the competitive upside of a workplace free from bullying, harass-ment
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 work-force,”
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 wellbe-ing
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 cer-tainly
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 prev-alent
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 psycho-logical
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 pro-mote
change.
“Many organizations in the study took advantage of existing
structures, such as health and safety committees and wellness
committees, and then renamed them as psychological health and
safety committees,” said Merv Gilbert, with the Centre for Applied
Research in Mental Health & Addiction, Simon Fraser University,
and lead researcher with the CSRP.
“In almost every case, organizations already have some initia-tives
in place they can use as a foundation and build upon,” said
Bradley.
BEST PRACTICES IN ACTION
While there was no one clear path to successfully implementing el-ements
of the Standard, the businesses taking part in the CSRP
did share some common ground.
Most (66 per cent) orchestrated activities to raise awareness
of psychological wellness in the workplace, including workshops,
seminars and social activities. And the majority (70 per cent) made
sure their employee assistance programs (EAPs) were designed
feature
Tools and Resources to Support Employee Psychological Health
• The Standard: www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/national-standard
• Case Study Research Project: www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/case-study-research-project
• The Standard Implementation Q&A: www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/
csrp-implementation-questions-and-answers
• Assembling the Pieces: An Implementation Guide to the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the
Workplace: www.bit.ly/assembling-pieces
• Guarding Minds @ Work: www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/info
26 ❚ APRIL 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
