Putting psychological protection on the agenda

Learn how to facilitate a team discussion to address psychological protection in the workplace. This resource includes a guide and slides to help you get started.

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Facilitate an effective team discussion about addressing and improving psychological protection in your workplace. The intended outcome is to create a practical and cost-effective action plan that works for your team.

Psychological protection

In a work environment with adequate psychological protection, employees are free from bullying, harassment, stigma and discrimination.

In an organization with positive psychological protection, employees might say:  

  • My employer makes efforts to prevent harm to employees from discrimination. 
  • It is safe to speak up at work. 
  • My employer makes efforts to prevent harm to employees from bullying. 

In an organization with positive psychological protection, employees might NOT say:

  • I am currently being treated unfairly at work because I have a mental illness. 
  • I am currently being bullied at work. 
  • I am currently being harassed (verbally, physically, or sexually) at work.
  • I am currently experiencing discrimination at work.

Creating awareness: A team discussion

Engage your entire team in reviewing the factors that impact psychological health and safety in your workplace. This approach is recommended by the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. By doing this, you build awareness of the responsibility of each employee to contribute to a positive workplace culture. You also get their involvement in developing and being part of the solution.

Creating change: Facilitating policy development

This session builds on employee ideas developed in the Creating awareness workshop. The next step is to engage decision makers in reviewing employee suggestions against evidence- or practice-based approaches. The objective is to modify or create policies and procedures that improve psychological protection for your organization.

Evidence-based actions for psychological protection

Suggested actions are based on research or practice that can improve each psychosocial factor shown. In most cases, free resources are provided to help you move forward, with or without additional funding.

Each of the psychosocial factors identified in Guarding Minds at Work and the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace have similar resources that can be found in the On the agenda workshop series.

Contributors include.articlesDan BilskerDavid K. MacDonaldDr. Heather StuartDr. Joti SamraDr. Martin ShainMary Ann BayntonMerv GilbertPhilip PerczakSarah JennerSusan JakobsonWorkplace Strategies team 2007-2021Workplace Strategies team 2022 to present

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