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GVPOD is the podcast of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. President and CEO Bridgitte Anderson talks to leaders in the business community about the challenges and opportunities they experience, as well as issues impacting our region.
Bridgitte Anderson (00:03):
Welcome back to another episode of GVPOD Greater Vancouver's Premier business podcast where we delve into the challenges and opportunities facing our region. I'm Bridgitte Anderson, CEO, and president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, and you are listening to the first episode of our newest series about the future of work and mental health in the workplace. The 2020s ushered in a transformative era. The pandemic challenged traditional work paradigms and shined a spotlight on the crucial intersection of mental health and productivity. As the world grapples with these changes, employers who value mental wellness emerges beacons attracting top talent and increasing retention rates. But before we can begin unraveling the blueprint for success in the new era of work, we need to better understand the problems and set ourselves up for success, which is why today I am joined by Paula Allen, global leader and senior Vice President of Research and client Insights at Telus Health. Paula and her team conduct in-depth research compiling the Telus Mental Health Index, which provides insight into the mental health of employed adults and the trend over time across Canada, the us, the Asia Pacific, and the UK and Europe. Welcome, Paula. So nice to have you here with us.
Paula Allen (01:27):
Oh, it's absolutely my pleasure.
Bridgitte Anderson (01:29):
Okay, let's start from the beginning then. What is the TELUS Mental Health Index?
Paula Allen (01:35):
So the mental health index is something that TELUS publishes on an ongoing basis makes it really available to individuals, businesses, and really what it answers is the big question of where are we in terms of our collective mental health? And you've probably heard the term, we can't improve what you don't measure. Well, we have to measure it. Everything is impacted by our mental health, our economy, our relationships, our physical health, everything. So with something so important, we have to understand it well, and we have to understand how to move forward. So with that understanding, several years ago, 2017, we really did a wide scan of everything that was available publicly from private sources and really didn't find anything suitable. So we went about developing it and researched and validated and collected benchmarks on the mental health index for three years and launched it in April of 2020. And we've been publishing monthly ever since.
Bridgitte Anderson (02:43):
Okay, so you launched it in April of 2020, which is mere weeks after a global pandemic really brought so many of us to our knees. It was such a distressing time. How interesting that there was the intersection there of that timing when we were entering into a pretty prolonged period of mental distress.
Paula Allen (03:03):
Oh, absolutely. I mean, we didn't plan to have a pandemic around the time of our launch, but it was interesting that that happened. What it really showed us is our collective vulnerability. We had the baseline data between 2017 and 19, and yes, we had ups and downs, but the decline that we saw compared to December, 2019 and April of 2020 was astounding. So we know that a lot of things that happened around the pandemic, the human mind doesn't like, we don't like rapid change that we don't control, we don't respond well to a sense of isolation. There's risk, there's uncertainty. These are all things that we knew would impact our mental health, but boy did we ever underestimate just how much. But what's most important now is that it really hasn't recovered to where it was before, not by far. So we still have more than double the portion in the working population who are considered high risk in terms of their mental health. And that that kind of doubling is astounding and it really does seem like what happened over that long period of time, that strain, that ongoing stress has reset our collective mental health.
Bridgitte Anderson (04:26):
I'm really surprised by that finding, not that there was a significant decline in mental health and wellness. I think even personally, I think everybody would say, and me included, that it was a difficult, very difficult time. I mean, I am feeling post pandemic now, and I look around and in the business community, there's lots of events and people are connecting and it does seem to be like before times, but you are saying, no, we are not there with our mental health. Why do you think that it is that we haven't bounced back?
Paula Allen (05:00):
Oh, many reasons. One is when you think about what happened, many people are actually using the term a social trauma. So with the change, uncertainty, everything that we had and for a long period of time and that long period of time is kind of an important thing to remember. When we over the course of on an ongoing basis, have anxiety, have uncertainty, have risk, have the polarization that we even had in society, the part of your brain that responds in a fight and flight manner that kind of gets overaged, that becomes a bit of your norm and it competes for energy with the part of your brain that's responsible for emotional control, empathy, the things that really balance us. So over a period of time we developed that kind of, and one of the things that we found as well in the index when going under the hood is that people are a bit more sensitive to stress, a little bit quicker to anger, a little bit more cynical.
(06:07):
And that impacts us in a number of ways. Number one, that kind of thought process, that kind of response to stimuli. When you see something and immediately you're a little bit on edge over a period of time that impacts your own wellbeing, but also impacts the person that you're dealing with. Think about the person, a service role in a job, think about relationships. So it kind of puts us in a bit of a different place. So we see that happening with a good portion of the population, but we also saw people who are high risk before get into a little bit of a worse situation when all of this was happening. So there's a number of things going on that have put us in this sort of more compromised position. But again, I'm a very, very strong optimist, but the only way I can be optimistic is if I know what's going on so I can know how to take my next step. So the whole purpose of this is for us to not just let this happen, get back to where we were or better.
Bridgitte Anderson (07:15):
Yeah, that's such a good point because for an employer seeing the impact of declining mental health in the workplace, you were talking about those sort of frontline workers, but it doesn't matter what kind of business that one might have, if you're seeing declining mental health, there's an impact on productivity, on employee culture, on a whole bunch of different levels. This data though then would provide an opportunity for employers to address what's happening. So how do employers use this data to address some of the challenges that they might be facing amongst their staff and in their workplace?
Paula Allen (07:54):
Yeah, that's a great point. We consider the mental health index for good for individuals. So individuals who take this information really get a sense of awareness. There's certain things that they can take away and hopefully prompt action and for guidance for organization, which is exactly to the point that you had mentioned. One thing that is absolutely clear is that we know very well that there are two parts to mental health in the workplace. One part is the support that you give to individuals and individuals right now need that little bit more support. So a full continuum of support helping people with their wellbeing so they understand how to manage stress. You have coaching around relationships, but also more in-depth care. And we take this information at the Mental health index really seriously at TELUS Health as well. And we've actually even redeveloped some of our services because we know that there is increased complexity in the working population, and we have a wonderful resource in terms of EAP, but we also have something called Total Mental Health that goes a little bit further.
(09:15):
We even have care navigation that will link to other services. We have that ongoing care because we know that that is basically the need of the population right now. So the service is one thing, and there's many ways organizations can get it. The other thing that is really important is workplace culture. So your training of your managers, the attitudes that you model in terms of work, your environment is very important. And we know that when you have both together working well, we see better scores. What we saw through the pandemic is organizations that had solid services that communicated those services very well, that trained their managers, that showed their employees that they cared about them. Those individuals, even though the average went down, individuals in those employers, they stayed pretty close to where we were before it really did have a protective effect.
Bridgitte Anderson (10:23):
So during the pandemic, we all, well everybody who could worked from home, and a majority of people worked from home with the exception of frontline workers. And I think it's important to recognize that because many people didn't have the opportunity to work from home, but the majority of people worked from home. We are now post pandemic and a lot of businesses are still in this hybrid model where some employees may work from home all the time still, maybe they come into the office one or two or three days a week. What does the Mental health index say about the impact of this hybrid work environment? A lot has been said about productivity and collaboration and creativity, but is there a correlation between mental health and the hybrid or remote work environment and people feeling isolated?
Paula Allen (11:14):
We've actually started tracking that and really looked at where people were in terms of their work situation and haven't seen enough of a difference yet to feel comfortable to say that there is a difference. I mean, we would only communicate things that are statistically different. So I think it's still early stages, but what we do see, what we absolutely see is that there are some other factors that the differentiate. So trust is a huge thing, and I jumped right into it, but let me let you know why I jumped into it. People need a sense of belonging, people, social support that helps us manage stress. That's how we're built as human beings. When you're in a situation, think about anthropologically years ago, decades ago, centuries ago, if you didn't have a tribe but community, other people around you, you would just die. So we are attuned to make sure that we are not isolated. And when we are isolated, it impacts our physical health as well as our mental health. That isolation is a risk right now in our society overall that started well before the pandemic, but when we look at isolation, it's not just about having social connections and interactions. People can feel pretty isolated even if they have that actual human beings around them. It is relationships that are trusted. That is what makes a difference
Bridgitte Anderson (12:50):
Being tethered to one another is that connectivity, is that what you're speaking about?
Paula Allen (12:55):
It is that trust between human beings, the trust between individuals, the trust between a workplace and its employees and vice versa. So if there is something that I would focus on very, very strongly, whether it's hybrid or whether you're in the office or whether people are working from home, organizations make decisions on that all the time, and those are the decisions for them to make. But whatever it is, if you don't focus on building trust with your employees through offering them some flexibility that says you trust them. And flexibility can come in a whole bunch of different ways, even if you can't work from home providing support, because if you trust somebody, they care about your wellbeing. So it's important to show that and communicating. I think one of the things that really we forget is how important just those points of communication are, which might be easier if you're seeing each other in the office, but if you're not, you still need to communicate on an ongoing basis, particularly manager to employee.
Bridgitte Anderson (14:03):
And there are lots of studies that are completely focused on trust, and I think your point is so well taken because we are seeing an eroding trust, whether we're talking about in the workplace or in democracy or in society. And so is that one of the keys for employers is to focus on building trust, which will then help to lift wellbeing and then productivity and all of the things that go with that?
Paula Allen (14:35):
A hundred percent, absolutely. Without question, and there've been studies that have shown this as well. Between high and low trust organizations, employees have less stress, 40% less burnout, up to a hundred percent more effective communication, collaboration, and productivity. It wraps around the world twice, but it also helps people's health and wellbeing, which therefore also reinforces their ability to be productive. You just think about yourself, if you're in a low trust environment, what happens to you? That lack of trust is going to engage your brain. You're going to be more anxious, you're going to be distracted because you're wondering about, do people care about my wellbeing or is there a dagger in my back? So it actually makes it impossible for your full potential to show itself because your mind is being taken up even without your awareness just subconsciously dealing with that lack of trust. Who needs that? That doesn't make any business sense whatsoever.
Bridgitte Anderson (15:42):
Well, let's talk about cost here. At the time where families and individuals are facing incredible affordability challenges, so are businesses, and particularly those in small and medium businesses are really struggling with increased costs and inflation, increased debt levels, et cetera. So the cost to mental health, declining mental health in the workplace, I think we can all understand that you're not getting the best from your employees. Perhaps they're not working to their full potential or whatever product or service they're providing is not at where it used to be. So where should employers think about investing, thinking about it as a cost? Because I know that things have changed on the benefits side in a lot of ways since the pandemic, but where could employers really invest that they would see some return on investment in the mental health and wellness area?
Paula Allen (16:42):
Great question. It doesn't need to be massive or fancy or anything of that sort, but there's two things that are fundamental. I'm glad you named them as investments as opposed to cost because absolutely are investments. One is at a minimum have a strong employee assistance program and communicate that program. So we very unfortunately, are dealing with all sorts of issues. Many employers wouldn't even know how frequently employee assistance programs are dealing with employees or family members at risk of dying by suicide. We are dealing with domestic situations that are quite difficult. We are helping people navigate through the maze of how to get supports if they need to have outside, outside supports. We have other services, financial consultation, legal consultation, things that are very tangible in terms of people's lives and creating stress in people's lives. If there is a service that can help your employees lighten their load from a crisis situation to something that could develop into a crisis, if it's not addressed, why wouldn't you do it?
(18:01):
Particularly since it's like 1% or less of a benefit plan, it's one of the most cost effective services you could ever imagine. So that's one thing. Other thing that I would do is train your managers. And again, this is not stuff that's expensive, but people talk about work culture all the time. Your managers are the ones who transmit that culture, their behavior, their attitudes. All of that is important. And you could have managers that are wonderful kind people. It doesn't necessarily mean that they have the knowledge on how to create a mentally healthy work team, how to step in when appropriately step in and not become counselors when somebody is struggling. So you'll get multiples back in terms of the benefit if you actually train your manager as well.
Bridgitte Anderson (19:00):
I mean really the role and responsibilities of the employer and those in management has really shifted. It's very clear that the desires, the demands of the employee are different now too, that there used to be more separation between personal life and professional life. But now I think that's one thing that employers are learning is that you really do have to have that holistic view of your employees in order to have a really thriving workplace.
Paula Allen (19:32):
And part of that too is that the bar is always going up. So what is expected right now of employees in terms of innovation, what's expected in terms of customer service, what's expected in terms of problem solving? It's pretty high. The bar is pretty high and it's not getting any lower. It's getting higher. And these are all the things that are impacted by your wellbeing, that ability to bring your full self, to be clear. And there was research that was done, it's a few years old now, but it still stands very valid and has been replicated where they looked at work teams and in Google high performing work teams, everybody was a genius. And there was differences as there always are, differences between the ones that really stood out and the ones that were doing well, and the ones that really stood out. One of the factors was these had psychologically safe work environments where the manager's behavior was such that people felt that sense of belonging, that sense of validation and respect, that sense of ability to be yourself and to say what's on your mind so you could contribute fully. So there are very tangible business reasons why psychologically safe, mentally healthy, whatever you want to call it, why that kind of workplace is more important now than it ever has been. And again, no matter what you put in your policies, if you don't train your managers, you're not going to actually achieve the best result.
Bridgitte Anderson (21:17):
So true. So looking ahead, we are now, I think would say fair to say that the pandemic is very clearly in the rear view mirror. And so now we're into this new age and trying to find a balance around hybrid work and employee expectations. The labor market is sort of settling down, so maybe things are coming a bit more to a balanced situation in the workplace. What are some of the trends and how is this evolving? What will you be watching for in the next year or two or three?
Paula Allen (21:48):
So within the mental health index, we have certain subscores that are important, and these are the things that really make the biggest difference in our collective mental health. There's three that we look at. We look at all of them, but there's three that are really popped up as really important to look at very closely. Anxiety and isolation have been our lowest subscores for quite some time, and we are seeing the proportion of those who are younger in the workforce. So 20 to 29, 30 to 39, their scores are much lower. So it really does separate based on age cohorts. So this is something to really pay attention to because we know the change of life, you're starting a family or you're starting a job or whatever, that that's stressful, but it doesn't seem to be that. It seems like the younger cohorts are feeling more anxious, have greater sense of isolation, and are carrying that through. So this is a risk that's going to even be more dominant in the workplace going forward. Again, unless we're able to manage it better than we are now.
Bridgitte Anderson (23:08):
I'm not sure whether the mental health index takes a look at the impact of social media. I'm thinking about that younger cohort. I've got two kids in their early twenties and just what a different experience that they're having compared to when I was that age. So it'd be interesting to follow that over the next few years.
Paula Allen (23:25):
Yeah, there's a lot on social media, but there's a lot. Our trend to be more isolated actually predated the social media explosion, although it might contribute to it for some people. Think about this. When we started having machines and cars and things of that sort, and that was wonderful. We were able to move faster. We were able to get things done, and I can tell you, nobody is going to take my car away from me, but what did it do to our physical health, but didn't have to move as much. You can drive everywhere. You can have machinery do your stuff. You could literally just be completely sedentary. So we had to be more intentional about getting physical exercise, going to the gym, et cetera, et cetera. Think about what's happened from a mental health point of view. We have technology, which is wonderful. It's saving lives.
(24:27):
It's helping us move forward as a society. It's accelerated the economy. Nobody is going to take that away, and I don't want that either. But it has allowed us to not have to connect as much as we did before. It has given us ways of connecting that might not be as healthy as other ways of connecting. So we have to just be intentional. We have to play the ball where it lay. We have to be intentional about reaching out. We found the volunteer work actually was very helpful for people's wellbeing, having more patience. We're finding that even when you have a relationship, we're so used to go, go, go, go, that sometimes we don't even have the patience in a relationship to allow that trust and connection to get built. So I do think that we have to start thinking about how intentionally we support our own mental health. That quite hasn't happened yet, but I'm optimistic that it will.
Bridgitte Anderson (25:25):
Well, and I think with this tool, we certainly can be more intentional, and it was unintentional, but your comments around technology lay the foundation for some more of these kinds of conversations we're going to have in this series around the future of work, because technology is such a big part of this. Paula, thank you so much for joining us today. I really think this was a fantastic conversation and the tool that you're working on with the TELUS Mental Health Index provides really important insights for us to support our workplace and our teams. Thank you so much.
Paula Allen (25:57):
It's my pleasure. And thank you for covering this topic. It is critically important for us all to hear and learn.