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© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the January 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
Soul@work
As we begin a new century, do you know how to bring out the best in your
employees?
By Janet White
Words like spirituality and soul are no longer taboo inside many Canadian workplaces. Just ask Tanis
Helliwell, author of Take Your Soul to Work (Random House of Canada, 1999). Many Canadian
organizations--from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Royal Bank to the Canadian Arts Council--have
flocked to Helliwell's brand of organizational wellness.
The surprise is that Helliwell's book, and her work, is injected with traditionally fluffy phrases like
"creating a soul-infused personality," "how organizations can use their chakras" and "building spiritual
energy." Not your traditional let's take a 30,000-foot look at this, think outside the box workplace
buzz-phrases. But these are not traditional times.
After 16 years as a therapist in Vancouver, Helliwell says the book--and the seminars, workshops, keynote
speeches and weekend retreats that have followed--grew from the recognition of a societal desperation.
"There's this low grade chronic anxiety and depression that I see everywhere I go," she says, "and it's
based on a sense of helplessness and hopelessness that our world is somehow out of control."
At the District of North Vancouver in Vancouver, for example, Helliwell has been doing a series of
workshops that help employees develop their personal and professional effectiveness, based on the
principles in her book.
For Helliwell, successful employers see their employees in a holistic light, and help develop the whole
person, rather than just the nine-to-five person. "The more people look at what they need to do in order to
develop their potential and find work which will encompass that, the more the employer is going to get in
the workplace."
David Stuart, director of corporate services at the District of North Vancouver sees the value in this
mind-set. For years, the District offered the regular wellness and employee assistance programs to staff,
but in the last five years the municipality has undergone structural and cultural change that warranted
something new.
After reading Take Your Soul to Work, Stuart knew it would benefit the municipality's 600 employees,
who ranged from ditch diggers to architects. The response was "spectacular," he says, in part because the
structure focuses on personal growth, rather than pure organizational growth. "Workers are expecting more
from their employment situation. They need tools to give them a sense that they can in fact control what's
happening in their lives and the changes happening around them and how they deal with them."
Stuart is aware that measuring the success of such programs is precarious at best. But the payoff is
obvious to him. "I've had at least 15 employees come up to me personally and just say thank you--and I know
from their supervisors that it's had an impact on their outlook and their performance," he says. "If I look
at the cost of it and I look at those 15 employees and the value and contribution they can make--that's pay
back."
The devil's advocate perched on my shoulder right now is hissing that workers should be pursuing these
self-discovery ventures on their own--and not company--time. But, if employers start the personal-growth
ball rolling, guess who comes off looking like a hero?
This is my last Benefits Trends column. I'm leaving BENEFITS CANADA to new pursuits within Rogers
Media Inc. I have truly enjoyed covering your industry, and I will be sure to keep an interested eye on
what is shaping up to be a fascinating and challenging time for Canadian plan sponsors. Have a great 2000.
Janet White is associate editor of BENEFITS CANADA.
*** ***
CONFERENCES
Third Spirituality in the Workplace Conference
Medical Sciences Building,
University of Toronto
June 7 to June 9, 2000
This three-day conference, sponsored by the Centre for Spirituality at Work, seeks to transform the
experience and outcomes of work. E-mail: info@spiritualityatwork.org, or call (416) 482-9175.
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