Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JULY 2018 FEATURES 15 Building an eff ective, respectful workplace with the Total Health Index Workplace scale measures employees' personal experiences and observations BY BILL HOWATT ZERO-tolerance cultures are constantly monitoring and react- ing to workplace events that have a negative impact on employees. e types of events vary: From in- civility (such as gossiping or name calling) and personal threats aris- ing from confl ict, to online, ver- bal or physical bullying, sexual harassment and violence. An eff ective, respectful work- place program quickly discerns the degree of risk, and the severity and proper intervention required, and then acts in a fair and objec- tive manner. is is critical because employ- ees involved in the same incident may have diff erent sets of facts and perceptions. Human percep- tion, emotion, self-advocacy skills and workplace experience infl u- ence how employees behave and react to day-to-day interactions. With changes in the legal land- scape around bullying and harass- ment, and the #MeToo move- ment, both the legal and political climate have moved to zero toler- ance. Some provinces have new occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation that makes it mandatory for employers to protect employees from bullying and harassment. Some also have provisions in their workers' com- pensation act to cover employees who suff er a mental injury due to bullying or harassment. ese changes are aligned with the philosophy promoted by the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace that provides a set of guidelines to assist employ- ers in creating a psychologically safe workplace. e Canadian Centre for Oc- cupational Health and Safety's Guarding Minds @ Work also in- troduced 13 psychosocial factors that impact employees' response to work and work conditions that can cause psychological health problems. e Total Health Index (THI) from Morneau Shepell has a set of scales aligned to the 13 factors to measure employees' percep- tions. is data is aggregated and reported to the employer. In addition, the THI has a re- spectful workplace scale that measures employees' personal ex- periences and what they have ob- served in the workplace. In look- ing at the data set of tens of thou- sands of fi les , it's apparent there is a signifi cant diff erence between women's and men's experiences in the workplace: irty-three per cent of males fall in the yellow and red category, compared to 39 per cent of females. In exploring the relationship between the respectful work- place scales and the THI (which behaves like a resiliency scale), it's clear the higher the THI score, the more energy and ability a person has to cope with their day-to-day life. Employees who fall in the re- spectful workplace category have, on average, much higher THI scores because they come to work feeling much less unwell. Below are the factors that can help predict which employees are more like to fall into one of the three respectful workplace categories: • trust towards leadership • perception of how fair employees perceive their direct manager • three 13 PHS factors: psychological and social support, organizational culture and psychological protection • coping skills (problem- solving skills) • the quality of personal and professional relationships • perception of workplace experience (such as satisfaction from the job) • perceived workplace stress. e table above outlines the female population's respectful workplace scores. In the yellow and red categories, females were more at risk on every measure compared to males. Much more work needs to be done to create psychologically safe workplaces for all employees and to protect females. Employees with higher THI scores are less likely to experience a negative respectful workplace event than those with a lower re- sult. is suggests that what em- ployers do to make a workplace safe is important, as well as what each employee does with respect to total health (physical, mental, workplace and life health). Here are 10 things to bolster respectful workplace programs' eff ectiveness and impact: • Conduct the psychological standard's gap analysis to uncover risks and non- conformity issues. • Complete annual benchmark studies to examine employees' respectful workplace experience and track year-over-year (through the THI assessment). • Put respectful workplace reporting into the OHS management program. • Align respectful workplace programs with mental health strategy. • Use an evidence-based methodology to design a respectful workplace strategy. • Provide training for leaders on mental injuries and how to detect, intervene and investigate respectful workplace events. • Select specifi c metrics to measure respectful workplace programs' impact and results. • Make respectful workplace policy and procedures easy to read and understand. • Leverage online training to train all employees in respectful workplace policies, procedures and self- advocating skills annually. • Have senior leadership set cultural expectations around values and civility, and have all leaders actively role model, promote and inquire how aligned the average employee's experience is to cultural expectations. Bill Howatt, Ph.D. Ed.D., is the chief of research and development, work- force productivity, at Morneau She- pell in Toronto. For more information about the Total Health Index, visit www.morneaushepell.com. 12-PART SERIES This is the sixth of a 12-part series on total health that will explore the links between employees' health, engagement and productivity: 1. The total health framework 2. The 4 pillars of the Total Health Index 3. Senior leadership 4. Resiliency 5. Alcohol consumption 6. A respectful workplace 7. Manager effectiveness 8. Financial health 9. Going beyond traditional engagement 10. Productivity 11. Mental health 12. Physical activity, nutrition, sleep JOINT VENTURE BY: 73% 24.7 78% 74 79% 71% 76% 76% 83% 74% 74% 67% 40 65% 62 69% 58% 65% 70% 77% 64% 62% 61% 62.9 48% 47 58% 44% 51% 67% 73% 52% 49% Trust Average number of days coming to work feeling unwell Total Health Index score Management effectiveness PHS 1: Psychological and social support PHS 2: Organizational culture PHS 12: Psychological protection Coping skills Relationships Work experience Perceived stress Nine factors that predict why some employees are more likely to have respectful workplace issues Relationships Total Health Index Respectful Workplace Scale No current respectful workplace concerns Some concerns about respectful workplace Serious concerns about respectful workplace By registering, you'll get a unique perspective on the health of your workplace. The Employee Recommended Workplace Award looks at all four components of total health – physical, mental, work and life – and their impact on engagement and productivity. When you register, you'll receive: • The Employee Recommended Workplace Survey for your employees • An aggregated report that identifi es your organization's strengths and areas for improvement • Actionable insights into improving the total health of your employees • A chance to be named an Employee Recommended Workplace! You've worked hard to build a healthy workplace. Get recognized for it! Register now for the 2019 Employee Recommended Workplace Award. To fi nd out more visit employeerecommended.com M O R N E A U S H E P E L L T H E G L O B E A N D M A I L 20 19 Employee Recommended Workplace The Employee Recommended Workplace Award, developed by Morneau Shepell and the Globe and Mail, recognizes excellence in achieving a healthy, engaged and productive workforce. It is the only award of its kind that is based entirely on feedback from employees. Why register for the Employee Recommended Workplace Award? MS-HRReporter_1/4pg_ad_201803_v1.indd 1 2018-03-09 5:38 PM

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