Havas Play: Mental Health in the workplace

Havas Play, a London-based agency delivering a range of services across areas such as social media, marketing, PR, content production, boasts an vast team catering from clients that include the FA, MLB, Arsenal, and Aston Martin.

For Havas’ UK division, which is based out of the firm’s central London office, mental health and wellbeing is considered a priority.

Speaking to Sport Industry Group, Havas Play UK’s Managing Director, Lucy Basden Smith, and Senior Account Executive, Meg Dowthwaite, share their thoughts and insights on their internal processes, and the how the wider sport industry interacts with the topic.

Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and your role at Havas Play?

Havas Play UK’s Managing Director, Lucy Basden Smith

Lucy: Managing Director at Havas Play – this is my 14th year at Havas with much of my time spent collaborating with the biggest sports and entertainment partners around the world to bring brands to life in the context of consumer passions.

Meg: I’m a Senior Account Executive sitting within the Brand Activation team at Havas Play. It’s coming up to 3 years since I joined – time flies! I am also a qualified Mental Health First Aider and part of Havas’ Mental Health Champions Committee.

What is Havas Play doing to ensure mental wellbeing is front and centre of conversation at the agency?

Meg: Our Havas Equalise team runs a year-round, always-on, health and wellness programme. The aim of this is to help educate and support the entire business on mental health and wellness. It provides support around four key areas: mental health, financial wellbeing, physical health, and social connection.

To ensure we are embedding these areas within our agency – Havas Play – we have a team of Mental Health Champions who ensure that there is a constant discourse around these topics making sure they feel as relatable and accessible as possible for our teams.

One initiative I personally love is ‘Playercise’. It embodies the DNA of our agency in Sports, Entertainment and Culture. Occurring monthly, this provides an opportunity for everyone to take part in an accessible and inclusive group sporting activity, with a focus on the mental health benefits of physical exercise – all paid for by Havas Play.

How have you personally noticed the topic of mental health change in the workplace over the past five years?

Lucy: Before the pandemic we all knew how important nurturing and protecting employees’ mental health was to a successful and efficient business, yet it is only since lockdown that it’s been formally recognised at the corporate level. With this recognition, businesses are investing in more robust programmes and systems to support employees.

At Havas, the change I have felt most is the shift in power of who is determining what these programmes look like. We have teams of empowered employees from all over the village, who passionately care about the task and have different experiences they can bring to develop a far richer and more diverse programme across the year.

Do you think the sport industry is doing a good job in the mental health space?

Meg: The sports industry has made significant strides in addressing mental health with many athletes and organisations now openly discussing the topic and working to reduce the stigma. For instance, Simone Biles has been very open about the mental health challenges faced by high-profile athletes, as has Adam Peaty. Additionally, clubs and teams have begun to include mental health professionals as part of their coaching staff.

I love that we’re also starting to see it front & centre across creative campaigns too. A particular campaign which has stood out to me (as SIA, Campaign of the Year winner last year, I’m sure everyone has seen!) is Norwich City FC’s campaign for World Mental Health Day in 2023. The 2-minute-long video emphasised the importance of checking in on loved ones, even when signs of distress might not be obvious and addressed mental health challenges among fans and within their community.

Havas Play UK Senior Account Executive, Meg Dowthwaite

However, there is still room for improvement within the wider sports industry – we need to make the shift from just awareness to action. I’d love to see mental health services available across all levels of sport, from grassroots upwards so that there can be a broader impact.

What message would you give to other organisations in sport looking to start a similar programme or platform?

Lucy: Have a clear role for your employees. Staff should be participants rather than recipients of a programme or platform. There needs to be a clear access point, actionable engagement and recognition that mental health support is not one size fits all – inclusivity and flexibility are key.

Which sport do you think is leading in mental wellbeing?

Lucy: From what I can see, the sports that have pioneered in mental wellbeing over the last decade or so have been the ones where marginal gains have the biggest impact – so cycling, swimming and rowing for example.

I think there was a period where many sports and athletes viewed any kind of mental health care as a weakness. Thankfully, taking care of your mental wellbeing to strengthen your resilience and overall performance has become an essential part of any athlete’s training programme.

Are there any particular mental health-focused campaigns that you admire?

Meg: A recent favourite at Havas Play was Asics “Move For Your Mind” campaign…And not just because Succession’s “Logan Roy” was front and centre! The campaign encouraged people to take daily desk breaks for movement, reinforcing the idea that effective mental health benefits can come from simple activities. Even 15 minutes of physical activity each day such as a walk can boost mental well-being by over 22% – an easy and actionable task.

What’s next? Are there plans to expand what you are doing around mental wellbeing within the organisation?

Meg & Lucy: As well as consistently showing up around mental health awareness, we’d like to start focusing on elements of our programme that will help the teams develop a sense of belonging, allows them to feel secure and motivated at work, particularly as the agency grows and our roles diversify. One of our goals is to increase the number of qualified mental health first aiders. We have a new group of employees scheduled for training in January 2025.