Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas and David Galvan have a transformative conversation, exploring practical strategies for creating soul-safe workplaces. Gain insights into nurturing authenticity, compassion, and resilience in professional settings. Join us as we pave the way for a new paradigm of work rooted in holistic well-being and collective thriving.
A growing focus in the media, policy circles, and research is emerging on the correlation between work and suicide. Specifically, a growing body of robust evidence links various psychosocial working conditions and job stressors to suicide. Diverse perspectives exist on the current state of evidence concerning causality and intervention, as well as the most suitable policy and practice responses. In this podcast episode, I interview two global experts who share their views from an occupational health & safety (OH&S) standpoint concerning work-related suicide, with a primary emphasis on the potential for working conditions to serve as modifiable risk factors or protective elements in the context of suicide among the working population.
We define work-related suicide as a suicide death that is entirely or partially connected to work or working conditions. We also consider the working conditions of the individuals who died by suicide.
We discuss:
How is work-related suicide defined from an OH&S standpoint?
What are the potential work-related contributors to suicide?
Sharing vulnerabilities as a leader in the context of culture change and mental health at work can include discussing challenges faced, lessons learned, or personal growth experiences. When you are transparent and authentic about the struggles you've faced as a leader and how you've navigated them, you can create a more relatable and trusting work environment….
In this episode, I model vulnerability by sharing my embarrassing anxiety-fueled outtakes as I was fairly star-struck by my guest Newton Cheng.
Newton is a family man, a world champion powerlifter, and the Director of Health + Performance at Google.
Learn why Newton doesn’t like the saying “Bring your whole self to work.”
Newton shares these two takeaways:
Vulnerability can be built like a muscle; saying: "I don't know how to be vulnerable" is being vulnerable and
Start with seeing the human first — treat everyone first as just another human in a certain context.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports record increases in quit rates, emphasizing the urgency of addressing manager burnout.
…on one hand, stress and burnout among managers not only negatively impact organizational culture but also hinder their ability to foster employee engagement in a highly competitive labor market. On the other hand, the manager’s voice in the workplace mental health movement is essential to it’s success.
In this podcast, I interview Justin Azbill, the Director of National Environmental Health and Safety for Milwaukee Tool and we talk about his experiences with life-threatening burnout and how he turned that pain into the purpose of helping others. His two takeaways for addressing burnout:
Be proactive, not reactive.
Start and end on a positive note.
Raising awareness about mental health issues in the workplace is crucial, but it is not enough on its own. Taking action is equally important. Awareness alone does not create tangible changes or provide support for employees who are struggling. Workplace mental health program development should go beyond simply acknowledging the issue and actively work to implement strategies that promote mental well-being, reduce bias, and provide resources for support. By taking action, organizations can create a culture of care, where employees feel supported and empowered to seek help when needed. Action-oriented programs make a real difference in improving mental health outcomes and creating a healthier work environment for everyone involved.
In this interview I speak with workplace mental health advocate Steven Frost. Steven shares these three tips for a quick start to building a workplace mental health program are:
Gain Leadership Buy-in: Messaging of unwavering support from key leaders empowers cultural shifts
Develop a Diverse Team: Representative champion's voices must be heard.
Gather Resources: Upstream, midstream and downstream
Often when people experience depression it feels like being in a deep, dark hole.
At least I know that is what it felt like for me.
When I went through an episode of major depression in 2012, the world felt incredibly dark and cold. My mind was filled with dread and overwhelm. Inside I was telling myself that I was a failure and the everything I had worked for would soon completely fall apart. I lost about twenty pounds in a month because I stopped eating. I didn’t sleep night after night.
On the outside I soldiered on.
It took the loving concern of others around me for me to see it was okay to take care of myself. Sometimes depression at work looks like isolation and sadness. Sometimes it looks like distraction, low stress tolerance, anger or changes in appearance. Sometimes the impacts of depression on performance are obvious, and sometimes they are not.
That said, untreated depression is costly and disruptive at work. According to Forbes, half of depressed employees are untreated costing an estimated 200 million lost workdays each year costing upwards of $44 billion to employers. Often employees feel trapped between feeling very unwell and needing to continue to work. Many don’t feel like they have permission to take care of this part of their health or that if they do, many feel they will be punished for doing so.
In this episode, I speak with Mike Jacquart about his experiences living with depression. We cover his three take-aways from the point of view of someone with lived experience:
Understand the impact of poor self-esteem and depression on work.
Offer hope to those suffering in silence.
Treatment works and transforms lives.
Impact entrepreneurship (aka “social entrepreneurship”) happens when we bring together the mission and heart of a charity model of change and the efficiencies and accountability of a business model. In “Corporate Social Responsibility” models, the main focus is often still profit, but in impact entrepreneurship the “profit” is sustainable impact for the common good.
In this episode, I chat with Michael Martin, Google’s APAC Energy, Infrastructure & Sustainability Data Center Portfolio Manager and the Founder - John E. Martin Fellowship & Mental Healthcare Challenge. Michael shares his lessons learned in sparking innovation in workplace mental health with national social enterprise-style innovation challenges among some of our brightest groups of students.
Here are his three tips:
1. Vulnerability = courage.
2. We don't fail, we learn.
3. Catch people doing good things.
For many, fostering well-being at the workplace historically equated to fitness or weight loss challenges. More recently, many companies have been integrating emotional well-being into their benefits programs by augmenting their mental health support offerings. However, what is often left out of these conversations is the spiritual component of workplace well-being.
Some people may bristle at this notion, thinking all we mean is religiosity at work. Spirituality is related to religion for many, and for others it also means finding meaning, value and inspiration beyond ourselves. How spiritual experiences like these show up at work can really make a difference in one’s satisfaction and happiness.
When we have a “spirit-infused workplace” our souls are nurtured, we have a sense of purpose, and we want to better our society and the world we live in. In this interview I speak with long-time friend Robin Szeliga. Robin has been studying the role of consciousness and self-awareness in leadership and how a richer inner life landscape can help transform a workplace that holds deep meaning and connection for its workforce.
In our brain-based economy, we depend on fully engaged, mentally healthy teams. Organizations that have figured this out not only have a competitive advantage, they are awesome places to work. If you want to be able to recruit and retain emerging talent, this podcast will give you the tools that let them know their workplace cares about them.
Psychological safety goes beyond just a fear of making mistakes or suggesting new ideas — it’s really a deep feeling of trust. Psychologically safe environments are where people believe “you have my back” in all areas: when I am learning, when I feel different than others, and when I am having a very difficult time.
Psychologically safe and healthy workplaces actively seek to promote workers’ emotional health and prevent psychosocial hazards due to workplace factors.
Most people who die by suicide or overdose are of working age, making the workplace arguably the most cross cutting system for suicide prevention, addiction recovery and mental health promotion. And yet, workplaces are often underprepared and react rather than respond when faced with mental health emergencies.
Take a listen to the lessons learned and actionable take-aways to promote mental health and wellbeing and support people through tough times – at work.
