Berwick Partners adopts The InsideOut LeaderBoard

We have partnered with InsideOut LeaderBoard to launch the mental health initiative across all of the businesses in The Odgers Berndtson Group, including Odgers Interim, Odgers Berndtson, and Berwick Talent Solutions for senior employees, and its network of candidates and clients.

The InsideOut LeaderBoard is an opt-in list for senior leaders who have suffered from mental ill-health. The list has been devised to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace and to recognise the business leaders who are open about their own personal battles.

Individuals on the list are selected by The InsideOut Leadboard on the basis of applications or nominations solicited from across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Berwick Partners and The Odgers Berndtson Group will champion the initiative in the workplace and open the list to both its leaders and its nationwide network of senior leadership candidates and clients.

Kester Scrope, CEO of Odgers Berndtson, said: “Mental health is an issue important to everyone just as physical health is, yet the stigma attached to mental health difficulties in the workplace can make it harder for people to overcome. Through this partnership, our aim is to help The InsideOut Leaderboard break down that stigma and build its list of mental health role models.”

Last year Berwick Partners published a report on the role of corporate mental health, following a survey of 11,000 individuals across the UK. It found that 42% of employees feel they cannot talk to their manager about their mental health for fear of the impact on their career. Through senior leadership role modelling, Berwick Partners and The Odgers Berndtson Group and The InsideOut Leaderboard aim to tackle beliefs such as this.

The InsideOut Leaderboard’s founder Rob Stephenson, who experiences bipolar disorder himself, said: “The InsideOut LeaderBoard demonstrates that people who have experienced mental ill-health exist at all levels within the workplace, even in the boardroom. Our aim is to reduce the stigma by supporting people to be open and honest about their mental health. I am delighted that Odgers Berndtson are supporting us and opening up the LeaderBoard to their network of senior leaders.”

The InsideOut LeaderBoard list, which was launched in 2019, includes senior leaders from Facebook, Barclays, Deloitte, PwC, National Grid, Gympass, Starbucks and TUI Group, among others.