PowerStream is continuing its focus on mental well-being in the workplace in 2016, offering half-day resiliency workshops to its 560 employees across four locations.
The energy company first introduced the workshops at the end of 2015, partnering with its Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) provider Shepell.
“Whether people are going through change in the organization or on their own, we know if we can help people develop some sort of resiliency tools that they would be better equipped to deal with any kind of change,” said Daniella Cogliano, organizational improvement coordinator and Wellness Committee chair at PowerStream.
“We know this impacts presenteeism and retention, so we want to focus on keeping our employees healthy.”
Read: Resiliency: your 21st century suit of armour
Since the workshops were introduced, the organization has hosted six sessions, with 140 employees registering to attend. In 2016, it is tailoring the workshops for different departments. For instance, since its customer service employees can’t be away from their phones for very long, it will provide two half-sessions at 1.5 hours each.
“We are going to look at a summary evaluation with Shepell, and that will help to determine what we do in terms of the next steps,” says Cogliano. “The feedback we’ve been getting is that people are really happy that we are providing these workshops.
“It is not a one-size-fits-all approach; there were multiple activities down throughout the workshop and they can find what works for them. Whether you’re working in a team or dealing with things at home, these are life skills you can take with you.”
PowerStream began focusing on mental well-being in the workplace last year. In November, Financial Literacy Month, the organization focused on financial well-being.
“We looked at our EFAP usage and our surveys, and we know that stress is a big factor for people,” says Cogliano. “But what is the one thing that people stress about the most? Finances. And it is the one thing that people don’t want to talk about.”
Read: What’s the value of an EFAP?
The organization hosted a lunch-and-learn session in partnership with World Financial Group, which provided basic information on budgeting, debt recovery, investing and how to plan for retirement. “We targeted all the lifecycles and provided additional resources for each of those,” adds Cogliano.
If employees were not able to attend the lunch-and-learn session, they were able to access it on the company’s intranet site. PowerStream also provides information around financial well-being in its daily newsletter, PowerStream Today.
The company is also participating in Bell Let’s Talk Day, which is January 27, through promotions and sharing with staff how they can contribute, as well as providing facts about mental health in the daily newsletter.
“We talk about breaking the silence around mental illness,” says Cogliano. “We have strong support from our executives at the top, and people are starting to ask more questions about it. We want people to come to work and feel comfortable, to have these discussions about mental health and mental illness.”