Canadian HR Reporter

As Canadian workplace priorities go, psychological health ranks high: This country's Deputy Ministers are now assessed on the health and wellbeing of their departments. That means a portion of their performance pay is directly tied to how well they build a respectful and psychologically healthy workplace. Helping responsible employers support workers' mental health was the impetus behind the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard), a set of resources and guidelines – the first of its kind in the world – published by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) in 2013. Now, a new study reports back on how the Standard is being applied in Canadian workplaces. The just-released Case Study Research Project (CSRP), led by MHCC, followed more than 40 Canadian organizations as they worked to implement the guidelines, detailing best practices and lessons learned along the way. Shifting Paradigms "One of the most surprising findings of the study is that organizations chose to adopt the Standard simply because they felt it was the right thing to do," said Louise Bradley, president and CEO of MHCC. In fact, a full 90 per cent of organizations indicated their primary motivator for implementing the Standard was to "protect the psychological health of employees." "I suppose the skeptical side of me found that surprising because I really thought it would be looked at as a way of trying to achieve a better bottom line," said Bradley. Those employers represent a major shift in how organizations view employee psychological health, and how they perceive their responsibility to support it. Although, it's not hard to understand the competitive upside of a workplace free from bullying, harassment and other overt stressors. "Given that we spend 60 per cent of our waking hours in the workplace, an employer would be wise to invest in a healthy workforce," said Bradley. "I think we've all worked at some organizations that are great and some that are less than great, and we all know we're more productive in the one that's a positive place to be." Mike Teed of the Williams School of Business, Bishop's University, and researcher with the CSRP, points out the impact a psychologically healthy workplace could have on an organization's ability to recruit and retain staff, as well. "Think of the 'return on expectations,'" said Teed. "For instance, in my classes, my students tell me they are interested in working for organizations that will really value their psychological wellbeing and their health. Addressing their expectations might be more important, in the long run, than thinking about immediate ROI." Greater awareness, greater need The last few years have seen workplaces – and the general public – become much more aware of psychological health issues. "There's hardly a week that goes by when we don't see or hear something about mental health in the media," said Bradley." So the timing is ideal for implementing the Standard and talking about these issues. We still have a long way to go, but the stigma around the subject is certainly less than it used to be." While workplaces are becoming more proactive in addressing the problem, there's also a growing need. A staggering 7.5 million Canadians will face a mental illness this year, and that almost certainly includes members of your workforce. "When you look at the numbers of people missing work because of disability claims related to their psychological health, they point to a huge problem," said Bradley. "There are no two ways about it. "It has amazed me, over the course of my career, just how prevalent issues like harassment and bullying are in the workplace. Quite frankly, those behaviours are making people sick and it's costing the country billions of dollars in lost productivity every year, both from absenteeism and presenteeism." Not starting from zero The good news, for most organizations, is that they're likely already doing many things right in support of employee psychological health. "Having certain policies in place – for example, anti-harassment or anti-bullying – those are mental health policies," said Bradley. The first thing we tell organizations is to find the low hanging fruit and realize you're already doing some things really well. Maybe you're even doing something no one else is doing. Celebrate those successes." Using the right language, too, can help raise awareness and promote change. SUPPORT SYSTEM Using the Standard: A new study reports what works, what doesn't and what we can learn about supporting psychological health and safety in the workplace. By Melissa Campeau

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