2023-06-30 03:24:09
More than 35% of small business workers in Canada wouldn’t be happy with their job, and more than 37% wouldn’t be working for their current employer in a year if it were up to them.
These findings emerge from a study conducted by the Relief Research Chair in Mental Health, Self-Management and Work at Laval University among 2,500 employees in companies with fewer than 500 employees, which is the definition of SME adopted by Statistics Canada. Some of its results were presented Thursday at a press conference held in Montreal in the company of actors from the workplace.
Many companies ignore employee mental health and don’t understand its importance, said Martin Énault, chairman of the board of directors of Relief, an organization that supports those living with anxiety or depression. example.
Excessive amount of work, pressure to work quickly, surveillance at work, emotionally demanding job: several reasons are given to explain this mental pressure at work.
The economy has changed. Employees work side by side in call centers, where it becomes difficult to concentrate; others work in environments where there are no more assigned places, which depersonalizes the work. “If we go back to 40 years ago, there were none, psychosocial risks, or much less. These are risks that have emerged with the tertiarization of the economy,” explained the Quebec Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet.
Companies need to pay more attention to these workplace mental health issues. “These issues have consequences on business productivity, if they are not well addressed, and on business operating costs. So there is an important economic angle here, for our organization, to ensure that the work that is carried out by Relief — among other things with the tools that have been presented with Relief Affaires — can be generally deployed with all employers, so that we can reduce the issues related to mental health,” said Karl Blackburn, president of the Conseil du patronat du Québec.
Telecommuting helps
Telecommuting helps release this pressure, the study confirms. “The more employees spend their working time working remotely, the more they perceive a favorable work environment. They feel better recognized, more autonomous.
“People, when they are at home teleworking, they have their home, they have their cocoon. Whereas when you arrive in a company and you have no objects, no plants, the office may belong to another person and you have no sense of security. It can be harmful,” explained Jean-Rémy Provost, CEO of Relief.
Telework is not all positive or all negative: it depends on the individual, indicates the study of the research chair. “We must therefore take an interest in the specific needs of employees, since a universal approach to supporting employees working from home would not suit everyone. »
And employees also have their way to go in this area, including applying practices for self-management of stress and psychological health in general, we argue in the study.
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