This is the seventh blog in a series written by Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. Her colleague and co-author for the Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada book, Leanne Fournier, interviewed Melissa Calder about the impact psychological health and safety has had on inclusion.
Melissa’s story
Melissa Calder, PhD, is Chief Operating Officer at Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig (WNHAC) and a registered psychotherapist. She had just graduated with her Masters in 2013 when the National Standard of Canada for
Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) was introduced.
Through the lens of psychological health and safety, Melissa recognized the discrimination and tokenism she experienced early in her career as a member of both Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
“My employer at the time wanted me to do all these extra things because of being gay and Indigenous – ‘Melissa is part of that community so she can develop it for us’,” she said.
She recalls, “I kept thinking, ‘I can’t speak for everyone in those communities. I’m just one person.’ It didn’t feel authentic; it felt like they were doing things to check off boxes.”
Melissa’s desire to prevent this type of tokenism and discrimination for anyone else became a career goal. She saw the connection between psychological health and safety and a more inclusive workplace.
“Whether it’s about gender, culture, or mental health, people may be afraid to ask questions and, in some cases, may be afraid to talk about these things.” She urges co-workers and leaders to ask if there’s something they don’t understand about someone’s experience.
Melissa has been helping WNHAC implement the Standard since she came on board in 2016. She brings a lifelong passion about mental health to her role. “If you can find passionate leaders, they can change the way organizations implement policies and programs by embedding psychological health and safety into everything they do. It’s how we can bring out the best performance in every employee. I find that really exciting.”
That, she says, is about a lot more than just checking off boxes.
Her hope is that the importance of protecting psychological health and safety of every employee will soon be as recognized in workplaces as the protection of physical health and safety.
The next blog is about how the pandemic affected leaders who were expected to support their employees while going through this challenge themselves. Explore the History of psychological health and safety and read all of the blogs in this series.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Canada Life or Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.