SUMMARY: For Implementation (Annex B.4.4), the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace states, “The key to successful and sustainable implementation of this Standard is the involvement of those affected by the changes. Engagement of workers in the development and planning stages must be carried over into the implementation stage to ensure that the changes are communicated effectively and that the process of implementation does not cause undue stress or harm. If done well, the process of implementation can enhance psychological health and safety by increasing a sense of belonging, building positive relationships, and securing commitment to the system.” (See also clause 4.4.)
Beginning a dialogue in the workplace about psychological health and safety can be one of the first steps of implementation. For ongoing sustainability, embed psychological health and safety into your organization's policies, processes, and decision-making.
Begin a workplace dialogue
- Raise awareness of how each employee can contribute to positive change by talking about psychological health and safety in the workplace.
- Keep employee discussions focused on workplace practices and processes that are part of their day-to-day experience in the workplace, not on individual health issues.
- Understand that you do not need to be an expert in the field of mental health to discuss and develop psychologically healthy and safe workplace solutions.
- Consider the importance of communication and facilitation skills for leading discussions. Facilitating Team Discussions can help support competence in these areas.
Embed into policies and processes
- Whenever policies or processes are reviewed, ensure they reflect the organization's commitment to a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.
- Add the question "How might this impact psychological health and safety?" to all business discussions about new or revised policies, strategies, procedures, programs, and interactions.
- Develop guiding principles that can be applied to all future decisions and discussions. The attached example has been provided with permission from the Canadian Healthcare Association: Psychological Health and Safety in Canadian Healthcare Settings [PDF]
- See Elements & Priorities for Working Toward a Psychologically Safer Workplace for specific examples of how to embed policies throughout the organization's departments and the employment lifecycle (e.g. recruiting, hiring, orientation, performance management, return to work, termination, etc.).
Leverage free resources and ideas
The Standard has identified organizational factors that are known to impact the psychological health and safety of employees.
You can use the free slide presentation, video and facilitator's guide found in On the Agenda to discuss any of these factors and develop an action plan with your team.
Each factor is briefly described below and is followed by practical ideas and free resources.
Psychological Support considers the support for employee psychological wellbeing and the ability within an organization to respond effectively to mental health concerns.
Ideas
- Provide education to reduce stigma related to mental illness.
- Provide information, resources and training to improve awareness of how we can manage our own mental health.
- Train union and management to respond effectively to workplace issues while taking mental health into account.
- Provide a list of resources within the organization and community for addressing mental health related concerns.
- Audit and improve accommodation and return to work processes for clarity, inclusion and effectiveness.
Free resources
- Supporting Employee Success – A tool to develop a workplace plan taking mental health into account. Focuses on psychological and cognitive job expectations.
- Helping Employees Manage Change – Reducing the stress of organizational change on individual employees.
- Working Through It – A video-based resource by, for and about individuals dealing with mental health issues at work.
- Mental Health First Aid – Guidelines for responding to psychosis in the workplace.
- Suicide Response – For during and after a suicide attempt or when someone has died by suicide.
- Impairment and Substance Use – For when employees are impaired at work, experiencing addiction, and after treatment.
- Grief Response – At the time of loss, when the employee returns, and supporting the employee’s productivity.
- Create Your Own Mental Health Resource List – Template to help consider organizational and community resources.
- Burnout Response – Prevention and support strategies.
- Dementia Response – Awareness and accommodation strategies.
- Employees Who are Caregivers – Tips and resources.
- Leadership Crisis Response – Responding to crisis in the workplace.
- Framework to Help Eliminate Stigma – To develop a plan of action.
Organizational Culture considers the level of trust, honesty, and fairness in a workplace.
Ideas
- Ensure meaningful participation of employees in the development or updating of an organizational values statement and code of ethics.
- Provide effective communication skills training for everyone.
- Provide necessary training and resources to resolve conflict effectively.
Free Resources
- Building Emotional Intelligence – Activities to better manage emotions at work.
- Harassment and Bullying Prevention – Creating awareness for prevention.
- Helping Employees Manage Change – Reducing the stress of organizational change on individual employees.
- Resolving Conflict – An alternative process to help resolve conflict effectively.
- Towards a Psychologically Safer Workplace: An Employer's Guide – A look at what contributes to a psychologically safe workplace.
- Elements and priorities for working towards a psychologically safer workplace – A framework for considering how policy and management approaches can impact psychological safety of employees.
- Framework to Help Eliminate Stigma – Outlines the business case and provides strategies for creating awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health issues.
- Team Building – Changing culture within teams.
Clear Leadership & Expectations considers effective leadership and communication to help employees know what they need to do, how success will be measured, how their work contributes to the organization, and whether there are impending changes.
Ideas
- Include emotional intelligence in professional development for all leaders.
- Measure emotional intelligence as a required competency for all leaders.
- Support managers in having direct and timely face-to-face communication with employees.
- Help employees understand how their work contributes to organizational goals.
Free resources
- Managing Mental Health Matters – A video-based management training program to address workplace mental health issues.
- Building Emotional Intelligence – Assess and improve the ability to manage and respond to emotions at work.
- Supportive Performance Management – An approach to help manage performance issues that takes mental health into account.
- Managing for Health and High Performance – A quiz to consider the impact of management style.
Civility & Respect considers how people communicate with each other and whether interactions are respectful and considerate.
Ideas
- Engage teams to develop a code of conduct that is specific to their working environment.
- Develop processes to address disrespectful behaviour promptly and effectively.
- Provide training and resources to support constructive problem solving.
Free resources
- Harassment and Bullying Prevention – Resources for engaging teams in developing their own code of conduct.
- Resolving Conflict – An approach that helps retain the dignity and wellbeing of everyone.
- Framework to Help Eliminate Stigma – Outlines the business case and provides strategies for creating awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health issues.
Psychological Competencies & Requirements considers supporting a good fit between employee interpersonal and emotional competencies and the requirements of the position.
Ideas
- Add relevant interpersonal and emotional competencies to recruitment and hiring criteria.
- Educate and train employees regarding interpersonal and emotional competencies.
- Include interpersonal and emotional competencies in job descriptions and performance reviews.
Free resources
- Emotional Intelligence in Hiring and Performance Management – A supportive resource that helps identify specific and measurable skills, knowledge, attitudes and values for performing optimally. Also see Interviewing Tools.
- Building Emotional Intelligence – Skills assessment for emotional intelligence in the workplace.
- Supportive Performance Management – An approach to help manage performance issues that takes mental health into account.
- Dementia Response – Awareness and accommodation strategies.
Growth & Development considers encouragement and support for the interpersonal, emotional, and job skills development of employees.
Ideas
- Ask employees what areas of professional development they are interested in exploring.
- Provide opportunities for personal growth and development.
- Consider opportunities for job shadowing, mentoring or job sharing to provide opportunities for growth.
- Develop a sharing library or intranet site with items related to personal growth and communication techniques
Free resources
- Developing a Workplace Plan – A process to help employees overcome challenges, grow and develop at work.
- Healthy Break Activities - Practical and engaging break time activities that focus on improving mental health at work.
- Team Building – Help build resilience among team members.
Recognition & Reward considers appropriate acknowledgement and appreciation of employee efforts in a fair and timely manner.
Ideas
- Build recognition of effort as well as outcomes into performance reviews.
- Provide training for managers on the use of constructive feedback.
- Develop ways to fairly acknowledge team efforts with group events or non-monetary incentives.
- Develop ways to fairly celebrate personal and professional milestones.
- Assess employee perspectives about fair recognition and reward.
- Educate leaders about motivation, and consider if your workplace processes support what you want from your employees.
Free resources
- Daniel Pink discusses interesting research about motivation – This is a link to his TED Talk on this subject.
Involvement & Influence considers whether employees are involved in discussions about how their work is done and the level of influence they may have on decisions that will affect them directly.
Ideas
- Educate leaders about micro-managing and ways to avoid doing it.
- Create mechanisms for continual feedback about processes and functioning.
- Educate and support managers to have regular discussions with employees about how work is done and whether processes can be improved.
Free resources
- Developing a Workplace Plan – Engaging employees in developing a plan that supports their success on the job.
- Union Support – By collaborating with union reps in accommodation, the employee can be supported throughout the process and afterward.
- Productivity Review – This form can help you resolve performance issues in a way that takes mental health into account.
- Supporting Employee Success – A tool to develop a workplace plan taking mental health into account. Focuses on psychological and cognitive job expectations.
- Dementia Response – Questions to ask are in the section Being prepared and offering accommodation.
Workload Management considers whether tasks and responsibilities can be accomplished successfully within the time available.
Ideas
- Provide education to employees and managers about resilience, time management, stress management and burnout prevention.
- Establish methods of supporting and encouraging success rather than applying pressure to avoid failure.
- Inform and prepare staff for anticipated increases in workloads.
- Involve staff in developing strategies to manage workload effectively.
Free resources
- Supportive Performance Management – Approaches for supporting the success of employees and helping them manage workload while taking mental health into account.
- Productivity Review – This form can help you resolve performance issues in a way that takes mental health into account.
- Burnout Response – Prevention and support strategies.
- Team Building – Help build resilience among team members.
Engagement considers whether or not employees feel connected to their work and are motivated to do their job well.
Ideas
- Enquire about employee talents and strengths not apparent in assigned job duties.
- Where possible, increase opportunities for employees to apply strengths on the job.
- Provide space for employees to gather.
- Build regular acknowledgement of employees and teams into staff events.
- Ask employees if and how they want to be engaged in activities (e.g. social events, charitable events, etc.).
Free resources
- Developing a Workplace Plan – Strategies for engaging employees in their own workplace plan.
- Healthy Break Activities – Engage teams in using break times to take part in activities that help promote the health of mind and body.
- Team Building – Help build resilience among team members.
- Via Strengths Profile – Use this free online tool for all employees to be able to identify their strengths. When complete, use the activity in Team Building to discuss how strengths can be used at work.
Balance considers how an organization recognizes and supports the need for balance between the demands of work, family and personal life.
Ideas
- Require and support all leaders to model balance in the workplace.
- Build health promotion and wellness activities into daily work routines.
- Provide flexible work arrangements when possible.
- Require leaders, managers and employees to take vacation time and not work while on vacation. Be aware of times of unusual stress for employees, e.g. caregiving, grief, illness, etc.
Free resources
- Strategies for Employees – Resources and information to help employees manage their well-being at work and home.
- Healthy Break Activities – Engage teams in using their break times to take part in activities that help promote the health of mind and body.
- Grief Response – At the time of loss, when the employee returns, and supporting the employee’s productivity.
- Burnout Response – Prevention and support strategies.
- Dementia Response – Awareness and accommodation strategies.
- Employees Who are Caregivers – Tips and resources.
- Impairment Response – When employees are impaired at work, experiencing addiction, and after treatment.
Psychological Protection considers processes that help ensure psychological safety. Employees are supported to ask questions, seek feedback, report mistakes and problems or propose a new idea without fearing negative consequences.
Ideas
- State the organization's commitment to psychological safety in strategic plans, public statements, and in the organization's mission, vision and values statements.
- Provide training and develop processes to address harassment, discrimination, bullying, violence and conflict resolution.
- Conduct regular risk assessments for psychological hazards.
Free resources
- 20 Questions for Leaders about Workplace Psychological Health and Safety – A tool to review psychosocial risks in the workplace.
- 20 Questions for Unions about Workplace Mental Health and Psychological Safety – A tool to review union’s role in contributing to psychological protection.
- Harassment and Bullying Prevention – Steps for developing policies and processes to help prevent and address harassment and bullying in the workplace.
- Resolving Conflict – An approach that helps retain everyone’s dignity.
- Framework to Help Eliminate Stigma – Related to mental illness.
- Suicide Prevention – Developing policies and processes to prevent or intervene.
- Violence Prevention – Developing policies and processes to prevent or intervene.
- Impairment Prevention – Developing policies and processes to prevent or intervene.
Protection of Physical Safety considers appropriate action to help protect the physical safety of employees.
Ideas
- Establish a system of continual improvement regarding physical health and safety.
- Communicate to employees that their safety is a priority of the organization.
- Educate and train employees on physical safety.
Free resources
- Violence Prevention – Steps for developing policies and processes.
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety – Provides credible and relevant tools and resources to improve workplace health and safety programs.
Other chronic stressors as identified by employees considers the stressors that may be unique to certain sectors or job roles. (Note: The link to the description of Other Chronic Stressors is provided courtesy of the University of Waterloo.)
Ideas
- Regularly seek feedback from employees on chronic stressors in the workplace.
Free resources
- Sector Specific Strategies help you think about some of the unique issues for job roles such as first responders, educators, call centre workers, dangerous workers, high tech workers, or human services professionals, shift workers or remote workers, that may result in a chronic stressor.
Representatives from a variety of different workplaces are coming together to discuss workplace issues and share their experiences related to mental illness. “It really speaks to the universality of the issue,” said Julia Kaisla, Director, Community Engagement, Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division.
The Standard describes a worker as "a person employed by an organization or a person under the day-to-day control of the organization, whether paid or unpaid, which includes employees, supervisors, managers, leaders, contractors, service providers, volunteers, students, or other stakeholders actively engaged in undertaking activities for benefit to the organization. French: travailleur, travailleuse. [Reference: CAN/CSA-Z1000 (adapted wording) (see Annex G).]" The term "employee" has been used throughout these resources and is intended to include the Standard’s definition of worker.
Implementation handbook
Assembling the Pieces –An Implementation Guide to the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace is available as a free download. The guide, created by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in partnership with the CSA Group and with the support of the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, is one approach to implementation of the National Standard.
It is geared toward senior leaders, human resource managers, and occupational health and safety professionals, offering a roadmap to implementation of the Standard through four key steps: building the foundation, identifying opportunities, setting objectives, and implementation..
From Assembling the Pieces with permission of CSA Group.
From Assembling the Pieces with permission of CSA Group.
From Assembling the Pieces with permission of CSA Group.
From Assembling the Pieces with permission of CSA Group.
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