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Insurance UPDATE

wellbeing in the workplace

for men and women

HUB INTERNATIONAL 5 Ways to Improve Men’s Wellbeing in the Workplace necessary first steps to improve men’s wellbeing in
the workplace.
Men can struggle with health issues that can spill
LIMITED over to the workplace; but they don’t receive the care • Encourage annual checkups: Men are often negligent
they need. Here’s what employers can do... in getting annual checkups. However, doing so can
Men have a shorter life expectancy in Canada than help identify health problems before they become
women; partly due to the fact men are less likely to seek serious. Promoting annual checkups - or giving
medical help, whether their aliments are physical or employees time off to do so - can help improve men’s
mental. In addition, nearly three-quarters of Canadian health.
men have unhealthy habits that put them at risk for • Address substance abuse: Stress can lead to
chronic conditions and disease. increased reliance on drugs and alcohol; and in the
For employers, the reticence for men to address first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians spent
health issues isn’t just an abstraction. It leads $25 billion on alcohol, an increase of 4.2% from the
to diminished productivity, lower engagement same period a year earlier and the largest annual
and corrosive effects on the organization. And increase in a decade. Make education on substance
while women’s health issues are only now getting abuse a cornerstone of employee health initiatives.
equal treatment as men’s, men are less likely to take • Get moving: Health and wellbeing initiatives that
advantage of the resources available to them. encourage employees to exercise have shown
Cultural factors - the assumption that men should to benefit employee health. Whether it’s online
be strong and stoic - have prevented men from seeking workouts or an organization-wide competition to
medical health: 77% of married men would rather go track steps, exercise programs are an effective tool in
shopping with their partners or do chores than see their improving men’s wellbeing in the workplace.
doctor. And 20% of men are not completely forthright • Include iCBT mental health support: Men who are
with their doctors. reluctant to engage in face-to-face counselling or
therapy often find help through Internet-based
Mental health and men’s wellbeing in the workplace Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT). Many iCBT
When it comes to mental health, the picture isn’t programs also enlist a counsellor to help the
much better. Consider these facts: employee stay focused in their therapy.
• 28% of Canadian men worry that talking about their
struggles with mental health could put their job at Women’s Wellbeing in the Workplace Provides Strategic
risk. Advantages
• 22% of new fathers experience postpartum anxiety Women have specific issues that many health
and depression at some point during the first year of plans and wellness programs have long ignored.
their child’s life. Organizations that prioritize those needs within their
• Of the approximately 4,000 Canadians who take their health and wellness programs will attract employees
own life every year, 75% are men. who are highly motivated, productive and loyal.
In 2019, 61% of Canadian women participated
Best practices for improving men’s wellbeing in the in the workforce, but largely due to the COVID-19
workplace pandemic, that number had fallen to 56% by April
Savvy employers know the value of improving 2020. Generally, a disproportionate number of women
employees’ health to their organizations, and what have left the workforce compared with men.
needs to be done to help men specifically. Here’s what But with COVID-19 fading (if not disappearing)
employers can do to start improving men’s wellbeing in as an issue affecting the workplace, home life and
the workplace: childhood education, many women want to re-enter the
• Raise awareness: Company communications and workforce. In order to attract and retain these workers,
manager training on health issues that affect men employers need to recognize that women have health
only, such as prostate cancer, or that affect men
heavily, like mental health and suicide prevention, are Continued on page 15...
8 LBMAO Reporter -September-October 2022 www.lbmao.on.ca