Need help? Call your boss

In today’s competitive world with umpteen opportunities, company managements are constantly on the look out for better tools to attract and retain employees,” says Archana Bisht, director of 1to1help, a pioneer in corporate counselling in India. With mounting levels of stress among employees, many companies are compelled to provide counselling. “Companies have only gone one step further from providing gymnasiums and sport facilities for recreation. Focussing on psychological needs is just an extension of the management’s attempt at enhancing their employees’ well-being,” according to Bisht.

Nevertheless, in India, people are reluctant to seek counselling, as there is a stigma attached to it, says Bisht. “People presume that only those who are mentally ill seek psychological help,” she elaborates, stressing on the need for a change in this mind-set. A thought echoed by Divyan George Varghese, a counsellor based in Chennai: “Despite the need for some help, very few people in India are open to counselling,” which he thinks must change.
In order to cater better to those who are reticent about seeking professional help, 1to1help, which has a tie-up with nearly 60 companies across India, provides online and telephonic counselling apart from the face-to-face counselling. Interestingly, says Bisht, the fact that their target group is net-savvy — a majority of them approach them online — shows that technology in some ways is able to bridge this gap.

Karuna Bhaskar and Bisht, both directors of 1to1help, have years of experience in counselling. They’ve noticed that a majority of the stress experienced by employees at the many MNCs that they offer their services to stems from a lack of work-life balance. Bisht says,
“Only 15 to 18% of cases are work-related, the rest are essentially related to problems in their personal lives.”

Loneliness, discords in pre-marital/marital relationships and break-ups seem to be the crux of the problem, according to Bisht.

“A majority of work-related stress, too, is a result of strained relationships at the workplace,” chips in Bhaskar. Apart from that, the pressure to grow quickly, insecurity, financial commitments, long working hours form the bulk of reasons for many employees. It was only during the economic recession that problems on the work-front became a common irritant, they say.

Contemporary urban realities such as nuclear-setups replacing the joint family system, leading to bonds being diluted and consequent loneliness seems to top the list of problems for many people. “More so in the case of those migrating to other cities or posted out of country,” says Bisht. “Acclimatising to the new place, culture and weather takes its toll on people,” she adds. A problem that Prashant A encountered when he moved to a Nordic country a year ago. “Moving out of your comfort zone and shifting base to another country, even if temporarily, can be taxing and intimidating,” says Prashant. The symptoms of these are are fairly common among many of his colleagues, he adds.

Varghese observes that no other Indian generation has faced these kind of professional pressures. With extended working hours that stretch to a killing 15-16 hours, there is tremendous pressure on an individual. Additionally, even in the last generation, he says, gender roles were clearly defined. “But with the lines blurring in this age of dual-career corporate couples, a simmering tension is common,” he says. “Whatever be the cause of stress, it has a domino effect — when one area of your life is off-balance, it affects the other and that ultimately affects your productivity”. And stress on the personal front ultimately impacts your work and vice-versa, which is why, says Bisht, “companies themselves seem to be coming forward to bear the expenses of providing counselling for their employees.”