Our stories: Leading the way on mental health in the workplace
From gender equity to mental health, inclusiveness is critical to supporting employee well-being
Deborah Gillis, President and CEO of the CAMH Foundation & PwC Alumni, talks with PwC Canada’s Chief Inclusion Officer, Mona Ghiami, about her role at CAMH and why mental health is the most important workplace issue today
When people are diagnosed with a physical illness, they receive a flood of support from colleagues. But that’s not often the case with mental health, an issue PwC Canada alumni Deborah Gillis is passionate about addressing in her current role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the CAMH Foundation in Toronto.
“Normalizing the fact that mental illness is just like any other physical illness is an important part of the conversation, in terms of busting the stigma, raising awareness and making it OK for people to come forward,” says Deborah, whose own experience with breast cancer helped her understand how mental health issues — like depression and anxiety — often add to the challenge of fighting a disease.
“But it’s equally important to ensure that there’s a level of investment for support and treatment, as well as access to treatment, for those experiencing mental illness,” adds Deborah, who spoke with PwC Canada’s Chief Inclusion Officer, Mona Ghiami, during Mental Health Week in May.
Shifting the conversation
At any given time, one in five Canadians is struggling with mental health. Ultimately, all of us are affected by the issue — if it’s not you personally, it’s a family member, a friend or a colleague. With such a wide-ranging impact, mental health is arguably the most important topic in Canadian workplaces.
At PwC, we’re working to make sure we’re there to help employees touched by mental health challenges. In recent years, we’ve made progress in shifting our culture through our Be Well, Work Well program and the launch of our Differently Abled Wellness Network (DAWN), a PwC inclusion network focused on mental health & wellbeing.
DAWN is a good example of how far we’ve come. After starting out with a handful of keen staff members, it now boasts more than 450 staff and partners who are passionate about mental health and want to make a difference.
Making a lasting impact
Deborah has seen first-hand how much of a difference a supportive environment can make. She came to PwC at a critical point in her career, when she moved from the public to the private sector. Mike Applin, the partner who brought her in, was a strong mentor to her at that time.
“Mike saw something in me before I saw it in myself,” she recalls. While Mike has since passed away, he made a lasting impact on her life and career.
Mentors also play a key role in supporting and advocating for mental health. They offer a safe place when people need to talk and are able to educate them on the resources available to them. They also serve as an employee’s advocate and champion, as Mike was for Deborah during her PwC years. This mentorship gave Deborah the skill set that would later help her as her career progressed from PwC to roles at Catalyst, where she served as global CEO, and now at the CAMH Foundation.
Championing inclusion
During her 12 years at Catalyst, Deborah advised leading companies on how to accelerate and advance women into leadership. A global champion for gender equity in the workplace, she has received national and international accolades for her advocacy efforts and business achievements.
In 2016, she was named one of Canadian Business magazine’s 10 most powerful business people and was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal. In 2017, she was appointed to the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.
Deborah sees many parallels between her work at Catalyst and the CAMH Foundation and views her current position as an extension of the inclusion focus of her earlier experiences. Like PwC, both organizations promote inclusion and focus on creating societies, communities and workplaces that don’t limit opportunity or potential because of bias or prejudice.
“We cannot talk about having inclusive societies or inclusive workplaces when there are entire segments of the population that are unable to access or seek the treatment and help that they need,” says Deborah.
“I believe mental health is the most important issue we’re dealing with today.”
Solutions at hand
A number of societal shifts are contributing to the rising concern about mental health. Beyond our demanding, high-performance culture, technology can create additional stress, whether because of social media pressures or expectations that people will always be available. So how can organizations be more supportive and inclusive?
While technology is a significant cause of the stress that leads to mental health issues, it can also serve as a support tool. For example, CAMH is using wearable devices to track and monitor mental health challenges among young people. Big data and brain imaging are helping to better understand mental illness.
At PwC, part of our Be Well, Work Well approach is based on recognizing that there’s no single solution for everyone’s needs. We offer a variety of resources, ranging from our Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) to the financial support we provide for psychology services through our recently introduced enhanced mental health benefit.
We also offer a well-being and lifestyle benefit, which can be used for anything that contributes to an employee’s overall well-being.
Creating a safe space for employees
But perhaps the most effective way to reduce the stigma is by getting people to talk. At PwC, we’ve held panel discussions where staff members and partners share their personal mental health experiences with their colleagues and talk about what they do to manage their well-being. These discussions have helped to reduce the stigma and make PwC a safe place to talk about mental health openly.
But it remains an ongoing challenge to help employees feel safe. Many still won’t approach their manager if they’re suffering from these challenges. They fear losing credibility or being seen as incapable of doing their job. Leaders can help reduce the stigma by opening up conversations, modelling behaviours, sharing stories and educating employees about the resources available to them.
“We also need to see employees equipped to have conversations with their peers — and to do so without judgment — to send the message, first and foremost, that you are not alone and there is hope,” says Deborah.
Showing we care
At CAMH, a campaign, Mental Health is Health, is underway that aims to raise awareness about the need to look at mental health in the same way as physical health. If employees can talk about a relative who’s sick, has broken a leg or has been diagnosed with cancer, shouldn’t they feel equally comfortable mentioning a family member who’s dealing with mental illness?
At PwC, we believe in making mental health the priority organizations like CAMH are advocating for it to be. Among the many ways we’re working to show our commitment to mental health is through our Green Light to Talk campaign, which DAWN launched in 2017 for World Mental Health Day (October 10).
Staff and partners proudly display stickers, pins and email signatures with the Green Light to Talk logo to show their support for mental health and their willingness to talk openly about it and listen to others.
You can see these visual reminders proudly displayed at PwC’s offices. They’re just one example of how we aim to live one of our core values — care — as we work to recognize each person’s value and contribution and help employees grow in a way that brings out their best.
Watch the interview with Deborah Gillis
Learn more about diversity and inclusion at PwC
