Workplaces as Engines of Mental Health and Well-Being - 1. Protection from Harm
When I first saw The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being[1], my first response was, “about time!”
At first glance, there was nothing fundamentally new about the content of the report or the framework. The report discusses the benefits when people thrive in the workplace. It recognises that the pandemic has accelerated the conversation around mental health in the workplace and that “organizational leaders, managers, supervisors, and workers alike have an unprecedented opportunity to examine the role of work in our lives and explore better ways to better enable all workers to thrive within the workplace and beyond.”
The pandemic has presented us with so many opportunities to reflect upon our personal lives, our professional lives, and our expectations of employers, and to re-evaluate our lives.
We know that employees around the globe report they were more stressed in 2021 than they were in 2020 (the previous all-time high).[2]
In the U.S. 76% of employees surveyed reported experiencing at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year and 84% reported at least one workplace factor that negatively impacted their mental health.[3]
In Australia, 46% of workers feel their work is suffering due to poor mental health and 70% experience stress at least once a week according to ADP Research Institute.[4]
In the U.K. (2021/22) there were an estimated 914,000 workers affected by work-related stress, depression, or anxiety. This represents 2,750 per 100,000 workers and results in an estimated 17 million working days lost reports the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).[5]
So, while the pandemic did not create these work conditions, it worsened many of them, but it also amplified the conversation and the acknowledgement of mental health issues. The pandemic has been the catalyst to surface many mental well-being issues.
The timing of this report then is optimal whilst the conversation is heightened, and more attention is being paid.
As the report states: “The Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being is intended to spark organizational dialogue and change in the workplace. It can also catalyze areas for further research, strategic investment, and broader policy advancements.”
It is therefore intended as a framework to support workplaces and enable them to create a plan with all employees to enact the components within the framework and reimagine workplaces as engines of well-being. It shows how to begin the journey.
On that basis, I applaud it as a timely spark, catalyst, and supportive framework.
The framework is centred around the foundational principles of equity and the voices of all workers. It includes five Essentials and necessary components for addressing workplace mental health and well-being based on human needs. Each Essential is grounded in two human needs shared across industries and roles.
“Organizations can use this Framework to support their workplaces as engines of mental health and well-being.”
The Framework can be viewed as a starting point for organisations in updating and institutionalising policies, processes, and practices to best support the mental health and well-being of employees.
Five Essentials for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being
Source: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf
Over the next few weeks, I would like to explore my perspective on each of these Essentials as I believe each is worthy of attention.
Essential 1: Protection from Harm
The Protection from Harm components in the framework are:
· Prioritise workplace physical and psychological safety
· Enable adequate rest
· Normalise and support mental health
· Operationalise Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) norms, policies, and programs
Prioritise workplace physical and psychological safety
Most organisations focus on physical safety over psychological safety. This is because many hazards causing physical harm can be seen, and reporting mechanisms are in place.
The physical safety aspect often unseen is workplace violence, which could be threat, harassment, or harm. Workplace violence is disproportionately experienced by women.
There must be zero tolerance for potential causes of physical safety and workplace violence. No one should feel there will be repercussions for reporting hazards or violence in the workplace. According to the report, most individuals who say they experience harassment, never take formal action. Every organisation must work to encourage reporting by protecting employees from harassment and potential retaliation.
There must be an increased focus on intentionally building a culture of psychological safety. It is widely discussed but little is done to implement it. It was first mentioned by Schein and Bennis in the 1960s and defined as a group phenomenon that reduces interpersonal risk.
Discussion continued during the 1990s and it was brought to the forefront by Dr Amy Edmondson in her 1999 paper “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams”[6] and subsequently in her 2018 book “The Fearless Organisation: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.”[7]
Edmondson defined it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
Timothy R. Clarke continued the discussion in his 2020 book “The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation.”
The benefits of psychological safety are widely documented and include improved innovation, better decisions, reduced risk of failures, resilience in the face of constant change, happier teams, and ultimately real improvements to the bottom line.
I think there are two key reasons it does not get implemented.
One is that we must realise that we are irrational and emotional beings. We have a preconceived perception that in our professional lives we are all analytical and rational. We must change that belief. Then we must act on that understanding and treat people in the workplace like humans, not widgets.
This starts with building an environment of trust. Without trust, you can close the book on psychological safety. Trust can be hard to build and easy to destroy. Trust must be intentionally cultivated, maintained, and sustained and this takes time and effort.
We also need enough compassion to allow for feelings and mistakes. Feelings must be allowed to surface, and mistakes acknowledged as learning opportunities.
The second reason is that there is a notion that psychological safety is all about high-fives, hugs and teams singing Kumbaya. This is not what it is about. Psychologically safe teams are not devoid of conflict. They thrive on it as it is constructively handled in an interpersonally safe manner.
We need to recognise what psychology safety is not. In 2021, Timothy R. Clarke wrote a great article for Forbes called “What Psychological Safety Is Not” in which he said “Psychological safety is not a shield from accountability. It’s not niceness, coddling, consensus decision-making, unearned autonomy, political correctness, or rhetorical reassurance.”[8]
He summed it up in 5 words - “An environment of rewarded vulnerability.” He defined it as:
“Psychological safety enables you to:
2. Learn
3. Contribute
4. Challenge the status quo
And you can do those things without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way.”
That is the safety we all need.
Enable adequate rest
We all know how a lack of adequate rest can impair our ability to be effective. Working long hours can raise our risk of exhaustion, injury, anxiety, and depression. Our productivity diminishes as our fatigue increases.
It is imperative that organisations consider the length of working hours, overtime shifts, and opportunities for offline rest and refresh time.
Many employees have received the opportunity during the pandemic and beyond to work remotely full-time or part-time. The removal of an often-unnecessary commute has poured hours back onto the clocks of these employees giving them more time to sleep or rest. Employers should consider this when making demands on employees to return to the office on a full-time basis.
It is also important that leaders and managers check in with employees on a regular basis to determine how employees are coping with their workload. They must be cognisant of situations that may contribute to a lack of rest such as providing care and support for family members who have an illness or who are aging, childcare duties, COVID-19, and other illnesses that may have been contracted and contributed to fatigue, and any other demands on employees.
Many organisations are providing employees with flexible work schedules to try and combat the lack of adequate rest. Flexible work schedules not only allow employees to work where they want but also when they want. They can determine their start and end times, and the days and hours that they work. Flexible work schedules allow employees to choreograph work around their personal lives as opposed to the other way around. Schedules are mutually agreed on by the employer and employee.
There may be no hours decided by the company. Teams can decide when to hold necessary meetings and the rest of the time people work when it suits them.
Normalise and support mental health
This has been one of the biggest causes of concern for me when companies started to talk about their mental health initiatives. You can implement all the strategies, plans, interventions and support you like, but unless you remove the stigma of mental health in the workplace, they will go unused.
I have talked with many leaders, who are very proud of introducing mental health first aiders into their organisations. When I ask them what efforts they have made to remove the stigma around mental health, so people feel safe to speak with the first aiders, they look at me blankly.
Every employee must be assured that the services they access are confidential and there will be no repercussions in using them such as jeopardised future career opportunities.
According to Megan Carnegie writing for the BBC Worklife:
“There are two different yet interlinked barriers to breach: the first is employer stigma towards workers with mental health issues, and the second is internalised stigma among workers with mental health issues that prevents them from speaking up.”[9]
Organisations must address both the gaps in knowledge and the fears related to having mental health issues, as well as assumptions about their impact on a person’s ability to work. “
There must be ongoing communication, training and organisational practices that help people feel safe and believe they will not be penalised or isolated for ups, downs, or even significant issues with their mental health.
Operationalise Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Just as I said regarding workplace physical and psychological safety, there must be zero tolerance regarding racism, microaggressions, ableism, and implicit bias. Every person must feel included, valued, and heard. Every person must feel safe to be authentic and express their feelings because they trust that their colleagues welcome and value their unique perspectives.
As the Surgeon General's report states
“When diversity is celebrated as a source of strength, workers experience less stress and anxiety as bias and prejudice is not tolerated. Employers can prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) norms by putting relevant policies and programs in place. Inclusive leadership is vital for fostering diversity among teams and is required to support a work environment where all team members feel valued and represented.”
Wrap
Next week I will explore more Essentials and components of the framework.
[1] https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/10/20/us-surgeon-general-releases-new-framework-mental-health-well-being-workplace.html
[2] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace-2022-report.aspx#ite-393248
[3] https://www.mindsharepartners.org/mentalhealthatworkreport-2021
[4] https://www.adpri.org/assets/people-at-work-2022-a-global-workforce-view/
[5] https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.pdf
[6] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2307/2666999
[7] https://www.amazon.com.au/Fearless-Organization-Psychological-Workplace-Innovation/dp/1119477247
[8] https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothyclark/2021/06/21/what-psychological-safety-is-not/?sh=30f8adb56452
[9] https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220819-is-workplace-stigma-around-mental-health-struggles-changing