Elaine Arden, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, HSBC
- Gil Dennis, COO, Indigo
- Peter Fasolo, EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer, Johnson & Johnson
- Tracy Layney, SVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Levi Strauss & Co.
- Susan Gelinas, SVP, People & Culture, lululemon
- Ty Breland, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Marriott International
- Michael Fraccaro, Chief People Officer, Mastercard
- Susan Podlogar, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, MetLife
- Kathleen Hogan, EVP & Chief People Officer, Microsoft
- Nancy Phillips, EVP, Chief People Officer, Paramount
- Payal Sahni, Chief People Experience Officer, EVP, Pfizer
- Daniela Seabrook, Chief Human Resources Officer, Philips
- Roseann Lynch, Chief People Officer, Ralph Lauren
- Brent Hyder, President & Chief People Officer, Salesforce
- Natalie Bickford, EVP, Chief People Officer, Sanofi
- Sabine Bendiek, Chief People & Operating Officer, SAP
- Jacqui Canney, Chief People Officer, ServiceNow
- Christopher Krusmark, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Sleep Number
- Dimitra Manis, EVP, Chief Purpose Officer, S&P Global
- Lauren Duprey, Chief Human Resources Officer, Takeda
- Deeanne King, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, T-Mobile
- Nikki Krishnamurthy, Chief People Officer, Uber
- Holly May, EVP & Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance
- Donna Morris, EVP, Chief People Officer, Walmart
- Brian ‘Skip’ Schipper, EVP & Chief People Officer, Yext
Private Companies & Non-Profit Organisations
- Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Chief Medical Officer for Prevention, American Heart Association
- Nicolle Pangis, CEO, Ampersand
- Doug Dennerline, Executive Chairman & CEO, Betterworks
- Jim Clark, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Pedro Franceschi, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Brex
- Sherrie Sage Schwartz, Chief Human Resources Officer, Creative Artists Agency
- John Adcock, SVP, People Operations, Care.com
- Shishir Mehrotra, Co-Founder & CEO, Coda
- Karen Bennett, EVP & Chief People Officer, Cox Enterprises
- Edweena Stratton, Chief People Officer, Culture Amp
- Stephani Long, Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte LLP
- Srini Rao, Global Vice Chair, GDS / Ashu Rathor, Global Tax GDS Leader, EY
- Padmasree Warrior, Founder & CEO, Fable
- Tony Bates, Chairman & CEO, Genesys
- Cesar Carvalho, Co-Founder & CEO, Gympass
- Samara Jaffe, Co-Founder & GM, HR Transform
- Saydeah Howard, Partner & Chief Talent Officer, IVP
- Martin Whittaker, CEO, Just Capital
- Tom Nolan, CEO, Kendra Scott
- Sue Biglieri, COO & CFO, Kleiner Perkins
- Cara Brennan Allamano, Chief People Officer, Lattice
- David Ebersman, Co-Founder & CEO, Lyra Health
- Eric Minvielle, VP, People & Organization, Mars
- Alyson Watson, Founder & CEO, Modern Health
- Eric Severson, EVP, Chief People & Belonging Officer, Neiman Marcus Group
- Meg Donovan, Chief People Officer, Nexthink
- Maxine Carrington, SVP & Chief People Officer, Northwell Health
- Tom Hale, CEO, Oura
- Kate Chhabra, Partner & CFO, Owl Ventures
- Tony Jamous, Founder & CEO, Oyster
- Greg Till, EVP, Chief People Officer, Providence
- Rahul Vohra, Founder & CEO, Superhuman
- Aron Ain, Executive Chairman & CEO, UKG
- Jean-Rene Zetrenne, Chief People Officer, UTA
- Janelle Aaker, Chief Equity & People Officer, Vancity
- Traci Dunn, Chief Human Resources Officer & Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, VillageMD
- Roberto Ortiz, Co-Founder & CEO, Welcome
To join the pledge, or learn more, click here.
Nine out of 10 employers are increasing investment in mental health programmes, according to a new study. Click here to read more.
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