Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 2, 2016 10 NEWS The Psychological Safety Award honours companies who strive to support employee mental health. Mental illness in the workplace translates to an annual productivity impact of more than $6 billion, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. If your company has programs, resources and prevention strategies in place for employee mental health, we want to hear from you. We also have a special Wellness Award for companies that go above and beyond for their workers' health and well-being. If you are setting the standard with programs such as heart health clinics, smoking cessation programs and healthy food options, apply now. To nominate your company visit www.safestemployers.com Presented by Nominations close June 1 Calling all employers with excellent mental health strategies & wellness programs Canada's Safest Employers 2016 is looking to honour workplaces with leading mental health and wellness programs. Strategic Partner Diamond Sponsor Reception Sponsor Bronze Sponsor Event Sponsor 2016 Platinum Sponsor program, we ask them a number of questions in the registration process. And through that pro- cess, we find out where they're at in their current physical activity and sedentary behaviours. And we actually give them a personal- ized step goal based on that regis- tration process." In Canada, the recommended step goal is 10,000 per day. "But if you're barely moving throughout the day and only get- ting about 2,000 steps, then ask- ing you to get 10,000 is like tell- ing you to fly to the moon," said Fender. "You just can't do it… it's too much to ask. So we give personalized step goals based on where people are at, so that they have a target that is reachable and attainable, and then they get suc- cess from there." "And the idea... is to slowly move closer to that 10,000 steps per day over a period of time." e ultimate goal is to roll the program out across Canada — in the fall of 2016, the goal is to expand the number of pilot pro- grams in B.C. and then to Ontario as well. In 2017, the hope is to ex- pand the program across Canada, said Fender. Targeted groups rough the pilot program, Par- ticipACTION has spoken with different organizations and talked to them about targeting a small group of people, said Fender. "We want to take our program and we want to test it, find out what we're doing right, find out what we're doing wrong and then evolve the program from there." As an average, ParticipAC- TION has targeted about 1,000 people at each organization, so about 5,000 total. "Of course, these programs are voluntary — it's not an employer opening the program to all em- ployees, it's not mandatory," she said. ParticipACTION is piloting the program with the B.C.-based locations of Telus, the University of British Columbia's Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, Auto- trader.ca, Providence Healthcare and the City of Richmond, said Fender. "With all of them, we've worked out a specific target group to reach out to, and then moving through the pilot, we're going to see how many people register and what the engage- ment rate is and what the attri- tion rate is," said Fender. "We know through other work- place wellness programs that or- ganizations have a difficult time engaging their employees, and I think the rate is somewhere be- tween 15 and 20 per cent of em- ployee engagement. So we want to improve on that, and we also spe- cifically with this program want to target people who are less physi- cally active and also sedentary." ey don't want to preach to the converted, she said. "We're not talking to people who are already doing all the good habits. We want to make sure that we have a program that reaches and connects with people who are physically inactive and sedentary at work," said Fender. Small changes, big impact So what are some of the ways em- ployees should be encouraged to incorporate more movement into their workday? Even something as simple as standing — not necessarily exer- cising or moving around — can make a real, positive difference to employee health, said Gavin Brad- ley, founding director of Acting Working in London. "is is a problem. is is just like smoking, just like nutrition — there are huge implications of prolonged sedentary behaviour in the office environment," he said. "Once we've understood the problem, then we can start to tackle the solution. But, unfortunately, to a large degree up until now, (the employer's) attitude has been 'Well, it's not my problem.'" Before, the focus had been fairly limited to looking at levels of physical activity, not sedentary behaviour, he said. "Irrespective of physical activ- ity, time spent sedentary needs to be understood and assessed and managed and broken up," said Bradley. The number one solution is education amongst employees, facilitators in the company and, obviously, education amongst employers. "Maybe sitting is no longer acceptable in our office space, just like smoking was no longer acceptable 20 years ago," said Bradley. "As our understanding of it grows, we need to obviously look at equipment. Equipment is im- portant, but it's only important if it's the right equipment for the right people and there is training around that. "It's not about sitting, it's not about standing, it's about mixing it up." Attitude adjustment And there are still some employ- ers that may need to adjust per- ceptions around what "working" looks like, said Travis Saunders, assistant professor of applied human sciences at the Univer- sity of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. "Some workplaces really pro- mote the idea that if you're away from your desk, you're not work- ing; or that if you're standing, you're not working. e idea is that you should be working 100 per cent of the time, and if you are working you are sitting at your desk," he said. "Promoting a culture that un- derstands that it's OK to take a walking meeting, that can be a productive way to have a meeting; that it can be OK to take a break every hour, a short walk break; that those things won't have a large impact on productivity, but they do have a measurable health impact. "We know from looking at studies that people who use a sit/ stand desk tend to sit for about two hours less a day as opposed to a regular sitting desk — which is pretty substantial." UPnGO pilot targeting 5,000 employees in B.C. FITNESS < pg. 1 "is is a problem. is is just like smoking, just like nutrition — there are huge implications of prolonged sedentary behaviour in the office."

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