letter from the editor
Paying Attention
to Psychological
Health
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Great-West
Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, and
we’re celebrating by marking this April issue of HR
Professional as our psychological health and safety edi-tion
of the magazine.
This issue contains research and insights from some of Canada’s
thought leaders in workplace mental health. Dr. Joti Samra,
R.Psych., for example, works alongside the Great-West Life Centre
for Mental Health in the Workplace, and recently released a report
entitled The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada, an-alyzing
data from 2007 to 2017. She also led the development of
Great Minds @ Work, an evidenced-based collection of resources
that allows employers to evaluate and address 13 specific psychoso-cial
factors that have an impact on organizational mental health. Dr.
Samra authored our cover story for this issue of HR Professional;
read her article about the evolving duty of HR professionals in sup-porting
workplace health, starting on page 18.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) also has
a heavy hand in this month’s HR Professional. In 2013, MHCC
published the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health
and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard), and recently released
their findings after following more than 40 Canadian organiza-tions
as they implemented the guidelines over three years. Read
the article that discusses MHCC’s report, starting on page 24.
MHCC’s chair of the board, the Honourable Michael Wilson,
P.C., C.C., also penned an article about his thoughts surrounding
the business case for employers to promote and protect workplace
mental health. That article begins on page 33.
I hope that you learn from this edition of HR Professional; I look
forward to your thoughts and feedback.
Happy reading,
Jill Harris
866-953-2182
jharris@lesterpublications.com ■
VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 4 APRIL 2017
Editor: Jill Harris
Publisher: Lester Communications Inc.
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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Jason Beeho, Levitt LLP
Dean Bulloch, MBA, CHRE,
School of Business & Hospitality,
Conestoga College Institute
Cheryl Fullerton, Corus Entertainment Inc.
Julie Giraldi, Ontario Hospital Association
John Hamovitch, Intelex Technologies
Paul Klein, Impakt
Dr. Claudette Knight, DBA, Msc., MBA,
Meridian
Charles Marful, Ernst & Young
Nan Oldroyd
Anthony Papa, Federal-Mogul Motorparts
Laura L. Randell, B.A., CHRE, SEEC
Schulich School of Business
Jose Tolovi Neto, Great
Place to Work® Canada
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THE MAGAZINE OF
HUMAN RESOURCES
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
4 ❚ APRIL 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
