What You Can’t See: Mental and Behavioral Health in the Workplace

 A GermanWings pilot locks his captain out of the cockpit and then purposely flies the plane into a mountain, killing 149 people. An investigation reveals the pilot had a long history of depression and mental illness, yet he was cleared to fly. The question asked by families of the victims, air travelers in general and the industry itself: “How could this happen?”

This was just one frightening example shared by Harry Spencer, JetBlue’s vice president of compensation, benefits and corporate responsibility at Paradigm’s sixth annual Innovation Symposium this past Friday. His conclusion: “What you can’t see is more important than what you can see when it comes to employees’ health.”

After the GermanWings disaster, the industry became very focused on pilot screening, but as Spencer pointed out, “it takes a lot more people than just pilots to make an airline run.” Consequently, JetBlue began to focus on a more “holistic wellness” program designed to look at all aspects of well-being, including physical and mental/behavioral health. The goal: create healthier, more resilient workers who are better able to handle the challenges of operating an airline.

Spencer touted JetBlue’s “Blue Carpet” initiative, the vanguard of the airline’s benefits offering, which is focused on delivering sustainable benefits in an exceptional way, especially behavioral care. It’s a three-pronged approach built around engagement and accountability; provider delivery; and plan management/operational performance.

“One in five people in this country have behavioral issues,” Spencer said. “That’s huge. And one in 25 have symptoms so acute it affects their ability to work.” Depression, anxiety and stress-related issues account for most of it. It’s costly for business, too. Patients with a behavioral health diagnosis have two to four times more medical claims and seven times more ER visits.

The support for crewmembers – what JetBlue calls their employees – and their families, also includes healthy lifestyle initiatives such as weight loss, nutrition and quitting smoking, personal health, cancer support and diabetes. There’s even a special needs navigator for autism. One program in particular Spencer pointed out was their “Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies” program. There were lots of pregnancies, including high-risk neonatal issues, which were very expensive. Under the new program, participants received $250 for joining, plus $400 in “bling” such as baby monitors and strollers. Crewmembers loved it. Costs for neonatal went down. “It was the gift that kept on giving,” Spencer said. “But before we could do any of these new programs, we had to get our costs under control. They were going up at a 12% trend rate before. We had to fix that first.”

The success of Blue Carpet was attributed to consistent training and support for vice presidents, directors and new hires. Manager training was also standardized, and an educational campaign for crewmembers and their families was implemented.

“We have to remove the stigma around mental health,” Spencer said. “Studies show that when that happens, those suffering with mental illness are significantly more likely to seek care.” Spencer also pointed out that there are some amazing numbers around behavioral health. For instance, stress is the top health risk faced by employees worldwide, ahead of obesity and inactivity. And on the positive side, there is a three times higher operating margin for companies with high-employee engagement.

Spencer noted that originally JetBlue had hoped to get a program like this “off the shelf,” but they couldn’t find it. “We had to build Blue Carpet ourselves. Now, satisfaction among our crewmembers is off the charts. It’s the real differentiator at JetBlue.”

That difference is quantifiable. Going into 2016, the company has saved $14 million because of Blue Carpet’s holistic approach, especially in the area of behavioral health.

Spencer’s advice: make leaders aware of this issue in layman’s terms. “Take the holistic approach, embrace employees, have the resources they need. What you’ll get is a stronger, healthier and more resilient employee who’s fit for duty.”