SUMMARY KEYWORDS

mental health, organizations, hr professionals, people, support, employees, workplace, foundation, SHRM, experiencing, lead, opportunities, mental health issues, recognize, employers, conversations, important, leader, study, resources

SPEAKERS

Wendi Safstrom, Lindsay Recknell

Lindsay Recknell  00:01

You are a people leader or an HR professional, working hard to create an amazing employee experience for your team and your organization. But between the operational tasks of your job managing emotions and politics both up and down the corporate ladder, and trying to find some semblance of work life integration in your own life, I suspect you are also overwhelmed and burnt out. If even the thought of navigating the complicated world of mental health at work probably seems like too much to handle.  Let this podcast be you’re not so secret weapon to help fix that. I’m your host, Lindsay Recknell. And my mission is to help great leaders like you feel less awkward and more confident talking about mental health at work. So you can stress less, take more action and continue to make a valuable difference in your job as a leader, positively impacting the lives of your people. I’ll be bringing you the experts insights and actions that will give you the skills you need to navigate mental health in the workplace, and foster a workplace where everyone’s mental health can thrive.  This week’s guest is another VIP from the upcoming SHRM conference I mentioned in the first couple episodes of season five of this Mental Health for Leaders podcast. Wendi Safstrom is a senior nonprofit leader committed to serving the public through philanthropic program management, cultivating strategic partnerships and managing and developing high performing teams. Wendi currently serves as the president for the SHRM Foundation, where she leads the development and implementation of SHRM Foundation’s programmatic development and marketing communication strategies in support of the SHRM Foundation’s new mission and vision, creating growth plans and ensuring alignment with SHRM goals.  Prior to assuming the role of the SHRM Foundation, Wendi served as vice president at the National Restaurant Association, and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, where she led the development and implementation of their Foundation’s most recent five year strategic plan. In 2016, she served as Lead Project Director for the development of a $10 million contract awarded by the US Department of Labor to develop the hospitality industry’s first apprenticeship program, and was instrumental in the foundation’s reorganization and relocation of operations from Chicago, Illinois to Washington DC, transforming the staff and their culture. Wendi has also held human resource management roles within the Leo Burnett company and Hyatt Hotels Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. She has a BS in business administration from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University, and was recognized as a member of the 2014 power 20 by restaurant business magazine, as a leader in philanthropy within the restaurant industry.  Before we get started, I want your time to be valuable here. So in order to get the most from this podcast, head to my website at https://mentalhealthforleaders.com, and download the Guide to Influence and Impact at Work, which has the step by step action plan, you’ll need to embed a focus on mental health into the employee experience of your workplace, it’s totally free. And it’ll give you the start to your action plan steps to follow to create engagement to build a budget, and a method to measure the value, influence and impact that you’re going to be making as you lead this transformational change in your organization. We haven’t been taught the mental health skills we need to truly lead our organizations into the future. So let this guide and this podcast be the advantage you need to elevate your career, your leadership skills and the positive impact you’ll bring to your organization, head to https://mentalhealthforleaders.com and download the free guide to influence an impact at work now. The opportunity is yours, and I cannot wait to see what you’ll do. All right. Now let’s get to our guest.  Hello, Wendi, welcome to the show.

Wendi Safstrom  03:36

Thank you so much for having me today.

Lindsay Recknell  03:38

It is such a pleasure to have you here. I’m really excited to hear all about the research that the SHRM Foundation just underwent. But maybe before we get into that, I’d love for you to share with the audience a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Wendi Safstrom  03:49

Sure, I am obviously Wendi Safstrom. And I’m president of the SHRM foundation. I’m been in this role for about almost the last five years. So by the time this actually plays, it will have been five years at the SHRM Foundation where we are the philanthropic arm of SHRM and obviously, you know SHRM, Society for Human Resource Management, we’ve got over 315,000 members globally and engaging 115 million workers and their families and those that they care for every single day. Our role at the Foundation is really to focus on mobilizing HR professionals to lead positive social change in the workplace.

Lindsay Recknell  04:28

I love that mandate, positive social change. I mean, I don’t know that we have, you know, as HR professionals, anybody better suited to help that happen through employee experience and research and development and all of those kinds of things. So what an amazing what an amazing place to work and an amazing sort of mandate to lead.

Wendi Safstrom  04:50

Right? Absolutely. And it’s such a critical time as well.

Lindsay Recknell  04:55

Well, what a great segue into some of the research that you guys have just recently under taken. So we’re recording this in April of 2022. And I know earlier this month, you guys published some research around mental health in America, a workplace report, I wonder if you could share a little bit about what that study was all about and why a study like that matters, especially right now.

Wendi Safstrom  05:19

Sure. The study was conducted in collaboration with SHRM, they’ve got a tremendous terrific research team, led by Dr. Alex Alonso, and in partnership with Otsuka America pharmaceutical. The study draws on the perspectives of HR professionals, really allowing us to shine a never before seen, at least from our perspective, light on mental health and wellness in America and the study shares findings on what is and perhaps what isn’t working, when it comes to addressing mental health in the workplace and why. And, you know, the bottom line, as you would expect, are that workers need more support for their employers, they don’t necessarily know where to turn within their organizations. And this report really sheds a light on the important role employers employers can play in supporting their employees mental well being. And the need to establish mental health as a top priority within everyone’s organizations within our organizations, especially if we as SHRMs vision is to create a world of work that works for all, and we want employees to thrive, and lead healthy productive organizations, it’s got to be made a priority. And this study, the outcomes of the study is really going to serve as a roadmap for the foundation to create tools, solutions and programs to support those efforts.

Lindsay Recknell  06:42

I love it. It just gives me chills to think about the potential of the results from this study. And I imagine so after reading this study, there was a ton of findings. You I mean, you want to talk about depth of of research in this in this study, was there a finding that surprised you the most?

Wendi Safstrom  07:02

You know, I’m I’m not sure it was surprising me, it didn’t surprise me the most, but it really validated just how inextricably linked mental health is to economic vitality. And conversely, just how closely linked mental health issues or challenges lead to economic sickness and not vitality. The survey really found that a focus on mental health is also good for business as you can imagine, right? So nearly nine in 10 HR professionals, that’s about 88%, I believe, believe offering mental health resources will increase productivity. And 78% saying, Say offering such resources will boost really the organization’s return on investment, which is great, because it really shows itself or is a proof point out when you notice your employees productivity. And every nearly every industry that we talked to in terms of industry sector, and representatives from those sectors are adversely affected, but some feel that they’re more effective than others. And so based on our study, as you can imagine, HR professionals in the health care sector were most likely to indicate that their workers experience or would they’re experiencing or have experienced mental health issues, then employees in other industries, as you could imagine, right, due to pandemic induce stress at work, and then significant numbers of HR professionals in the nonprofit. So at 47%, and nonprofit it is the government, public administration and military. And the education sector also claimed that their employees are more likely and are experiencing mental health issues more so than workers in other industries. And again, when the survey respondents were asked why they thought their workers were experiencing these issues, it’s really a high pressure work environment most commonly cited reason, especially given everything that’s been facing the world lately, over the last two, two and a half years in particular.

Lindsay Recknell  09:07

I was very intrigued by those industry specific stats as well. I mean, I recognize definitely healthcare. I was I was not excited. But I was interested to learn about the nonprofit because, of course, the pressure on the nonprofit industry has been huge in stepping up support and things like that. And then teachers education, the the absolute pivot that those fine folks had to make tough to upskill to learn how to lead differently how to engage differently, having their kids online and then offline and then hybrid and all of those things. That definitely it gave me a lot to think about hearing those industry specific stats.

Wendi Safstrom  09:46

Yep, so I can’t I don’t have children. I didn’t have to homeschool or support any of that but I can’t imagine the pressure on parents caregivers, students and their teachers to make that switch. And then in certain on And, you know, as things began to kind of emerge back to the new normal, they’re still trying to figure stuff out. And it’s just an added stressor. And some that so many of these important professions.

Lindsay Recknell  10:12

And you mentioned new normal, which is kind of a cool opportunity to think about as well, because I like the idea of flexibility or new ways of learning in the, you know, in the homeschooling situation, and flexibility for families to be able to maybe homeschool their kids sometimes and send them send them to school. Other times, I think there’s cool opportunities. And some of this exists in our workplaces as well, opportunities that have arisen from the pandemic and all the things that we’ve had to transition to right. So speaking of that, in organizations making these kinds of opportunities into strategic priorities, I know that this study recognized that 32% of HR professionals, only 32% are claiming that their organization considers offering mental health resources as a high priority, which is, in some ways really surprising to me. I want it to be higher, obviously. But then, in some cases, not surprising, given that, you know, we’ve been working in these environments for the last however many years, how do we encourage organizations to change their strategic priority and elevate mental health up the priority list?

Wendi Safstrom 11:27

Well, and it’s it seems, so contrary, it comes up, it contradicts excuse me, some of the earlier survey results were nearly 80% of HR professionals are saying offering these kinds of mental health resources are going to boost their organizational performance. So it seems like if that is the that is the sentiment, right, then making it a priority will lead to increased productivity. So there’s, there’s two things, the incentive for organizations to address mental health in the workplace is first and foremost, we know that action taking action on mental health is inherently valuable to those experiencing the issues, as they gain access to resources designed to help the situation and with support from their employers. In particular, if they’re not getting support anywhere else, employees with mental health issues stand a better chance of addressing these feelings of burnout, exhaustion, hopelessness, and even reducing stress. And so really, the second incentive for organizations to make it a higher priority certainly is increased productivity, it’s better for the bottom line. And employers that move to address mental health issues among their workforces, in taking care of their employees with that regard, empower employees to eventually add even more organizational value. So when employers take strong actions, their bottom lines benefit, their people benefit, their communities benefit and their businesses thrive.

Lindsay Recknell  13:01

I couldn’t agree more with any of those sentiments, and it feels so logical. Now, if we think about some of the math around the cost of mental health at work, I think there again, there’s opportunity for us to calculate that ROI differently. Like, you know, like, you’re like you’re talking about productivity for these fine folks who are now you know, they’ve got the support they need, they’re feeling more loyal to the organization, they have probably had some support to in their job design, perhaps in maybe flexible flexible work hours, or some supports around accessibility in their workplace, all these things that are making them feel like they’re more valuable, that they’re able to contribute to the workplace, and therefore they are working harder and being more present and all of those things, are there some metrics that you could recommend organizations to start to use to calculate these costs in a different way?

Wendi Safstrom 14:06

Sure, um, for organizations that aren’t offering mental health resources, the most common reasons cited is a general lack of recognition with employers really recognizing or considering mental health in that prioritization or that agenda setting process, let alone acting to improve upon what’s currently in place. Proper agenda setting is leading to direct mental health assistance and increasingly so and large and small organizations that are taking action have provided others with viable models. We have that kind of access to information and support on our hub on our mental health and wellness, workplace mental health and wellness hub, and I encourage people to check that out. So those considering taking action on mental health and future can look to what first adopters, if you will have done for inspiration and to learn, but it’s interesting In talking to some even large companies, global branded companies who have been investing in mental health resources for years, whether they’ve been accessed fully or not, they’re still wanting to know what others are doing. So any opportunities that we have at SHRM, the SHRM Foundation, to create communities by which HR professionals could come together and share best practices is will be tremendously helpful. And there are ways that organizations could look to assess whether or not things are working right other than just increased productivity. They can look at employee engagement surveys, they can look at mental health resource utilization rate reports, they can look at attendance, which ultimately leads to higher levels of productivity. And then the last point on this to assist organizations, there are also third party vendors and that exist and then certainly one on one interviews with employees are really, really powerful and understanding the efficacy of the support you’re providing

Lindsay Recknell  16:03

love it, because I know that the that the study cited, that lack of resources was a stumbling block to take action on this kind of mental health. So I love that there are, you know, people that are leading the charge in this space, and that those who are interested can learn. And I know that the SHRM Foundation, and also SHRM has a ton of resources available to support taking action so that we can learn from that community. And the assessment piece of the efficacy of these programs. I know, again, that was another result from the study was that organizations need to assess the efficacy or the the impact the positive impact that these programs are having so that we can continue to prove, I guess, to prove that the money we’re spending is really helping the employees first, but also improving the bottom line. Because obviously, if we don’t improve the bottom line, we don’t have organizations to work for so. Yeah, thank you for showing that as well. Yeah. Um, one of the recommendations that SHRM makes in this study is that we need to train our people managers about mental health and the importance of addressing it proactively. In your opinion, what are the top three mental health skills that the HR profession and people leader should be taught to have the most positive impact?

Wendi Safstrom  17:25

I think the first thing is and you know, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. Our CEO talks quite a bit about this as empathy. You’re knowing what’s at stake organizations really need to train, we call it refer to managers as people managers right about mental health, in the importance of addressing it proactively. And in any organization, people managers bring the highest level of efficacy when they are empathetic. And people managers need to care about their employees, obviously, but they must understand also how to care care, really, first and foremost, empathy can flow from training people, managers who are shown proper procedures, and really learn how best to implement them when they’re recognizing or our concern that their employees are under stress or duress, and then know how best to implement the support services can really adopt adopt strategic goals, to be mindful of mental health issues. And so it’s all about getting people managers to recognize signs to be empathetic, and know when and how to act. I would say the second skill set is really along communication, and the successful implementation of AAPs and other resources or benefits supporting workplace mental health and wellness is impossible without good communication. It’s not an overstatement to suggest that workplace culture can fall apart without appropriate and proper communication. And so to take on mental health issues, employers need to keep asking for feedback from their employees about the benefits that are of high interest to the employees into the organization. And then organizations can use those surveys, as I mentioned earlier, one on one interviews to gain a better understanding of workplace sentiment and adapt or adjust their action plans based on workers response and utilization. And perhaps some of those other efficacy metric measures. We talked about feedback, this feedback continued consistent feedback is so integral integral to assessment so that those employers can really pursue informed action. And then finally, workplace culture focus on your workplace culture, workplace culture depends so much on HR professionals and people managers and it starts at the very top. And it depends on those who are serving on the front lines of communication at work, which are HR professionals and people managers. They really form the backbone of culture. They interact with employees daily, and those positive interactions boosts job satisfaction, whereas negative ones lead to turnover or worse, certainly, so empathy communication, and a real focus and identification of your workplace culture is critical.

Lindsay Recknell  20:14

Oh, so good. So I love that the the thing I love best about those three, those three topics that you talked about empathy, communication and culture is that they are kind of overarching, right? They are skills that will have a positive impact across the entire organization, not just the mental health of an organization, but really the viability of an organization. So it stands to reason that teaching people leaders to have these skills is going to benefit why far and wide within the organization. One of the things that we come across a lot in in on this podcast, and the work that we do is engaging senior leadership in these kinds of conversations and the importance of implementing mental health programming, this kind of skills training, and getting them to also pay for it. So not only engaging in the importance, but also getting them to pay for it. Do you have any thoughts on how we can engage senior leadership who may not quite be there yet?

Wendi Safstrom  21:19

I think with as with anything, senior leaders are worried certainly about their, their their people. That’s, that’s an organization’s most valuable resource, if you will. And I think that senior leadership needs to adopt that empathetic approach, certainly, and I think that business leaders, senior business leaders need to understand the business reasons for for adopting these workplace mental health and wellness practices, it’s not just another benefit plan. Mental health is just as important as physical health. And I think identifying the business case specific to your business specific to your industry sector, as an HR professional, having that conversation with senior leadership can make it happen. And I would also encourage senior leaders to be vulnerable, we hear a lot about that, you know, you don’t need to tell your whole life story. But when senior leadership opens up about, in particular how the stress and, and exhaustion quite frankly, over the last few years has impacted them personally, that just lends itself to this, this empathetic spirit. Employees can relax a little bit, get their shoulders out of their ears, and know that from the very top, senior leadership’s are committed to their to caring for them, and are trying to create this culture where people feel comfortable coming forward, if they indeed are experiencing a mental health issue.

Lindsay Recknell  22:47

Well, and it’s so important to model that behavior out loud, right? It’s one thing to put your values on the wall and say we value mental health and then have closed doors everywhere and nobody sharing what’s real and important, exactly to the organization. That’s awesome. That’s really amazing. We had mentioned you mentioned EAPs, and how it It can’t just be having a really great EAP program and employee assistance program for those who don’t recognize the acronym. Are there other creative ways that organizations can bring mental health coverage into their workplaces? You know, lack of resources sometimes comes into play both people resources, time, resources, money, resources, are there ways that organizations can be more creative in this space?

Wendi Safstrom  23:35

I think again, having conversations people manager training, so even if it’s not offering a specific benefit, creating opportunities through training and can and consistent communication, about the importance of empathy, about the importance, and the recognition of what’s going on in the world, and the impact on individuals and those individuals add up to an entire population or team within an organization is really important. I don’t think that having those kinds of community those kinds of conversations, and really spearheading those communications, that’s not necessarily a big cost. It’s a cost in time. But I think that that time and in that investment in having those conversations, and creating a community and an environment where employees feel comfortable about sharing when they are stressed or burned out, will lend itself to a healthier organization and a healthier workplace culture. So having the courage to have those courageous conversations, just to open it up, will help people relax a little bit. Understand that they can ask for help. They’ll understand where to go to seek and support and is to seek support and help from their HR professionals with people managers. And it just kind of I feel like it levels the playing field. Everybody feels good about where they’re working, and the opportunities they have there to thrive and grow.

Lindsay Recknell  25:00

And I think it’s important to note that these conversations, these one on ones, the feedback sessions don’t have to be in addition to the conversations you’re already have. I mean, right? You’re having, you’re very likely having one on ones with your team or team meetings and things like that. There’s no reason that we can’t just embed these kinds of conversations into those conversations we’re already having I think, sometimes we think, Oh, this is yet another thing I have to add to my to do faster. Another conversation I have to had, how am I ever going to fit this in? You know, James Clear talks about habit stacking. So just get into the habit of opening your meetings with, you know, topics around feedback on some of the programs or what what would help better.

Wendi Safstrom 25:42

Exactly. And, you know, one of the most powerful conference calls I ever participated in, was led by one of my colleagues, Ellen Christman, and she leads our philanthropy and engagement work at the foundation. And we were talking with a functional team at SHRM about the work that we’re the foundation was doing with regard to mental health and wellness. We were planning this big summit that we had in New York City last October, where we really teed up this topic and had subject matter experts at HR. Rows and, and, and mental health advocates all contribute to the conversation, she started off the conference call by asking everyone on the call, we were all on Zoom. So you had all those little squares on your computer screen to share something that had been a stressor or source of exhaustion, or when they themselves had had a mental health moment or crisis over the last couple of years. That week, maybe even that day. And every single person on the conference call went around and shared. And no one seemed to be embarrassed, everyone willingly shared, and it just kind of set the tone. And it made it again in a level playing field. And then people also recognize in the back of their mind that the work they were prepared to embark on was so critically important. And everybody on that call was experiencing something. So it was relevant to them. It was just a really, I think a great illustration of what you just articulated, make it a habit to have those kinds of conversations, start a conference call in a staff meeting in the hallway, if it’s appropriate. i It was incredibly powerful.

Lindsay Recknell  27:16

Oh, it sounds incredible. Like it was granted. Yeah, it just gives me chills to think about the the authenticity of that the recognition that everybody is having this universal experience. Nobody is immune to mental health challenges in life, let alone you know, over the last couple of years in a global pandemic, I think the pandemic has highlighted some of the challenges for us, it’s definitely deepened and broadened a lot of the challenges for people but it doesn’t discriminate. Mental health is in all of us. You know, like you say it’s it’s as important. In fact, I would almost hazard to say that our mental health is more important than our physical health, because they are all so tightly intertwined.

Wendi Safstrom  28:01

Right, right. Absolutely. And if there were ever a silver lining, as people say it in COVID, and the economic instability, and the social justice issues, it’s the fact that everybody can relate to the kind of exhaustion and stress that everyone else is, is experiencing. And so even though these challenges existed pre COVID, right. COVID and as a result of kind of leveling the playing field, and everybody feeling a similar way, has opened up opportunities for people to communicate, talk, explore what is working, what isn’t working, and really take good care of their employees.

Lindsay Recknell  28:43

And make that universal experience, something to learn from and take away as an opportunity. Amazing. What’s what’s next for the foundation? What are you working on right now?

Wendi Safstrom  28:53

We are working on let’s see, well, we have the conference, obviously the annual conference, which we’re really excited about, we launched our workplace mental health and wellness initiative back in 2021. And it was really the top line was to help eliminate the stigma of mental health and workplace and again, really help HR professionals and people managers foster an organizational culture, where mental health can be discussed openly. And we’re going to be activating all of the good research and the report that was in there. The SHRM research team did. Again, that’s going to serve as a roadmap for us to create tools, resources and opportunities for networking and for communicating with one another as HR professionals. We’ve launched the workplace mental health ally sort of certificate, and it’s an online course that HR professionals and people managers can take. And it’s really a great online course that helps people identify the signs of mental stress and mental health and challenges and points to some of the causes and the sources and then points towards solutions that would be most helpful both me immediate and long term for both people, managers and HR professionals. And then finally, we are also partnering with shrooms executive network. So an executive network is for CHR OHS, Chief Human Resource Officers to put on our visionary summit in October of 2022 in Chicago. And really the theme is blending this, this notion of belonging in the workplace and one’s feeling that they belong in that place of work and in that culture, and combining that with workplace mental health and wellness, kind of picking off picking back up where we left off last October, blending those two topics and providing some really amazing speakers and perspectives during that particular conference.

Lindsay Recknell  30:43

Sounds very, very powerful, very powerful. How can we both as an HR profession, but also as leaders at work, how can we best support the Foundation moving forward? What do you need from us?

Wendi Safstrom 30:57

I’d say utilize our tools, get it, dig into our hub, test out some of the resources, let us know what is working for you what other holes or gaps can the foundation fill in are the philanthropic affiliate nonprofit. So we rely really on the generosity of donors and investors, and certainly SHRM invests in us, and we’re here for HR professionals. We’re here for our members, we’re here for our people, managers. And we’re always looking to improve what we need to improve and to add on to what we’re already offering. So just get in, see what you think. Let us know how things are working and where there are gaps that we can help fill in perhaps within your organization’s

Lindsay Recknell  31:40

Wonderful, thank you so so much, we will absolutely link to all of those resources that you mentioned, to the SHRM Foundation website, of course to the study, the mental health in America study were referenced all the way through this episode. Wendi, it has been such a delight to speak with you your intelligence, your insights, the cool innovative ways that you’re supporting the HR profession and people leaders is super inspiring and motivating. And I just really appreciate you sharing your time with us today.

Wendi Safstrom  32:08

Thank you so much for inviting me This is both a personal and professional passion of mine. And like I said, if there were ever a silver lining, it’s an opportunity to bring this to the forefront and and support our organization’s best resource most valuable resource which are its people.

Lindsay Recknell  32:26

Yeah, that passion definitely shines through in your conversation. So it’s definitely you are well aligned in your work.

Wendi Safstrom  32:33

Thank you so much.

Lindsay Recknell  32:35

Thanks for joining me for another awesome episode of the mental health for leaders podcast. To make sure you don’t miss any future episodes, please go to https://mentalhealthforleaders.com and subscribe to have these episodes delivered right to your inbox each week. You’ll also find all the show notes, links and resources that my guest mentioned on the show and the link to the Guide to Influence and Impact at Work freebie I mentioned at the beginning of this episode.  You’re listening to this podcast because you know our people need us more than ever. But being a people leader and an HR professional is especially hard right now. If the thought of figuring out how to best support your people and yourself feels overwhelming and impossibly hard. Let’s talk. I don’t promise I can make it easy, but I can make it simple. So let’s do that together. Go to https://mentalhealthforleaders.com and download the Guide to Influence and Impact at Work now. Until next time, take good care. And as always, call me if you need me.