Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace

A new report by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) aims to help get small and medium-sized businesses on track toward developing a mental health strategy for their workplace.  While it is identified in the report that 81% of businesses believe that it is important to support their employees’ mental wellness in the workplace, there are still some gaps in terms of acting on that belief.  In a 2016 Fresh Intelligence survey it was found that 35% of small business, 65% of medium-sized business and 76% of large business had mental health strategies.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada finds that the cost of mental health to the economy is $50 billion per year.  The challenge with mental health is that it can be an intimidating topic for employers and employees.   
In response to the gap, the OCC has developed a toolkit based on three principles:

1. Setting Expectations – Creating a mentally healthy workplace is a journey and employers do not need to have all the answers.   A good way to start is assessing their businesses by looking for barriers, support and opportunities for change, as well as identifying potential stress points in their workplace.
2. Creating a Supportive Environment – Leadership, from not only management but employees themselves, is needed to create a supportive environment where everyone can feel comfortable with and empowered by the focus on mental wellness.
3. Maintaining the Conversation – Businesses are encouraged to regularly assess if they are sticking with their mission on mental wellness.  Several ways to do this including feedback and using data to measure progress. 

Mental Health Toolkit