(Pt.5) How Mental Health and Wellness is Driving Demand for Psychological Safety

This episode is part five in our five part series on "What's Driving Demand for Psychological Safety". When individuals feel psychologically safe at work, they are more likely to report positive mental health outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, higher levels of well-being, and lower levels of stress and burnout.

(05:20) What is mental health? Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think and feel and act, and it also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Previously organizations looked at individuals as "units of production" and only recently are we finally beginning to recognize individuals humanity.

(13:56) Employers have a duty of care towards their employees. This is certainly the case for employee physical safety. How far does this duty of care reach? Does it encompass mental health? Ask yourself, "Do you bear some level of responsibility for the mental health and well-being of the people you employ, the people you associate with, and look even more broadly in association, just any social collective." The answer is yes, you do bear some of the responsibility.

(20:34) More than 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression worldwide according to World Health Organization. 76% of US workers in 2021 survey reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition, including anxiety and depression, which is an increase of 17% from just two years ago. According to the American Psychological Association, stress levels in the United States have been steadily increasing over the past decade, with almost two-thirds of Americans reporting that their stress levels have increased in the past year. Mental health and wellness is a growing category that deserves deliberate attention.

(26:38) ISO, The International standards Organizations Standard 405-003 is a new standard that recognizes that employers are responsible for protecting not just the physical health of their employees but the psycho-social health as well. This means managing psychosocial risks, which are defined in that regulation as risks related to how work is organized. Not risks related to the work itself but also risks related to how work is organized.

(39:31) Psychological safety and a positive workplace culture can help to reduce the stigma associated with mental health making it more likely that individuals will seek the support they need. When individuals feel psychologically safe at work, they are more likely to report positive mental health outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, higher levels of well-being, and lower levels of stress and burnout.

Important Links
World Health Organization - Mental health: strengthening our response.
Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General - Workplace Well-Being
Employee Retention Statistics And Insights 2022
2021 Employee Wellbeing Mindset Study
NYT - The Rising Tide of Global Sadness
World Health Organization - Depression
Australian Bureau of Statistics - National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing
National Institute of Mental Health - Mental Illness
American Psychological Associate - Stress in America
Mental Health Commission of Canada - National Standard