This time last year, with World Mental Health Day approaching, employees had been working from home for seven months and we were hearing ongoing feedback around fatigue and the challenges of creating boundaries between personal and professional time. We wanted to demonstrate visible action from senior leadership to encourage employee self-care, help socialise mental health conversations and encourage dialogue.

Our campaign was simply called ‘It’s OK’. We invited leaders from all regions to share a handwritten note to themselves, which began ‘It’s OK’. They shared thoughts such as ‘It’s OK to feel overwhelmed by what life is throwing at me’; ‘…to block out time to do some thinking’; ‘…to have a midday walk’; ‘…to take time off to recharge’.

By sharing their personal notes, the leaders were normalizing the emotions that many were feeling, and leading by example on ways to put wellbeing first.

The post ended up as one of the most viewed pieces of content on the BNY Mellon intranet in 2020. Employees were invited to respond and comment with their own ‘note to self’.

Comments from employees included:

• ‘Great to see leadership encouraging self-care’
• ‘Grateful for all the support and shared kindness’
• ‘These are great reminders that we’re all in this together’
• ‘This is so refreshing! Thank you!!’
• ‘This exercise has resonated with me so much! Very comforting!’

‘It’s OK’ has since been used by our senior leadership team with employees, and with clients, to start a conversation about prioritising mental wellbeing.

This year, we are continuing the theme, and finding new ways to remind employees that It’s OK.