2021_Alabama_Grocer_Issue_3

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The grocery industry has a reputation for being one that requires long hours, “paying one’s dues,” people in the industry often talk about the grind operating a store requires. What advice would you give the grocery community on mental health? There are difficult challenges in many industries and with grocery, where that’s the culture and in many ways the history and managerial ethos, it’s that much more challenging. I do think it’s one where both for the safety and well-being and performance of the existing people in the industry, let alone attracting new employees going forward, it’s something where you really do have to take this serious. I don’t think that happens unless senior leadership steps up and says we think this is important. In many places it’s not the culture. That’s why it’s easier to enter the conversation with the business case I laid out earlier. Maybe bring in a speaker who can speak to their own experience, where you can have a conversation that doesn’t go straight at the culture and individuals behavior. And I do think it’s going to be challenging. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. If you really do want to alter it, you have to be serious about it. Culture change is hard and it starts at the top with commitment to do something about it. I think it’s also why the issue is more severe in these high stress, high performance macho cultures, whether that’s grocery, investment banking, law firms or other things. They have that culture, and mental health needs to be part of the conversation if they want to do something about it. So how can industry leaders do more on the mental health front? I think the most important thing from a senior business leader standpoint is the stigma one we’ve been talking about. You can’t have this conversation really and

What’s the business case for focusing on mental health?

In the sports world you see world class athletes talking all the time about having to be in the right mental frame to perform at their peak. There are athletes all the time talking about mental conditioning. If you are a world class athlete, you have physical trainers, but also mental ones to make sure you are in the condition to perform at your peak.

Even before the pandemic, it was clear that it is really like other health issues in your workforce. You’re much better off having a healthy workforce that can bring the full self to the workplace to contribute. When they’re out, or not operating at full capacity, that has major implications on the ability to do the job. There’s a large number of economics studies that show that the cost of mental health on health care expenses

and productivity for business is very high. It’s in the employer’s interest, if they can do something about it, to do something about it and to address it early. I do think when you look at the

studies the evidence is very clear. The challenge most employers have is they will acknowledge it, they will say they are already dealing with it, or there’s nothing they can do. Which isn’t true. Employers have a really important roles to address this issue. It’s not just the right thing to do from a human standpoint, but also a business one. In the business world praise of ideas like grit, or even hustle culture, are commonplace. How do you square up those ideas to your thoughts on mental health? I think grit is compatible with mental health. It’s really useful to have grit and determination and a willingness to commit to what you want to do. But if you’re a professional athlete and you pull your hamstring, it’s not about grit to keep playing. It’s in their interest to help you get better. Grit helps you get better quicker, but it isn’t just about playing through. The same thing is true in mental health. I think the business world is a little bit late to this game compared to how other sectors think about performance. If you’re in the entertainment world, it’s a much more common conversation because it’s often about creativity and performing your art. It’s a natural conversation in those circles.

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“Grit helps you get better quicker, but it isn’t just about playing through. ”

Business doesn’t think about mental health that way often enough. It’s something a mindset shift will help. It used to be only bad executives got coaches. Someone whose boss told them they aren’t performing the way they should so I’m going to get you a coach. Well today, if you don’t have a coach helping you, then the company isn’t investing in you, and you aren’t on the top of your game. So, it’s the same thing, perhaps even more so, in the business world where you’re using your brain, not your body. It’s completely aligned to say you want to have a top performance and have all the grit and resilience you can, so you need the support to make sure that’s the case to be in condition.

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