Wellness in the workplace; 2023 Canadian Workplace Well-Being Awards

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

When you think about it, you typically spend a considerable portion of your waking hours at work. Full-time employees often dedicate around eight hours a day to their jobs, which accumulates to a substantial portion of their week.

The standard working hours in many countries are typically around 40 hours per week, with eight hours per day being the norm. Indeed, many people spend a significant amount of their time in their workplaces, often considering it a second home. You engage in your professional activities, interact with colleagues, and contribute to your organizations’ goals.

This can become challenging if you are working at a job that is toxic to you and can be incredibly challenging and detrimental to your well-being. Toxic workplaces are characterized by unhealthy dynamics, such as excessive stress, lack of support, harassment, bullying, discrimination, or a general negative and unsupportive atmosphere.

These types of work environments can take a toll on your emotional and mental well-being. Constant exposure to negativity, criticism, or toxic behavior can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and even depression. It can be mentally exhausting to deal with difficult co-workers, or a toxic boss day in and day out.

It’s common for motivation and productivity to suffer. Constant negativity and lack of support can demoralize and drain your energy, making it challenging to focus on your tasks and perform at your best. This can further perpetuate a vicious cycle of declining job satisfaction and diminished performance.

Such prolonged exposure to this type of environment can have physical health implications. Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure, heart problems, weakened immune system, and other stress-related health issues. Moreover, the emotional strain of a toxic workplace can manifest physically, causing headaches, insomnia, fatigue, or other stress-related symptoms.

In saying all of this, there has been an increase in workplace well-being needs, and a number of organizations have taken the necessary steps to elicit positive change by implementing employee well-being practices. These have contributed to notable improvements in engagement, innovation, psychological safety, productivity and more importantly – the overall health of employees.

I am honored to tell the community that I have been asked to be a judge for the 2023 Canadian Workplace Well-Being Awards presented by the Canadian Positive Psychology Association and Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, compliments of Canada Life. This year I am proud to represent the African-Caribbean community; I am well aware of the fact that what constitutes a wellness solution for some cultures, may not necessarily be a wellness solution for other cultures. I have learned that there are many great workplace well-being initiatives to share. CWWBA aims to celebrate positive psychology in action and recognize the many champions of workplace well-being!

This year, they have expanded the awards so that there will be multiple winners per category who exceed a benchmark score demonstrating their commitment. Their mandate is to:

• Recognize and celebrate outstanding achievements in workplace well-being practices in Canada
• Curate case studies of impactful initiatives from winning organizations in several award categories and share these stories so other organizations can learn and benefit from their leadership

Recognition as a Workplace Well-Being winner can:

• Help your recruiting efforts to attract talented employees at a time of challenging competition
• Augment and further define your employer brand as a leader in workplace well-being at a time when many employees are struggling with mental health
• Assist with your employee retention
• Allow you to showcase your work in creating a psychologically healthy workplace so others may follow your lead

Changing workplace culture and improving employee well-being is a daunting task, and not every organization knows where to begin. If your organization is a leader in workplace well-being and you have a caring culture where your employees flourish, they want to hear from you.

What you get as a winner

• Use of a unique Canadian Workplace Well-Being electronic badge to use on your website and signature line
• Being recognized by your peers at a Virtual Event
• Recognition on the Canadian Positive Psychology Association Website
• Facilitated networking session for winners to showcase well-being practices
• One complimentary Canadian Positive Psychology Association membership for one organization representative

There are four award categories depending on your sector and size of organization:

• Private and Public Sector: Small (5-99 employees)
• Private and Public Sector: Medium (100-499 employees)
• Private and Public Sector: Large (500 plus employees)
• Nonprofit or Charity (any size)

The 2022 Workplace Well-Being Award winners were:

• Small – Private/Public Sector Organization – Sklar Wilton and Associates Ltd.
• Large – Private/Public Sector Organization – Best Buy Canada
• Nonprofit/Charity Organization – Creative Options Regina

If you are a Canadian based organization in the public and private sectors, and nonprofit/charity organizations who have been in existence more than two years and have a well-being program that has been active for more than a year, one of this year’s winners could be you. You can apply at https://cwwa.wufoo.com/forms/p1814lsu1pt5i5r/.

The CWWA 2023 Awards Ceremony will be taking place on November 21^st, 2023.