CWHP-P Reflection: Unit WHPP02

What struck me in this module was how many different things play into our health and wellbeing. Not all of the things listed were new to me - I had heard of health assessments to promote wellbeing at work, it's always been clear to me that ergonomics have an affect, and EDI seemed a natural link to psychological health and safety. But other things noted like the built environment, sustainability and social determinants like wages and housing go far beyond what immediately comes to mind when I think of "workplace wellbeing".

What I found challenging, and will have to spend more time thinking about, is how I can impact these other factors in meaningful ways. There are elements of wellbeing that fall under my purview (like ergonomics or wellness promotion) but others like wages or leadership training don't fall to me. So how can I leverage my knowledge and connections…

Working in the forum of human rights leadership, I have often asked myself how can I integrate wellness and safety into this very important sector?

Working through the readings and question, there has been great clarity in the connection between wellness, CSR, ESG, SDG2030 and human rights.

DEI is at the forefront of leadership in most sectors. Employees are demanding we do better. And, as Maya Angelou states, when we know better, we must do better.

Investing in our teams (human capital) is an investment in our future. Organizations that have strong values that align with their mission and vision create a workspace that creates an environment of learning, growth, creativity, innovation, and engagement. And, ensuring that there are policies and practices that provide a culture of wellness and safety, embracing diversity as a strength, and safe spaces for those brave conversations builds the foundation for individuals, teams, and organizations…

The importance of EDI, for creating sense of belonging and community, really about ESG and feeling like we are a community/ecosystem of our own within a greater community stood out to me the most in this unit. I am so fortunate to get to work with an EDI specialist at Bruyere – interestingly we are under different VPs/strategic arms of our strategic plan, but I see this as a huge opportunity for greater collaboration, as we have a very similar agenda re: improving psychological health and safety, in which inclusion is the first stage, and EDI. I will work more closely with her, and even though we have different VPs, that means we have buy-in from two executive sponsors on the Senior Strategy Team showing up with alignment. This is an opportunity for me.