In our February 2023 CharityVillage Connects podcast episode checking up on workplace mental health in Canada’s nonprofit sector, we interviewed Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research and Total Wellbeing and a Senior Vice-President, TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks).

In our interview, Paula shared important insight into the top mental health concerns of employees, how leaders and individuals can be a positive influence in the workplace, and the intersection of workplace mental health and employee retention.

To start, Paula explained how the pandemic was a catalyst in clarifying people’s priorities and creating an understanding that there is no longer a separation between work and life.

Paula Allen: When we have any kind of crisis like we did  over the the pandemic, your priorities become a lot clearer. You know, what is important becomes a lot clearer. And people realized, I think, their vulnerability, in terms of their mental health and wellbeing. We all have vulnerability. If you’re human, you do, but sometimes it’s not at the forefront of our awareness. So protecting yourself, enhancing your wellbeing has become very important.

So people are looking at employers in terms of, is this a place where I’m going to have harm? Is this a place where my wellbeing is not important, so I don’t have support, I don’t have services. I don’t have a workplace environment that’s going to help me flourish. And they are rejecting those environments and workplaces. So it’s not just about the dollar, it’s not just about the title. It is about a really clear recognition at this point that there truly is no work-life separation. Your life is your life, and your work is a component of your life. So the standards that you have for your life overall are the standards that you have for your workplace.

We asked Paula about the influence that nonprofit leaders have on the mental health of their staff.

Paula Allen: I think it’s important that leaders do understand that they can have tremendous positive influence. You know, one of the things that we found in the mental health index is the entire population was under strain. There was no question about it over this pandemic. But when employees spoke about their workplaces, those workplaces that prioritize their mental health and wellbeing invested in things like promotion of services. Managers were trained. So they were able to step in and show that personal empathy and concern. Those things made a difference. Those people separated from the average working Canadian and their mental health scores were better. You know, they either declined less or they didn’t decline at all. No one factor, including the workplace, can take accountability for everything. But workplaces can mitigate even this tremendous societal strain that’s been going on.

If leaders have such an influence on their staff’s mental health and wellbeing, what can they be doing to ensure they are making a positive difference? Paula had some simple suggestions.

Paula Allen: What we’ve also found is that it’s not that hard, it’s just that people need to make sure that they’re conscious that they have impact on other people. Mental health is a team sport. It’s like you, our interactions make a difference. So first and foremost, do no harm. You know, when people don’t feel safe, you know, when they feel belittled, when they feel there’s gossip, all of these things are harm. YIf you show empathy to others, that in and of itself, says that you value that other person as a human being. And that is super important. You can’t solve everybody’s problems, but showing that you value someone else is really important.

It’s not surprising that workplace mental health intersects with employee retention – but not always in the ways we might expect. Paula explains.

Paula Allen: We looked exactly at that issue. And we asked people who were intending to leave, what their experience is…and we thought at that time that there would be a lot of people saying that, you know, whether or not my employer allowed me to work from home was a big issue, because we saw a lot about that in the media. I’m not gonna stay here because I can’t go remote. And that’s the case.

But the absolute number one factor was a sense of belonging. And that had eroded over the pandemic. It was very strong, you know, people were very connected because they needed to kind of work with their employers to get things set up in the very beginning. And then slowly over time, that sense of belonging declined in the working population and was the single strongest driver in terms of people wanting to leave.

So those people who did feel that connection, they did feel that empathy from their employer, they did have that social network and social support, they were at no more risk of leaving than before the pandemic.

Want to hear more from Paula? Listen to her full interview in the video below.

Listen to Paula and other nonprofit sector and mental health experts discuss the current state of workplace mental health in our new CharityVillage Connects podcast episode. Click here or listen to the podcast player below.