Trust as the Foundation for Mental Wellness at Work  

I am pleased to be contributing to a free webinar on Trust as the Foundation for Mental Wellness at Work, hosted by Great Place to Work Canada. The webinar is scheduled for 10 am Pacific (1 pm Eastern) on May 28^th.

The webinar will explore the relationship between workplace trust, employee engagement, and mental well-being. I will be drawing on insights from  GPTW’s Trust Index survey, which is used to compile the annual lists of Best Workplaces In Canada. I will be co-presenting the webinar with Alison Grenier, Head of Culture and Research, Great Place to Work Canada.
 

 For more information on the webinar, go to: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6535204932402970625/

To register (at no cost) go to: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3949817800688737293As background, you may be interested in my HR Professional article on how high-trust workplaces promote employee well-being. To download article PDF:
http://grahamlowe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/HR_Professional_February_2019_Lowe.pdf

NEW ARTICLE: High-trust workplaces promote employee well-being

Read my HR Professional article on how high-trust workplaces promote employee well-being. Using data from Great Place to Work Institute’s Trust Index survey, I show that a trust-based culture is essential for achieving a psychologically healthy and safe workplace, as defined by the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. To download article PDF:
http://grahamlowe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/HR_Professional_February_2019_Lowe.pdf 

LIVE WEBINAR: Canadian Workers’ Perspective on What Makes Their Workplaces Healthy and Safe

I will be presenting this webinar, hosted by the Conference Board of Canada, March 12, 2019 at 02:00 PM EDT (60 minutes)

At a time when Canadian employers are striving for a more comprehensive and integrated approach to workplace health and safety, it is essential to know how workers assess these key features of their workplace. This webinar will present new survey evidence that fills important gaps in our understanding of what constitutes a healthy and safe workplace..

Webinar Highlights:

• how workers assess the overall health and safety of their workplace
• how these perceptions are closely related
• the key factors associated with a workplace that is both healthy and safe
• how these workplace features contribute to overall worker well-being

Practical implications for human resource management, occupational health and safety systems, and workplace wellness strategies will be highlighted.

For more information and to register: https://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=10122

NEW PROJECT: The Evolution of EAP

 My colleague Dr. Mark Attridge is updating his widely-used Purchaser’s Guide to EAPs, published by the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) in 2009. Mark is one of the leading experts on the EAP industry. 

As part of his research for this new edition of the Purchaser’s Guide to EAPs,Mark has developed a short survey to obtain input from individuals in Canada and the US who are familiar with the EAP industry. I have offered to send an invitation to Graham Lowe Group e-newsletter subscribers, with the hope that those of you with knowledge of the Canadian or US EAP industry will provide Mark with your views on how EAP has been evolving.  Specifically, this new survey for EASNA asks for your input on two issues: 1) How the employee assistance program (EAP) industry has evolved over the past 30 years; and 2) What themes should be featured as Mark updates the first edition of the Purchaser’s Guide to EAPs.
 The survey will take about 10 minutes of your time.

Here is the LINK TO SURVEY
Or you can paste this link into your browser: 

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4354791/Evolution-of-EAP-Industry-EASNA-SURVEY

In addition to helping EASNA, you could win a $100 prize for completing the survey.
 

The 2009 original Purchaser’s Guide is available free at the EAP Digital Archive:

On behalf of Mark and EASNA, I would like to thank your time and input. 
 

Regards, GRAHAM LOWE

Research Report: Current and Future Labour Market Issues Facing the OHS Profession in BC’s Manufacturing Sector

This report presents findings from industry-led labour market research conducted by the Graham Lowe Group into the occupational health and safety (OHS) labour market needs of British Columbia’s manufacturing sector. Click here to download the full report.

The research was undertaken by a Sector Labour Market Partnership (Sector LMP) led by the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC, with oversight provided by a Steering Committee consisting of representation from manufacturing firms, industry and business associations, labour organizations and post-secondary educational institutions.

The future of BC’s manufacturing sector depends on how effectively companies meet a number of significant economic, technological, workforce and regulatory trends. These trends present significant OHS risks and challenges. It is essential that manufacturers are able to acquire the expertise and resources needed to address these issues. Indeed, improvements in workplace safety are a precondition for a thriving manufacturing sector in BC, especially given the relatively high injury rates in the industry today.

Information was gathered through a survey of BC manufacturers, 5 regional focus groups and 13 key-informant interviews. Background research included an analysis of relevant statistical data and a review of academic and grey literature on OHS topics relevant to manufacturing.

Based on this research, the report identifies seven practical implications for BC manufacturers and industry partners, including:

1. Training effectiveness. Given that OHS training is essential for workplace safety, its effectiveness could be improved by incorporating more options for individual self-paced and internet-based learning in short modules. Evaluation should be incorporated into all OHS training in order to determine if learning and behavioural change goals are being met, and to identify opportunities for improvement.
2. Mid-career entry into OHS roles. The prevalence of mid-career transitions into OHS roles for manufacturing workers signals a continued and possibly growing need for certificate programs as a convenient route to upgrading OHS knowledge and skills. Manufacturing-specific courses could meet some of the requirements for one or more existing OHS post-secondary programs.
3. Safety certifications. Health and safety management systems contribute to a safe workplace. Encouraging the adoption of OHS management systems through safety certifications is one pathway to improved OHS performance.
4. Joint health and safety committees. These committees have a positive influence on a firm’s safety performance. To be effective, committee members require appropriate education and training, must feel empowered, and need resources and capabilities to monitor leading safety indicators.
5. Regional resources. The availability of regionally-based safety advisors and other shared resources are crucial for small and medium-size firms (SMEs) to acquire the OHS expertise they require to implement OHS management systems, provide employee training and embark upon a safety certification process.
6. OHS value proposition. Helping senior management understand the value of OHS – and the crucial role that OHS professionals play in delivering that value – is an on-going challenge in BC and in other jurisdictions. Project partners can help to address this challenge by developing an OHS ‘value proposition’ for BC manufacturers, which defines the core competencies of an OHS professional in manufacturing. 
7. Target SMEs. Also required is on-going education and awareness-raising efforts targeted at SMEs, especially medium-size firms given their relatively high lost-time injury rates. It may be helpful to approach OHS as a quality improvement initiative. Developing easy-to-use diagnostic tools would also help SMEs to identify opportunities to make their workplaces safer.

NEW RESOURCES LINKING WELL-BEING AND TALENT MANAGEMENT

ARTICLE – The Role of Employee Happiness in Talent Management

My March 19^th article in ReWork examines the importance of focusing on employee well-being – or happiness – in talent management strategies. By taking this approach, talent management practices will be better able to cultivate the capabilities of each and every employee. The article provides six practical suggestions for how to simultaneously improve employee well-being, talent management and organizational performance.

Click here to read the article.

ReWork is published by Cornerstone. Major forces of transformation like mobile technology, collaborative learning and Big Data are shaping the way we work, pushing talent management strategy to the center of organizational success. ReWork is a useful guide to this changing industrial landscape, helping executives and HR leaders succeed in the new, tech-driven economy. You can sign up to receive ReWork free by clicking on the link above.

WEBINAR –  Working Smarter: Designing Work to Improve Well-being and Performance

Changes in Canadians’ jobs and workplaces are shaped by major economic and social trends. At the same time, there is considerable potential to maximize the upside of these trends by reimagining how we work.

Designing work to be more challenging, meaningful, skilled, collaborative and flexible will bring about improvements in organizational performance and workers’ well-being. As the OECD has argued, this must be a basic goal for all advanced industrial societies. Canada is ideally positioned to achieve this goal.

Canada’s well-educated workforce sets a high bar for talent management practices. This abundance of human resources should give employers a big competitive advantage in today’s information-driven economy. However, there is untapped opportunity to better enable workers to fully apply and further develop their capabilities. Finding ways to ‘work smarter’ will improve the quality of work-life, increase workers’ engagement and contributions – with positive results for organizational performance and society as a whole.

I will discuss the following topics in this interactive webinar:

• The current state of work in Canada
• How Canadian workers have experienced a tumultuous decade of change
• Trends in the quality of work-life
• Opportunities to improve both well-being and job performance
• How to redesign work to close the ‘capability gap’ 

Time & Date: March 28, 2018 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Click Here To Register (FREE)

This Webinar is sponsored by Cornerstone in partnership with Human Resources Director Canada.

Here is an update on my research with NRC Health and Ontario hospitals. 

My article entitled Are Hospital Employees’ Work Experience and Patient Experience Related? was published today in Longwoods eLetter.

The key finding: The more engaged employees are, the more positively they rate their hospital as a place to work, the more they trust their organization, the higher the perceived quality of patient care delivered by their unit, and the more they consider their work environment to be ‘patient centred’, the more likely it is that inpatients would recommend the hospital to family or friends and highly rate the quality of care they received. 

Click here to read the article.

I will be presenting an interactive 60 minute Webinar on this topic, sponsored by NRC Health: 
Thursday, November 2  |  11:00 AM ET  

Many hospitals have taken steps to cultivate a highly-engaged workforce, expecting that higher engagement translates into better patient care. While there is an abundance of evidence from other industries that engaged employees perform their jobs better, there is far less attention to this engagement – performance link in healthcare.

• Understand how different indicators of employee engagement relate to each other.
• Discover the relationship between levels of employee engagement and patient reported experience
• Learn the science behind correlating employee experience items to a global rating question. 

Click here to REGISTER

Sincerely, GRAHAM LOWE

As 2016 draws to a close, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all of you a very enjoyable holiday season and much health and happiness in 2017.  

I also would like to draw your attention to my new book (with Frank Graves), released this fall by Rotman UTP Publishers: Redesigning Work: A Blueprint for Canada’s Future Well-being and Prosperity. Visit the book’s website for more information and to order your copy.

Redesigning Work describes a better working future for Canadians.

Canada’s future prosperity and quality of life depends on designing better jobs and workplaces. Redesigning Work provides a blueprint for the future of work, based on extensive surveys of Canadians that identify practical ways to make work more motivating, rewarding and productive.

Using original public opinion research, the book shows that many Canadians see a future of declining living standards, a besieged middle class, arrested economic progress, and a reduced quality of life. The book counters these negative trends, arguing that improvements in peoples’ jobs and workplaces can raise the quality of life by unlocking previously untapped potential to strengthen the Canadian economy.

You may also be interested in my recent article, with Frank Graves, in Policy Options. Drawing on our book, the article is called: “Redesigning work: A blueprint for achieving shared prosperity.” We make the case that Canadians are ready for a more activist government that will help improve their quality of work life. 

Best wishes, GRAHAM LOWE

Discusses how educational leaders can better contribute to creating healthy and inclusive school communities by cultivating resilience, personal wellbeing and transformational leadership in their roles.

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My new book, with Frank Graves (President of EKOS Research Associates), is now available for pre-order and will be published on October 11th:

Redesigning Work: A Blueprint for Canada’s Future Well-Being and Prosperity

Redesigning Work describes a better working future for Canadians.

Using original public opinion research, the book shows that many Canadians see a future of declining living standards, a besieged middle-class, arrested economic progress, and a reduced quality of life. The book counters these negative trends, arguing that improvements in peoples’ jobs and workplaces can raise the quality of life by unlocking previously untapped potential to strengthen the Canadian economy.

Redesigning Work provides a catalyst for action by employers, policy makers, workers, HR professionals, unions, NGOs and others in a position to influence the future of work. The book’s blueprint for creating better jobs and workplaces reflects what Canadians say they want, based on extensive surveys by EKOS Research Associates conducted before and after the Great Recession.

What’s been missing from the recent media commentary and expert analysis of how to kick-start the economy and increase opportunities to achieve a middle-class living standard is a focus on people’s daily work. Redesigning Work fills this gap, offering constructive insights on how changes in work can lead to improvements in well-being and prosperity.

Based on the extensive feedback from thousands of Canadian workers, the authors identify numerous practical ways that existing jobs can be made more motivating, rewarding and productive. The book’s evidence paints an optimistic picture of the future of work, especially if employers and governments have the will to implement small changes in work that have the potential to make a big difference in Canadian’s quality of work life and job performance.

For more information, resources and to pre-order your copy visit the book’s website: www.redesigningwork.ca

You are invited to participate in a survey of workplace mental health in Canada. We would greatly appreciate approximately 20 minutes of your time to complete the on-line survey, which can be accessed by clicking here, or by using this url: https://hrpa.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5uwTtuxVF1E43L7

The survey is part of a larger research project examining the evolution of workplace mental health strategies in Canada over the past 10 years. The research will assess progress, existing gaps, and sector-specific trends in this area. With support from the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Dr. Joti Samra, through the University of Fredericton, is leading the research project with advisory support from Dr. Mark Attridge, Dr. Graham Lowe, and Dr. Martin Shain.

Study findings will be presented in 2017 at multiple venues, including the HRPA Annual Conference in Toronto in February and a joint Great-West Life Centre/Mental Health Commission of Canada special event in September. A publically-available research report and book also will be published in 2017.

Questions about the project can be directed to Dr. Joti Samra: info@drjotisamra.com.

Please note that the survey will be available in French in the coming weeks.
 
Thanking you in advance for your contribution to this study.

Best wishes, GRAHAM LOWE