Psychological Safety Blog

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue We all experience crisis at some point in our lives. Critical events, such as workplace emergencies, environmental disasters, social conflicts, personal crises and more can be overwhelming. However, with appropriate preparation and response to these events, we can mitigate the negative impacts to…

By Staff Last month, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at The Academy Awards – an open act of aggression in front of millions of onlookers. The scene caught the world and attendees off guard, and there has been considerable conversation and debate about the incident since it took…

By Dr. Bill Howatt The average Canadian spends approximately two hours a day worrying about their finances. Sixty-four percent of workers worry several times per month, and nine percent worry whenever a bill is due. Another 48% say they’ve lost sleep because of financial worries. A survey conducted in 2021 revealed that…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue Entering a new era of work two years into a global pandemic, we are facing new challenges and continued uncertainty. As leaders, we are strategic thinkers, always looking at the future to ensure our organizations succeed. It can be easy for us to…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue You likely don’t spend too much time thinking about whether your employees have had a good night’s sleep, but maybe you should. Employees may become sleep-deprived due to working long hours or feeling stressed about work and/or personal issues. These employees are more…

By Dr. Bill Howatt In March 2020, we were all reeling from the rapid onset of lockdowns and remote work, and no one knew how long the pandemic would disrupt society. It wasn't long before concerns about loneliness started finding their way into our conversations, and the media started to…

By Dr. Bill Howatt The pandemic has changed our workplaces in numerous ways and many people are re-evaluating and assessing their level of satisfaction, and sense of security and safety at work. Many are choosing to change jobs or leave the workforce altogether. As a result, many workplaces are are…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue The pandemic has tested many relationships, including that of employers and employees. While we may not be experiencing “The Great Resignation” to the same extent as our neighbours to the south, it could just be a matter of time. Canadian employees are evaluating…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Many leaders have found that remote work has not hampered their operations, and, in fact, has brought some benefits to the business. And with two years under our belts, many employees are beginning to adapt and prefer this new way of working. In December last year,…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue Some people thrive in the winter. Whether they are enjoying time outside in the snow or cozying up in front of the fireplace with a good book, winter can bring unique joys. For many, however, winter can also bring unique challenges. With less…

By Staff When you think back on your career, do you feel that the people and organizations you worked for valued you as a whole person? That they cared about your overall health and wellbeing, any stress you felt at home or work, and they wanted to protect your physical…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue There was a time in the not-too-distant past when leaders and employees alike were expected to ‘leave personal business at home’ and ‘keep work about work’. Thankfully, we have a much greater understanding today that what affects us in one area of our…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue When you hear the phrase workplace impairment, what comes to mind?  If you are like most people, you likely think about substance use, such as alcohol or drugs. And while this is one piece of the puzzle, it’s important that we broaden our…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Burnout is a negative consequence of employees feeling overworked, overloaded, overwhelmed, and suffering chronic workplace stress. Before Covid, the World Health Organization identified burnout as an occupational phenomenon. Benefits Canada reported on a survey of nearly 7,000 people in workplaces across Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand,…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue French version: Investir dans le bien-être des employés porte ses fruits. L’épanouissement des employés est un facteur déterminant pour obtenir des résultats avantageux. Languishing and flourishing are mental states that predict how we perceive our world. The Keyes' mental health continuum suggests all workers…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Like the body, the mind has limitations that vary with the individual. One employee may carry a 100-kg backpack a considerable distance while walking a metre with that much weight on their back would be a challenge for another. Your employees also have individual thresholds for…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue The workplace is not immune to the lasting impacts of the pandemic on employee’s mental health. With the fourth wave of the pandemic underway employees continue to face psychosocial stressors that impact their emotional well-being, including isolation, loneliness, work demand, manager-employee relationships, psychological…

By Staff Why are you passionate about creating a culture of safety in your workplace? Was there a particular event or moment in your work history that was a turning point for you? For George McClean, President, National Tire Distributors, the turning point was a near-miss in his early working…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Michel Rodrigue French version: La sécurité psychologique au travail: est-elle indispensable, importante ou facultative? Qu’en pensez-vous? This is the first of a new series of posts that will be featured on the CEO Health + Safety Leadership Network Psychological Safety blog. Michel Rodrigue, President and…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Whether it is self-imposed, felt from peers, or is part of an organization’s culture, stigma can prevent employees in the workplace from asking for support and perpetuate negative attitudes and discrimination towards individuals with mental illness. On any given day before the pandemic, one in five…

This guest post written by Milena Braticevic, PhD Integral Health Psychological safety is becoming one of the main concerns in today’s complex work environment. A recent Workhuman study revealed that 48% of workers have experienced burnout and 61% had elevated stress levels during the pandemic. Considering these statistics, would you…

By Dr. Bill Howatt The ultimate goal in creating a psychologically safe workplace culture is that employees believe they will not be humiliated, punished, or isolated for speaking up with observations, ideas, questions, and concerns. Psychologically safe leaders understand that they play an essential role in driving this fear out…

By Dr. Bill Howatt A recent Leger poll indicates that 80% of Canadians support vaccine passports in their province. However, the divide between Canadians who support them and the 20% who feel otherwise is growing wider and presenting significant hazards to employees' psychological safety in many workplaces. Vaccine passports went…

By Dr. Bill Howatt COVID has triggered intense focus on employees' mental health, leading organizations to invest more attention and resources on this critical issue. While this is an important step in the right direction, there is still a big gap. Most of the money spent is directed towards training…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley If you aren't sure, it may be time to take stock. In a recent Diversity and Inclusion Masterclass hosted by The Change Leadership, panelists looked at change through a DEIB lens - diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta facilitator and founder…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Dolly Parton says, "Any relationship is like a house with an upstairs. It's got two stories." Telling both sides of the story is what the Mental Health Commission of Canada, St. Mary’s University, and the Canadian Psychological Association aim to do with their…

Do you trust your gut? Like, really trust it—enough to factor it into your business planning and decision-making? Few leaders do. Most rely on facts and statistics and give little credence to this powerful and reliable resource. Honing Intuition is the topic of the latest CEO Health + Safety Leadership…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Growing vaccination rates are enabling the world to get back on track and people to be with people again. A weight is lifting, but we're not out of the woods yet. COVID is not going anywhere fast. Even with vaccines readily available, the…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Senior Leaders: What are your attitudes and behaviours regarding vacation? Publicly, most leaders say that taking time is important. However, if you don’t take vacation time yourself, or employees are made to feel guilty for taking theirs, the incongruency of your words and…

In the white paper Undertaking Culture Transformation to Adapt and Thrive, released by the CEO Health + Safety Leadership Network in 2020, Cheryl Fullerton, EVP, People and Communications at Corus Entertainment, talked about how Corus maintained engagement, commitment, and performance during its 2016 merger with Shaw Media. She shared details…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley We are starting to see the light. The ever-increasing number of vaccinated Canadians is creating new energy and optimism. However, it will likely be a couple of years before we start to feel a sense of stability and we have a true sense…

One of the featured sessions at the Conference Board of Canada’s Mental Health Gap Conference, which took place in April, was Leadership perspectives: Supporting the mental health of senior management. The panelists were Santa Ono, Vice-Chancellor, UBC; Barb Keenan, Senior Vice President Human Resources, LCBO; and David Schwarz, Senior Vice…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Unwanted stress response refers to how an individual reacts to a situation, not the actual situation itself. It sneaks up on us and can cause us to say and do things that we later regret. COVID has increased unpleasant and unwanted stress for many of us,…

When Hayley Peek was suffering from severe panic attacks and became very ill at work, she faced the daunting task of talking to her manager about it. They went out for lunch, and she worked up the courage to tell him she was struggling. He listened. He validated her feelings.…

By Dr. Bill Howatt How challenging are uncomfortable, emotionally charged conversations for you? As leaders, we face uncomfortable conversations regularly at work. Whether it’s denying a vacation request, rejecting a schedule change, not approving a professional development request, or ending employment because a position has been eliminated, these conversations can…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Did you know that 95% of our decisions are driven by emotions? They affect us all day long at work and at home, and when we are under strain, they can impact our choices and behaviours. If left unchecked, unpleasant emotions can lead to poor mental…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Imagine approaching a salesperson for assistance with buying a computer, only to be handed a flyer and left to your own devices. You’d likely go elsewhere to find a salesperson who was perhaps not an expert on computers but could at least share…

As we face a third and potentially more severe wave of this relentless virus, it is hard to imagine that it has had any positive impact on our overall health and wellbeing. However, amidst all the devastation it has left in its wake, COVID, it seems, might have given complacency…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Imagine you start a meeting in a great mood. You’re looking forward to catching up with your team. Before the meeting starts, one of your team members asks permission to share a few troubling statistics that reveal how COVID is negatively impacting the mental health of…

Are you familiar with normalcy bias? If the terminology doesn't ring a bell, the behaviours associated with this bias might. In "Overcoming Psychological Obstacles to Beating Coronavirus" author Eric Haseltine, Ph.D. defines it this way, "The normalcy bias, simply put, is people's tendency to discount the risks of a pending…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Dirigeants: Accordez-vous assez d’attention aux employés à risque qui ont besoin d’aide? Before COVID, one in five employees had a mental health issue of some kind, including substance use disorders. Now, one year into the pandemic, a Leger poll conducted on behalf…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Le ton de votre leadership favorise-t-il la santé mentale? Every leader sets a unique tone in their organization. Shaped by personal beliefs, communication, and small daily actions, that tone can have a powerful effect on employees’ perception of their workplace and the…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Over the past few decades, gender equity in the workplace has come a long way. The pay gap has narrowed (albeit not closed all the way), there are more women in leadership roles, and there is broader female representation in male-dominated industries. However,…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Comment les dirigeants peuvent atténuer les risques associés à la fatigue de la COVID- 19 COVID Fatigue is not a clinical diagnosis. It’s an insidious state of mind usually stemming from an extended period of missing social connections and pre-COVID routines and…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Andrew Harkness Many leaders underestimate reports of increased sick time and disability due to mental illness. They behave much like an NFL coach when a star player goes down in a close game. The coach may acknowledge the hurt player, but their focus quickly shifts…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Il n’est jamais trop tard pour acquérir des compétences en leadership authentique COVID-19 has forever altered how work gets done and how leaders lead — but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As a leader, the pandemic has granted an opportunity to…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Leaders have been under enormous pressure over the past nine months. Employees are counting on you in ways they never have before. The reality or threat of layoffs, and possibly closures, is always looming large. And, every day, you face the challenge of…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Créer une culture du bien-être mental cet hiver In today’s economy, employees may be doubling their outputs out of fear of being made redundant. From the employer perspective, this could easily be perceived as a benefit that results from employees working…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Andrew Harkness Self-awareness is a powerful tool. For example, if we step on a scale and discover that we are 10 pounds overweight, we have a choice. We can do nothing, or we can adjust our lifestyle by eating less and exercising more. The same…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Feedback is important in the workplace at any time, especially now, as many leaders at all levels within organizations are struggling to keep employees who are working remotely connected to their work and colleagues in a meaningful way. For employees to feel valued,…

How can a small employer ensure that every employee has one safe social connection in the workplace? A participant asked this question at Social Connection and Psychological Safety, part one of a two-part webinar series led by Dr. Bill Howatt on behalf of Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS). Webinar…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley COVID-19 has disrupted our economy and placed an enormous financial strain on organizations of all sizes. Most are working hard to stay afloat and many others have already made the heartwrenching decision to shut their doors. In a study done by the Mental…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Conseils pour favoriser la connexion dans un monde virtuel The pandemic has forced rapid and massive changes in the way we work. Overnight, new processes, procedures, and technology were introduced to keep organizations open and viable. As a leader, you probably feel…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley It’s been over seven months since the onset of the pandemic. As a leader, how concerned are you about supporting your employees through the next seven? How are you going to support yourself in the process? COVID-19 has had a negative impact on…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Comment les dirigeants peuvent préparer leur équipe à se lancer dans la course de fond qui commence For most of us, COVID-19 is moving at the speed of a glacier. We want it gone, but it’s not moving away fast enough. And…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: L’importance de l’autoprise en charge de la santé par les dirigeants The Importance of Leader Self-Care To say that COVID has put enormous pressure on leaders would be an understatement. On top of accelerating and amplifying all of the usual business imperatives,…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Andrew Harkness “At least one third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, who innovate and create but dislike self promotion, who favour working on their own over working in teams.”- Susan Cain, Quiet Did you…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Andrew Harkness Only 23% of Canadian workers would feel comfortable talking to their employer about a psychological health issue. [1] The average employee spends about seven working days per year stressed out about a work-related problem instead of coming forward with their concern. Often, it…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Ces chefs de file qui ont le pouvoir de faire naître l’espoir durant la crise de la COVID-19 The lens through which we see the world influences what we believe is possible. When we’re caught in a pattern of thinking that magnifies…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Many engagement surveys ask employees to rank the degree to which they trust their leaders and organization, but most fail to ask whether they feel trusted by their manager and organization. Trust is an important metric for organizations, but it is equally important…

Written by Fresh Communications in collaboration with WSPS The world has seemed a lot darker since COVID-19 took us all in its grip, but if there is a silver lining to be found in this crisis, it could be argued that the pandemic has helped to shine a spotlight on…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Les dirigeants peuvent apaiser les craintes liées à la santé mentale et encourager de saines stratégies d’adaptation Do your employees have more mental health concerns now than they did pre-COVID? And, how are they coping? The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Inquiétudes liées au retour en milieu de travail As employees return to the workplace after being laid off or forced to work at home because of COVID-19 restrictions, many are worried about protecting themselves and their families. In fact, research conducted by…

By Dr. Bill Howatt Help employees stay socially connected in the workplace Before COVID, we were already starting to experience a global loneliness epidemic. Over the last few months, COVID-19 has shone an even brighter light on this important issue and the impact that isolation and loneliness can have on…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Épuisement professionnel: Ce que les dirigeants doivent savoir et ce qu’ils peuvent faire pour aider leurs employés Most leaders have heard of the term burnout, but not all understand its legitimacy. Unfortunately, burnout is often dismissed as regular workplace stress, or worse…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Les dirigeants peuvent aider leurs employés à réduire le risque de fatigue mentale For the past few months, many employees have been running on adrenaline. With all the change and disruption, it’s been a challenging time. Now, the movement towards slow re-opening…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley French version: Comment les employeurs peuvent soutenir les employés qui vivent des sentiments de deuil, de perte ou de regret Many leaders have created, or are in the process of building, mental health programs in their workplaces. Most are founded on accessibility, transparency and…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Governments are beginning to loosen restrictions and some businesses are firing up their engines again. If you are leading one of these operations, you will be required to implement many new protocols to protect the physical and psychological safety of staff, both as…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley The Conference Board of Canada, Mental Health Commission of Canada and Workplace Safety & Prevention Services have partnered to share mental health resources to support employees and leaders coping with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. French version: Comment les employeurs peuvent soutenir…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley The Conference Board of Canada, Mental Health Commission of Canada and Workplace Safety & Prevention Services have partnered to share mental health resources to support employees and leaders coping with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. To help us determine what kinds…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley The Conference Board of Canada, Mental Health Commission of Canada and Workplace Safety & Prevention Services have partnered to share mental health resources to support employees and leaders coping with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. French version: Comment les employeurs peuvent soutenir…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley The Conference Board of Canada, Mental Health Commission of Canada and Workplace Safety & Prevention Services have partnered to share mental health resources to support employees and leaders coping with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. French version: Impacts de la COVID-19…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Canada’s health care system is facing unprecedented pressures. That means that the people operating within in it are at higher risk for operational stress injuries typically associated with repeated exposure to trauma. French version: L’usure de compassion If those of us watching the graphic…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley As leaders, most of the advice we seek today will be yesterday’s news by tomorrow. But we believe there are two pieces of advice on which you’ll be able to hang your hat throughout the entirety of COVID-19 - and beyond. Being kind…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Nowhere is this business as usual. In this pandemic there is and will be a lot of uncertainty and fear. Employers and managers need to be empathetic, educated on COVID-19 and aware of the impact this pandemic may be having on employees who…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley Blog Question: How will I mentally prepare for self-isolation? Many may skip this question because when we think of self-isolating our minds automatically go to physical preparation. Survival basics of food, water and shelter have naturally been the focus as we’ve responded to…

By Dr. Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley What is perceived isolation and how could this impact employees’ psychological safety? To answer this question, it is prudent to begin by exploring the factors that can predict an employee’s mental health. Physical health - exercise/movement, sleep, diet and lifestyle choices. Mental fitness…