This is the fifteenth blog in a series written by Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
2023 was the 10th anniversary of the launch of the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard). We marked this milestone by interviewing over 100 people who have been heavily involved in the field of psychological health and safety. We asked them: “What’s still left to do?” Here’s what they told us.
Prevent work-related trauma
One topic often discussed during the interviews was trauma. This makes sense since we’d just lived through three years of a global pandemic, during which many workers experienced trauma. This included getting sick and facing death, dealing with the risk of illness at work, evolving job duties clashing with personal values or professional training, and for many, losing jobs or even loved ones.
During the pandemic years, many long-term issues bubbled to the surface. Racialization, sexualization and discrimination gained attention. These issues affected the mental health of people already stressed at work and home. In some cases, they even caused trauma.
Many of the experts we interviewed praised the impact of the Standard during the pandemic. They said it improved understanding of what a trauma-informed workplace was and helped spark conversations. These talks focused on an understanding that many employees may experience trauma in their lives – both at work and at home. There was a new focus on addressing trauma systemically to prevent work-related trauma, rather than just reacting after the fact.
For those interested in preventing trauma and having a trauma-informed organization, check out Trauma in organizations.
Prepare leaders better
Experts almost unanimously agreed that leaders, managers, and supervisors should be better prepared to promote and protect psychological health and safety.
As many of us know, the way our leaders engage with us can have an immense impact on our well-being at work, especially during times of stress. In the Standard, there is a requirement for leaders to be competent to protect the psychological health and safety of their direct reports. Their ability to communicate instructions clearly, provide helpful feedback, resolve work issues, manage their own emotions and respond effectively to distressed employees are all skills that could help them do no psychological harm to others. This highlights the need for effective training, assessments, guides and tools to be developed.
“The Standard has changed a lot of organizations in terms of leadership paying attention to psychological health and safety of employees,” said Dr. Mark Attridge of Attridge Consulting Inc., a leading researcher and practitioner in the mental health and behavioral field. “Talking about [psychological health and safety] is now part of their business planning. They are no longer asking why; they now want to know how and who they can partner with.”
Lyne Wilson, Assistant Vice-President, Talent Acquisition and Organizational Health for NAV CANADA, emphasizes the importance of proactive workplace mental health strategies. “Psychological health and safety must be woven into the fabric of our organizational culture. It’s fundamental to leadership approaches, policies, processes, and inclusive practices. The focus should be on ensuring every employee experiences belonging, has a voice, and receives personalized support and guidance.”
Workplace Strategies for Mental Health worked with Dr. Joti Samra to create the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment. It identifies practical strategies for leaders and includes helpful and free resources to support their success.
Support leader development
Margo Lydon, Chief Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing Advisor and Honorary Fellow, University of Melbourne would like to see more “genuine support for leaders.” She explains, “Leadership can be a lonely hard job. There needs to be more support around the cognitive and emotional load vs. the technical load. Much of the technical elements will eventually be done by AI [Artificial Intelligence] and other technologies, but we need more effective capabilities and sustainable supports invested in all leaders.”
She explains, “When you think of the cognitive load, people need to be well and have a lot of fuel for well-being. If we don’t have high levels of well-being, the wheels fall off and we have stress injuries, people are harmed, treat others poorly and make poor decisions. The path through is effective team and individual psychological safety and well-being, with good policies and practices embedded into the organization, that communicates clearly ‘this is the way we do things around here’. Then everyone benefits, including the organization.”
Many viewed this as a need for leader training and education. They also highlighted the importance of setting expectations and holding leaders accountable for their impact on employees.
Wilson emphasizes,” Today’s leaders must embody psychological health and safety as a core competency. Understanding and championing workplace mental health is not just part of leadership – it’s a fundamental pillar of organizational success and sustainability. One challenge is when leaders trained in command-and-control styles resist moving to a more collaborative approach. This new model needs compromise, which may be unfamiliar to some leaders.”
“Leadership cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Charles Bruce, CEO, Provident10. “Effective leaders must adapt to different employee circumstances.”
Dr. Joti Samra is CEO and Founder of MyWorkplaceHealth. Samra is also a well-respected expert in psychological health and safety. She said, “We need to set best practices for organizations that support the Standard’s implementation. One workshop will not make anyone an expert. They need to understand how to interpret the results of assessment and to recommend effective action.”
After a three-year global pandemic, skills like communication, social intelligence, problem solving, conflict resolution, fairness, and integrity are now as vital as technical skills for managers and leaders.
Dr. Bill Howatt has 30 plus years of experience with senior executives. He has worked at successful organizations both nationally and internationally. He is well-known for his skills in mental health, psychological safety and leadership.
“We need to get very, very clear about why psychological health and safety matters, what it is, and most importantly, how we’re going to do it to create the behavioural habits required for a caring culture.”
Reduce barriers for small businesses
Many organizations, especially small to medium-sized businesses, face key barriers to implementation. These include:
- A lack of personnel resources
- Limited expertise in assessment and evaluation
- The belief that psychological health and safety is not relevant
Experts stressed the need for better support for smaller businesses. They also called for a simpler version of the Standard. The recommendation was for tools to help organizations focus in on what they can do, even if they can’t do it all.
“Canada has a lot of small business owners,” said Dr. Attridge. “It’s often the business owner who is dealing with employee stress. There is no HR department, so they are handling it all themselves. There’s more at risk, they’re losing productivity and people, and there are often no services to help them.”
With the release of the new edition of the Standard, we will get a chance to compare what these experts said was needed and how the Standard was updated to reflect both evolving evidence and evolving needs.
The next blog in this series explores this question further as we ask, “Are we there yet?” 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.