This is the lucky thirteenth blog in a series written by Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
Inclusion and psychological safety
Amanda Muhammad is a consultant in Dallas, Texas. She focuses on stress management and psychological health and safety. She points to the intersection between inclusion and psychological health and safety.
“Few people discuss how psychological health and safety fits into mental health language. This includes ideas like inclusion, belonging, authenticity, and trust. We need more emphasis on what that means and some of the resources that are available to help workplaces and workers in these areas.”
She believes this shared language can help people get on the same page and realize the true benefits of diverse and inclusive workplaces.
“Inclusion and psychological safety are directly related to effective collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. If we’re asking people to open up and be vulnerable, they want to see some action.”
Muhammad credits the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace for helping to advance this conversation. “It’s great having a framework in place that can help people know where to start, what to measure and what the gaps might look like.”
Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley is founder and CEO of Dr. Lee-Baggley and Associates, Registered Psychologist, and creator of the “Dr. Dayna Method”. She conducted a study of 1,413 employees | PDF that applied an “inclusion lens” to psychological health and safety.
“Inclusion had a big impact on variables like short-term disability, long-term disability, absenteeism, and disability claims. We know about the importance of having visible and invisible forms of diversity in the workplace, but even more, we need to ensure EVERYONE feels a sense of inclusion and belonging.”
This, she says, involves what is done on a day-to-day level. “We need tools to assess psychological health and safety and inclusion. Then, we can use a clear plan-do-check-act model. This includes clarifying key performance indicators (KPIs) and strategies to support those behaviors.”
A couple of resources that can help organizations establish these KPIs is Workplace Strategies' Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment and the Psychologically Safe Team Assessment.
Dr. Bill Howatt is known internationally and today is one of Canada’s leading experts in psychological health and safety. He shares that in 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General identified isolation as one of the biggest issues of workplace mental health worldwide in a report on loneliness. One of Dr.
Howatt’s recent CSA studies during the pandemic found that employees felt their mental health was most affected by their employer's response. (Lee-Baggley & Howatt, 2023) The link between psychological health, safety, and inclusion was also a significant factor.
“People with lower inclusion levels were at higher risk for disability,” Howatt said. “Perception of belonging matters. If I feel isolated, I don’t feel a sense of belonging or welcomed, and when this occurs isolation becomes a psychosocial hazard.”
He adds, “There’s a good business case for employers for investing in psychological health and safety to promote belonging that we have found in our research. This can directly reduce employees’ risk for disability and attendance claims. One prevention action to promote belonging is to set the expectation that belonging and inclusion matters. Belonging begins with intention and leaders setting expectations around inclusion and belonging for creating a positive employee experience.”
Reducing stigma
Charles Bruce is CEO of Provident10 in Newfoundland. He talks about how in his part of the world, discussions around diversity and inclusion have intensified in the last 5 to 10 years. He credits this to a cultural shift with respect to stigma reduction related to mental health and mental illness.
“There’s an increased mental health literacy that links back to people just being more aware.”
Monika Mielnik, Managing Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, CPP Investments would also like to see a continuing focus on stigma reduction. “Talking about mental health and challenges in schools helps create a very different attitude. We also need a change in society to focus more on inclusion and belonging. Many people believe that a mental health condition can affect their career goals. This bias often creeps into the workplace.”
Connecting diversity, equity and inclusion
Arthur Chan is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategist with a background in clinical psychology. His widely acclaimed statement about the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strikes a chord:
Diversity is a fact.
Equity is a choice.
Inclusion is an action.
Belonging is an outcome.
Many large organizations have used Chan’s wording to reaffirm their commitment to these principles. Others have commented how it underlines the importance of being seen, respected, and valued, and how a sense of belonging is integral to every aspect of our lives, including work.
Dr. I. David Daniels, a health and safety consultant in the U.S is taking positive action even while others seek to end DEI initiatives. Daniels said, “The U.S. is bigger and more diverse demographically. We also have some interesting history to get over. There’s a direct connection between safety and diversity, and equity and inclusion. We have to be honest about how we are feeling and how we take our feelings and create something that’s better for all of us.”
Educating everyone
Christine Hildebrand, Vice President of Health and Ability Strategy at Canada Life, believes that every employee should be educated on diversity and inclusion. She outlines her approach: “Invite feedback from everyone to bring in diverse perspectives.” Next, she emphasizes the importance of creating multiple avenues for employees to express their opinions, feedback and ideas. “This could include methods such as requesting input prior to, during or post meeting; sharing meeting agendas in advance so people have time to reflect prior to responding; and providing opportunities for written or anonymous feedback.” She also ensures everyone has a chance to speak. This, she laughs, can sometimes mean having to manage the “loudest voices in the room.” Hildebrand advocates for explicitly seeking out different ideas and presenting opposing viewpoints to encourage dissenting opinions, ensuring every voice is heard.
It doesn’t stop there. It’s important to be intentional about inclusion, she says. “When communicating or planning employee recognition and workplace events, think about messages, activities and venues that are inclusive for everyone.” This includes considerations such as dietary preferences like vegan or vegetarian options, addressing mobility challenges, other disabilities, religious beliefs and being mindful of issues related to addiction and alcohol – to name a few. We’ve learned that having accessibility and inclusion policies is important. But the tangible actions we take are what really make a difference.
Muhammed emphasizes the importance of understanding that one solution or action doesn’t fit all. “Saying, ‘We hear you, we see you,’ isn’t enough for those who face bias, discrimination and stigma. We want to know, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”
The next blog in this series features an employee impact story written by my colleague and co-author of The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada. Leanne Fournier interviewed a person who identifies as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and shares that they were once afraid of threats and judgement if they chose to speak up. Interestingly, the pandemic changed that. 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.
Additional resources
- Proactively removing barriers to inclusion. Explore how you can proactively remove barriers and support inclusion and accessibility for clients and employees who may have distinctive needs or life experiences.
- Inclusion strategies for leaders. Inclusion is now an expectation at work. Learn tips and strategies to help you provide and maintain an inclusive approach to leadership.
- Discrimination prevention and inclusion. Address discrimination and promote inclusion through your policies and processes.
- Evidence-based actions for inclusion. These actions help hold employees accountable to work together in inclusive ways.
- Implicit bias. Learn to identify and understand implicit bias, microaggressions and intersectionality. Whether the bias results in poor morale or discrimination, identifying it is the first step to eliminating it.