More companies understand now that offering programs that help their employees deal with mental health issues results in more engaged staff and higher retention rates.Getty Images
At The Flight Centre, employees enrolled in the Hour of Power program devote an hour to exercise once a week while they’re on a shift.
Anna Fisher, director for the Americas of Flight Centre Travel Group’s wellness-focused department, Healthwise, recalls one Canadian employee who leaned into the program.
The employee started walking, and on her days off, too. “It allowed her to get three solid days of movement in per week, which is a really incredible start to a movement routine,” says Ms. Fisher. The employee began running and later started doing 5-kilometre fun runs.
A 2023 report by the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that exercise is 1.5-times more effective than counselling or medication to alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress. With mental health problems costing Canadian companies more than $50-billion a year – a 2016 estimate from the Mental Health Commission of Canada – organizations need programs both big and small to tackle the problem.
“During the pandemic, we saw a huge surge in mental health problems, and we’ve seen that sustained,” says Katharine Coons, national associate director of workplace mental health for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). She says companies are giving the ad hoc programs launched in 2020 a more thoughtful revamp of late, with her team getting four to five calls a week asking about workplace initiatives.
“Mental health is a priority for most of the leaders who I talk to,” says Kirstin Beardsley, chief executive officer of Food Banks Canada, noting the trend toward adding senior leadership roles such as chief mental health officer or chief wellness officer, with staff responding positively. “It’s now an expectation from employees.”
Impact of change
A recent study by Indeed shows that only 25 per cent of Canadians say they’re thriving at work, with 57 per cent reporting feeling stressed at work most of the time.
Efforts to change things can pay off. A 2019 report from Deloitte showed the return on investment in mental health problems, per $1 spent, was $1.62 over three years. When programs run longer than three years, the median annual ROI goes up to $2.18.
Ms. Fisher says Flight Centre’s commitment to mental wellness contributes to high retention rates. In surveys, more than half of the company’s nearly 1,000 Canadian employees scored their emotional well-being as 80 per cent or higher. “We stay committed to our people, and they stay committed to us,” she says.
Leading well
Food Banks Canada prioritizes mental health as part of a positive company culture. “If we didn’t have a strong culture, we wouldn’t be able to do any of the work that we do. We say that people are at the centre of everything,” says Ms. Beardsley.
Managers at the company do wellness check-ins regularly. “It’s a reminder that equity matters, your work matters. And it’s a chance to air concerns about workload or about how work is impacting them,” says Ms. Beardsley. The nonprofit has a program that awards people for meeting their exercise goals and one employee runs a meditation group.
Ms. Beardsley and her team can effectively talk about mental health because they’ve been trained, including through the CMHA program Not Myself Today.
More than 1,000 organizations have used the program, which teaches managers about mental illness and how to create a safe and supportive culture and reduce stigma. “So often people want to do the right thing, but they’re scared they’re going to say something that they shouldn’t. So they say nothing at all,” says Ms. Coons. The CMHA offers other leadership-focused training programs, including a new interactive e-learning series as part of Not Myself Today, plus it helps companies follow Canada’s National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety.
Personalizing health
According to the Indeed survey, the top contributor to well-being at work is a sense of belonging. “When you feel like people appreciate you, it makes you work that much harder and want to succeed for the team. You feel like you’re part of this bigger, greater thing,” says Elise Marcotte, senior manager of Talent Intelligence for Indeed Canada.
For Ms. Fisher at Flight Centre, belonging helps employees feel safe enough to reach out if they need help. The company is increasingly exploring the power of storytelling to reduce stigma and help people feel safe. On the company’s internal podcast, employees are talking about their struggles, including with menopause – a popular topic. People also post on the company’s social media channels. “It helps so people don’t feel so alone with their different challenges,” says Ms. Fisher.
Little changes
Even companies with little to no mental-health focused initiatives can make inroads. “Start small, but stay committed,” Ms. Fisher suggests.
Ms. Marcotte observed one company increase its benefit coverage for mental health support to $5,000 a year, with good outcomes. “It’s a simple measure, but it’s highly impactful,” she says.
Importantly, any project should be connected to employee wants and needs; companies should only put in a gym, change benefits or share a meditation app if employees say so in company surveys. After, projects should be measured through surveys, plus effects on disability leaves and turnover rates.
For the most lasting outcomes, however, small wellness projects should mesh with bigger picture plans and a commitment from leaders.
“The more impactful way to address employee mental health is through a longer-term strategy and policy and culture,” says Ms. Beardsley, who has seen employees in tough situations look to the company supports at her organization and be able to improve the situation.
“Some are still just doing free lunch and learns or a ping-pong table or a party, but I think we’re shifting away from that. If we really want to have sustainable impacts on our employees, it is in the roots of the organization. It’s in the culture. It’s in everything that we do.”
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