business
The Dollars and Sense
of Mental Wellness
DOING THE “RIGHT THING” PAYS DIVIDENDS WHEN IT COMES TO PROMOTING
AND PROTECTING MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE
By The Honourable Michael Wilson, P.C., C.C.
When I chaired the board of directors of a mining
company, our first order of business at each meeting
was the physical accident report. In today’s knowl-edge
based economy, we must give employee mental
wellness equal precedence.
Each week, 500,000 people in Canada miss work because of a
mental health concern. To ignore this reality is both unconsciona-ble
and unprofitable – but rising to meet it will spell success for
21st century businesses.
While this is a personal belief I have held for many years, dating
back to my time as Finance Minister and cemented in my experi-ences
as chair of Barclay’s Capital, today’s corporate leaders don’t
have to rely solely on my conviction.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) has com-pleted
a case study research project to document how the National
Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the
Standard) is being implemented among Canadian employers. The
Standard is a set of guidelines, tools and resources to help employ-ers
address the mental wellness of their workers. It’s the world’s
first and entirely voluntary Standard that guides employers of all
sizes and sectors in their efforts to promote good mental health
and prevent psychological harm at job sites.
Forty organizations signed on to share their experiences, and
the result is a rich repository of best practices. Participants includ-ed
the Toronto East General Hospital, where implementation of
the Standard has led to decreased days absent and improved pa-tient
engagement.
While managing costs and limiting liability are very good rea-sons
to consider adopting the Standard, of those businesses
involved in the case study, 90 per cent were motivated because pro-tecting
the mental health of employees is the right thing to do.
Among these trailblazers is Manulife, which has been featured
prominently in the media for boldly increasing employee mental
health coverage to an unparalleled $10,000 a year.
While Manulife’s leadership raises the bar for Canadian busi-nesses,
the case study findings tell us that virtually all participating
organizations had some foundation of mental health and wellness
efforts on which to build.
The findings lay out a common sense approach to implementa-tion
of the Standard that HR professionals can use as a roadmap.
They also afford CEOs a very good reason to take a fresh look at
mental wellness as a bottom-line boosting measure.
IN A SOCIETY WHERE MENTAL
ILLNESS IS THE LEADING COST
OF LONG AND SHORT-TERM
DISABILITY, NO EMPLOYER
CAN AFFORD TO DISREGARD A
FRAMEWORK THAT HELPS STEM
THE TIDE OF LOST PRODUCTIVITY.
NicoElNino/Shutterstock.com
In a society where mental illness is the leading cost of long and
short-term disability, no employer can afford to disregard a frame-work
that helps stem the tide of lost productivity.
Tolerating bullying, harassment or unmanageable workloads
should be no more acceptable than failing to offer adequate physi-cal
protective gear. Hard hats are a non-negotiable requirement on
construction job sites. Ignoring what’s inside that hat is shameful-ly
shortsighted.
As a pragmatic corporate leader, I recognize that building a
sound business case for addressing mental health at work is the
most likely way to engage other senior executives.
Doing the right thing pays dividends. n
The Honourable Michael Wilson, P.C., C.C., is chair of the board for
the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ APRIL 2017 ❚ 33
