to address and support any mental health issues their employees
might need.
Gilbert points out tailoring the types of activities and initiatives
to suit the organization is another common element of successful
implementation.
“There can be a bit of a tendency for organizations to just take
things off the shelves and try to implement them, whether or not
they’re a good fit,” said Gilbert. “Ideally, they’re basing their steps
on what their actual needs and issues are, and that the programs
or initiatives they adopt have some evaluations behind them, so
they’ll do the job they expect them to do.”
That means engaging in research to understand the risks, haz-ards,
issues and strengths of a workplace.
“We actually built a tool, called Guarding Minds @ Work see
sidebar, designed to help a workplace identify its employees’ ar-eas
of concern, with respect to psychological health,” said Gilbert.
COMMITTED LEADERS, EMPLOYEE CHAMPIONS
Teed pointed out the importance of highly visible and influential
support from within the workplace.
“It’s crucial for each organization to have someone charismat-ic
and who genuinely cares about the issue to stand up and act in
ways that show support,” said Teed. “And not just one person; you
need multiple people, including official leaders and unofficial lead-ers.
That way, if there’s ever a turnover with the leadership, you’ve
still got the support and the torch can be passed on.
“Ideally, you’ll find people who are intrinsically motivated and
who will build their own momentum. For them, being involved
won’t be seen as a chore, but will be something they value and see
as crucial.”
WORKPLACE MUST-HAVES FOR SUCCESS
Investing in workers’ psychological wellbeing is just that: an
investment.
“Organizations need to make sure there are adequate resourc-es,”
said Gilbert. “Those organizations that had the greatest success
in implementing the Standard gave personnel – usually HR per-sonnel
– some budget, some authority and access to relevant
information within the organization in order to do the job well.
Implementing the Standard is an ongoing process, not something
that happens quickly, and there are going to be somewhat different
resource demands over time.”
Another must-have for success: Ensuring any initiatives are
backed up by a solid communication plan.
“What we found in some of the organizations in the study was
that while the dedicated leaders and some of the other facilitators
knew about the Standard, employees weren’t necessarily aware of
what the organization was doing,” said Gilbert. “That really is crit-ical
to success. Employees need to be aware of – and feel trust in
– any actions their employer takes.”
All the puzzle pieces put together still need a little “X-factor” to
be successful.
“I would look at engagement of the workplace in that process of
change,” said Dan Bilsker, with the Centre for Applied Research
in Mental Health & Addiction, Simon Fraser University, and re-searcher
with the CSRP. “If you don’t get people in the workforce
feature
excited and hopeful that something really different could be done
and trusting that the organization is going to have their backs
and support them, then you don’t really get engagement of the
workforce in the change process. And that’s really when change
happens, with that specific and focused engagement.”
AN INVESTMENT OVER TIME
“As HR professionals know well, culture change takes time and is
an evolutionary process,” said Gilbert.
It’s an investment of effort and time, but one that’s becoming es-sential
for employers hoping to build trust-based workplaces that
attract and retain top talent.
“Psychological health may be a popular topic at the moment, but it’s
not the ‘flavour of the month,’” said Gilbert. “This is something that’s
increasingly embedded into our regulations, into our workplaces and
into the expectations of the current and upcoming workforce.”
“Not so long ago, mental health was something you might not
have talked about because you felt ashamed,” said Bradley. “Now,
to have it as part of everyday work, it not only helps employees and
employers, but it has the potential to spread to the family and then
to communities as a whole. I think it has the potential to be quite
transformational.” n
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