“You’ve got 50% of the population struggling with burnout and 34% struggling with a mental health issue. When something happens on top of this, it is going to make existing conditions worse”
Neil King,
TELUS Health
“It’s important that when organizations perform due diligence in disaster planning, they ensure due diligence with partners as well”
Paula Allen,
TELUS Health
“They’re looking to their employers for support in ways that employers maybe hadn’t thought about before, and it’s caused a new dimension to open up”
Dr. Jill Birch,
BirchGrove
In Partnership with
Natural disasters and
how best to support your employees: TELUS Health
Employees are 'looking to their employers for support in ways that employers maybe hadn’t thought about before'
Read on
Paula Allen
TELUS Health
Neil King
TELUS Health
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
EllisDon
Dr. Jill Birch
BirchGrove
Industry experts
WITH WILDFIRES, flooding, and other forces majeures continuing to wreak havoc in our changing world, recent months have dramatically highlighted how natural disasters are one of the most pressing concerns facing Canadians.
Along with the emotional strain, these emergencies can have a huge impact financially – on communities, employers, and employees, along with their families – when many people are already struggling with cost-of-living increases and high inflation.
As a result, organizations need to find a way to address and support the needs of affected employees as disasters strike.
Four senior company leaders recently sat down to talk about the important role that leadership and planning play in helping employees feel safe and supported, not only in their physical well-being, but also in their mental and financial health.
Besides the obvious external threats to well-being, the effects of the past three years have lingered, according to King, and people are still having trouble coping with these new dangers.
“You’ve got 50 percent of the population that’s struggling with burnout and 34 percent of the population struggling with a mental health issue. When something happens on top of this, it is going to make existing conditions even worse. We’ve got a population that, by and large, is actually drinking more than they were prior to the pandemic, and these new issues are compounding it, causing more disruption to their families, their living conditions, their working conditions – and even disruption in simply getting food to certain locations.”
Moderator Sarah Dobson, managing editor of Canadian HR Reporter, was joined by Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice-president of research and client insights at TELUS Health; Neil King, managing director of employer solutions at TELUS Health; Marie-Lynn Bromilow, director of people analytics and total rewards at EllisDon; and Jill Birch, founder and CEO of BirchGrove.
The panellists shared valuable insights and best practices on how best to support employees affected by these traumatic events.
“I think the main thing is that we have to realize that the potential for a natural disaster is with all of us,” said Allen. “Even if you’re not the one who is directly affected, even if it’s not in Canada, we have friends and family all over the world and all over the country. As we experienced over this past summer, wildfires outside of where we live are affecting us.
“The whole idea of making sure that you have a resilient organization and a plan and a workforce support approach is important for everyone.”
This is resulting in a piling-on of stressors for employees, as multiple areas of concern are popping up, which points to the important role employers and HR must play to alleviate fears.
“I think Neil raises a good point, because it’s cumulative, and what we’re seeing right now is that it’s not just one thing that’s affecting employees, it’s everything, and it’s added and added and added, and I’m sure you’re seeing this at TELUS and at EllisDon — some people feel they’re at a breaking point,” said Birch.
“They’re looking to their employers for support in ways that employers maybe hadn’t thought about before, and it’s caused a whole new dimension to open up.
“It’s also important for organizations to be providing comprehensive mental health support so staff can access it whenever and wherever they feel comfortable. For example, my company recently launched a service called Total Mental Health, which gives employees access to unlimited sessions with mental health counsellors, delivered virtually or in-person, along with a dedicated care coordinator to help them when they are not in session. This type of 360-degree mental health support can make the world of difference when an individual and their family are recovering from a natural disaster.”
In order to ensure employees feel that their organizations care, lines of communication are crucial in times of disaster, said Birch.
“It’s really important that, when we think about how we help and support people in these times, we get the information out as fast as we can about what’s available, what’s happening, and where they can get contact points. It’s really trying to help them understand ways in which they can care for themselves and their families. Many of us learned a difficult lesson during the pandemic that, as we got more and more into it, there was a lot of depression, anxiety, and mental health issues, and those just added to the productivity problems in many organizations.
“These are the kinds of things that, when we think about the obstacles that are preventing people from engaging at work, are really important to have a strong leadership and support culture in,” Birch added.
While working from home during COVID-19 allowed many organizations to keep businesses running and people employed, not all employers were so lucky. Construction company EllisDon offered a different perspective.
“Like many companies through COVID-19, we learned a lot about business continuity plans and really amping up our safety programs to make sure that, regardless of what natural disaster or emergency was happening, we were prepared for it,” said Bromilow. “When you specifically talk about natural disasters in relation to the business that we’re in, you have to take into consideration all of our construction sites and hospitals, which add a whole extra layer of complexity around this type of situation.”
The fires that swept through Halifax and surrounding communities in May and June provided a real-world example of how companies can take charge in keeping workers safe.
“If you take the Halifax wildfires that happened not too long ago, we had many sites that we had to make sure were secure, that our employees were safe, and that the tradespeople who were working on our sites were safe,” said Bromilow. “We also had to make sure that our employees were able to get even the basic supports that they needed, such as making sure they had access to food, shelter, healthcare.”
EllisDon also turned to its basket of benefits in order to support its workforce.
“We made sure that virtual healthcare and EAP programs were all available and that [employees]
“[It’s about] making sure that they’re properly trained on the resources that you have in place, but also making sure they understand what their role is as a people leader, making sure that they’re giving space to employees to actually have those conversations if they wish.
“But also, even if they are seeing things with that employee or their family, [it’s about] making sure that they can point them to the right resources, because a people leader is not a counsellor. A people leader cannot ignore the signs and symptoms of their employees, and so making sure that the training and resilience are in place across the company to support them is critical for your organization,” said King.
To learn more about driving healthy outcomes for organizations through comprehensive and engaging mental, physical, and financial well-being solutions, visit telus.com/health.
“Making sure that you have a business-continuity plan and resources available to employees well before a natural disaster happens is really key, and making sure that it includes not only the physical safety piece but also resources for employees so they know what they need to do in general when it comes to natural disasters, because this is something that is becoming more and more prominent.
“Growing up, we never had to worry about tornadoes where I live, and now it’s something that happens on a regular basis. Most people don’t even know the basic necessities of what to do if there’s a forest fire or if there’s a tornado,” she said.
50% are a little or not concerned at all
TELUS Health is a global healthcare leader serving people in more than 160 countries, delivering both digital innovation and clinical services to improve total physical, mental, and financial health and well-being across the full spectrum of primary and preventive care. By leveraging the power of technology to deliver connected solutions and services both in-person and virtually, TELUS Health is improving access to care and revolutionizing the flow of information while facilitating collaboration, efficiency, and productivity for physicians, pharmacists, health authorities, allied health professionals, insurers, employers, and people globally, progressing its vision of transforming health care and empowering people to live healthier lives. Our clinical team is composed of renowned and passionate health professionals around the world delivering best-in-class people-centric care to hundreds of thousands of employers, professionals, and their families.
Paula Allen is the global leader and senior vice-president, research and client insights at TELUS Health. In this role, she manages the research agenda for TELUS Health, which includes primary research, exploratory data science, research collaborations, and meta-analyses. Her focus is on discovering, defining, and communicating industry trends; service development that aligns with emerging market needs; and supporting TELUS Health’s clients with insights and data-driven decision guidance. She has over 20 years of experience relating to workplace research, product development, and operational leadership that spans the range of EFAP, workplace learning, attendance and disability management, and health and benefits consulting.
TELUS Health
Paula Allen
Neil King is the managing director, employee solutions for TELUS Health. He is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience, including in general management, sales and marketing, product development, and strategy. In his previous role, he was president of Integrated Health Solutions and executive vice president at LifeWorks, leading a team with global responsibility for EAP, absence and disability management, well-being, student support, and training solutions. Prior to his roles at TELUS Health and LifeWorks, Neil worked in global leadership positions at ADP GlobalView and Wolters Kluwer Health, where he worked extensively with his team to deliver evidence-based medicine tools and content for hospitals and medical schools.
TELUS Health
Neil King
Marie-Lynn Bromilow is a human resources leader with 15 years of experience supporting various industries, including IT, hospitality, construction, and property management, with Canadian and international operations. She believes in being a true partner to the business, providing guidance and support to leaders and employees alike. She understands that employees are the heart of any business, and strives to create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and supported. Recently, she has focused on modernizing total rewards and people analytics to ensure that the company is competitive, attracting and retaining top talent. She has a passion for mentoring and coaching team members.
EllisDon
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
Dr. Jill Birch has been a CEO and member of several C Suites in national organizations and trade associations. As a consultant, she has worked with the tech, energy, finance, telecommunications, professional services, education, health, government, and not-for-profit sectors. Drawing on these experiences, Jill helps leaders change their behaviours by introducing them to the Compassion Advantage. Developed over the last ten years, these seven interlocking relational leadership practices help leaders become more self-aware and more compassionate champions of change and innovation. She holds a PhD in relational leadership practices from Griffith University in Australia, and an MA from the University of Toronto.
BirchGrove
Dr. Jill Birch
In Partnership with
Natural disasters and how best to support your employees: TELUS Health
They’re looking to their employers for support in ways that employers maybe hadn’t thought about before’
Read on
Dr. Jill Birch
BirchGrove
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
EllisDon
Neil King
TELUS Health
Paula Allen
TELUS Health
Industry experts
Paula Allen is the global leader and senior vice-president, research and client insights at TELUS Health. In this role, she manages the research agenda for TELUS Health, which includes primary research, exploratory data science, research collaborations, and meta-analyses. Her focus is on discovering, defining, and communicating industry trends; service development that aligns with emerging market needs; and supporting TELUS Health’s clients with insights and data-driven decision guidance. She has over 20 years of experience relating to workplace research, product development, and operational leadership that spans the range of EFAP, workplace learning, attendance and disability management, and health and benefits consulting.
TELUS Health
Paula Allen
Neil King is the managing director, employee solutions for TELUS Health. He is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience, including in general management, sales and marketing, product development, and strategy. In his previous role, he was president of Integrated Health Solutions and executive vice president at LifeWorks, leading a team with global responsibility for EAP, absence and disability management, well-being, student support, and training solutions. Prior to his roles at TELUS Health and LifeWorks, Neil worked in global leadership positions at ADP GlobalView and Wolters Kluwer Health, where he worked extensively with his team to deliver evidence-based medicine tools and content for hospitals and medical schools.
TELUS Health
Neil King
Marie-Lynn Bromilow is a human resources leader with 15 years of experience supporting various industries, including IT, hospitality, construction, and property management, with Canadian and international operations. She believes in being a true partner to the business, providing guidance and support to leaders and employees alike. She understands that employees are the heart of any business, and strives to create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and supported. Recently, she has focused on modernizing total rewards and people analytics to ensure that the company is competitive, attracting and retaining top talent. She has a passion for mentoring and coaching team members.
EllisDon
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
Dr. Jill Birch has been a CEO and member of several C Suites in national organizations and trade associations. As a consultant, she has worked with the tech, energy, finance, telecommunications, professional services, education, health, government, and not-for-profit sectors. Drawing on these experiences, Jill helps leaders change their behaviours by introducing them to the Compassion Advantage. Developed over the last ten years, these seven interlocking relational leadership practices help leaders become more self-aware and more compassionate champions of change and innovation. She holds a PhD in relational leadership practices from Griffith University in Australia, and an MA from the University of Toronto.
BirchGrove
Dr. Jill Birch
In Partnership with
Natural disasters and how best to support your employees: TELUS Health
They’re looking to their employers for support in ways that employers maybe hadn’t thought about before
Read on
Dr. Jill Birch
BirchGrove
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
EllisDon
Neil King
TELUS Health
Paula Allen
TELUS Health
Industry experts
Neil King is the managing director, employee solutions for TELUS Health. He is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience, including in general management, sales and marketing, product development, and strategy. In his previous role, he was president of Integrated Health Solutions and executive vice president at LifeWorks, leading a team with global responsibility for EAP, absence and disability management, well-being, student support, and training solutions. Prior to his roles at TELUS Health and LifeWorks, Neil worked in global leadership positions at ADP GlobalView and Wolters Kluwer Health, where he worked extensively with his team to deliver evidence-based medicine tools and content for hospitals and medical schools.
TELUS Health
Neil King
Marie-Lynn Bromilow is a human resources leader with 15 years of experience supporting various industries, including IT, hospitality, construction, and property management, with Canadian and international operations. She believes in being a true partner to the business, providing guidance and support to leaders and employees alike. She understands that employees are the heart of any business, and strives to create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and supported. Recently, she has focused on modernizing total rewards and people analytics to ensure that the company is competitive, attracting and retaining top talent. She has a passion for mentoring and coaching team members.
EllisDon
Marie-Lynn Bromilow
Dr. Jill Birch has been a CEO and member of several C Suites in national organizations and trade associations. As a consultant, she has worked with the tech, energy, finance, telecommunications, professional services, education, health, government, and not-for-profit sectors. Drawing on these experiences, Jill helps leaders change their behaviours by introducing them to the Compassion Advantage. Developed over the last ten years, these seven interlocking relational leadership practices help leaders become more self-aware and more compassionate champions of change and innovation. She holds a PhD in relational leadership practices from Griffith University in Australia, and an MA from the University of Toronto.
BirchGrove
Dr. Jill Birch
Share
Share
Share
Paula Allen is the global leader and senior vice-president, research and client insights at TELUS Health. In this role, she manages the research agenda for TELUS Health, which includes primary research, exploratory data science, research collaborations, and meta-analyses. Her focus is on discovering, defining, and communicating industry trends; service development that aligns with emerging market needs; and supporting TELUS Health’s clients with insights and data-driven decision guidance. She has over 20 years of experience relating to workplace research, product development, and operational leadership that spans the range of EFAP, workplace learning, attendance and disability management, and health and benefits consulting.
TELUS Health
Paula Allen
Don’t be shy about sharing best practices
Published 05 September 2023
“Most people don’t even know the basic necessities of what to do if there’s a forest fire or if there’s a tornado”
Marie-Lynn Bromilow,
EllisDon
Canadian concerns about natural disasters
How concerned are you about the risk of a weather-related emergency or natural disaster?
30% are somewhat concerned
20% are extremely or very concerned
Least likely to be concerned: 15 to 24 years old (15%)
Somewhat likely to be concerned: 25 to 54 years old (21%)
Most likely to be concerned: 55 to 64 years (23%).
How concerned are the different generations about a natural disaster or weather-related emergency?
Source: Statistics Canada, June 2023
Source: Clean Energy Canada/Abacus Data, June 2023
Definitely
0%
Climate change considerations
for Canadians
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
31%
Most likely
37%
Not likely
15%
Definitely not
9%
Don’t know
8%
Mental health issues top of mind for HR
The role in effective communication
understood that, but we also worked with them on an individual basis to understand their specific situations. We had everyone from people who were affected from a workplace perspective to people who had to relocate multiple times because where they lived was affected by one wildfire and then, where they were staying for safety, another wildfire had sprung up, so they had to relocate again,” she added.
To best weather these types of ever-increasing storms, it should be a fundamental business strategy to have a robust emergency-preparedness plan in place to minimize stress and disruption, noted Bromilow.
The Halifax experience
Planning exercises should not only be rolled out across your organization, but also included across your business affiliates and stakeholder relationships, said Allen.
“Readiness from the organization’s point of view extends to the readiness of everyone an organization partners with, because during a disaster is not the time to spin up new programs. A partner in mental health, for example, who’s able to have people on-site – who is able to do things virtually and understands the importance of supporting parents – is critical. As a parent myself, my first concern is making sure that the well-being of my child is intact, including what I need to do to speak to them to help them process such a difficult situation. Similarly, [it’s about] supporting managers as well so they can ensure the well-being of their teams.
“I really think it’s important that when organizations perform due diligence in disaster planning, they ensure due diligence with partners as well,” said Allen.
While most companies today have a “disparate workforce” spread across Canada and beyond, educating organizational leaders on how to respond is also a crucial tool to have, said King.
Copyright © 2023 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Newsletter
Terms of Use
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Enquiry
Privacy
Authors
External contributors
Advisory board
RSS
News
Focus Areas
Resources
Best in HR
Subscribe
Are the wildfires in Western and Atlantic Canada and Quebec related to climate change?
Copyright © 2023 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
RSS
Advisory board
Authors
Enquiry
About us
Terms of Use
External contributors
Privacy
Contact us
Advertise
Newsletter
News
Focus Areas
Resources
Best in HR
Subscribe
Copyright © 2023 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
RSS
Advisory board
Authors
Enquiry
About us
Terms of Use
External contributors
Privacy
Contact us
Advertise
Newsletter
News
Focus Areas
Resources
Best in HR
Subscribe