A CONVERSATION ON WELLNESS: HOW ARE YOU DOING?

Chris Allinotte and Martine Yzerman, WRLA

How are you really doing?

That used to be a phrase nobody put much thought to—it was the thing you’d say after, “Hello,” and before, “Great! Let’s get down to business.”

These days, not so much. Because we’ve all been through a world-changing pandemic, and for many of us, it’s still going on. When we say, “how are you doing?” these days, we could just as easily say, “are you okay?”

One thing that is incredible about the Lumber and Building Materials Industry is that it’s built on interaction with others.

There are not a lot of ways to order lumber, build a custom door, or sell a hammer without talking to people. That lack of interaction was one of the things we all felt most keenly when lockdowns were happening. On the flip side, and this is a question everyone can answer, how great did it feel when you went to your first gathering with people outside your house? How amazing was it to come together as an industry last March for the WRLA Showcase?

Bringing it back to the workplace, the culture and practices around illness are changing. Two years of “stay home if you’re sick” is starting to break through years of conditioning to stuff tissues up your nose and tough it out.

Most reassuringly, we’re starting to hear and have many more conversations about mental well-being, too. Incredible stress produces incredible reactions to stress. If you’re not thinking about these things yet, you’re not alone. But the time could be right to start doing so.

Recently, two of us at the WRLA sat down and had a conversation about health and wellness in the workplace. We talked about what’s been happening, what we’re seeing now, and where we think things are going. Read on, and feel free to send us a note at marketing@wrla.org and tell us what you’re doing at your workplace to make health and wellness a priority. We’ll print some of the answers we receive in our next issue!

Chris Allinotte (CA): Hi Martine. How are you doing?

Martine Yzerman (MY): I see what you did there.

CA: Let’s start with the most personal thing up front—we’re both Gen X’ers—which means that we both grew up at a time when most of us were taught that, unless you were near death, you went into work.

MY: I can definitely relate to that. If there’s anything good that’s come from the pandemic, it’s that taking your paid sick days doesn’t feel like you’re letting down the team. In fact, it’s usually the opposite, you’re helping them avoid getting sick, too. Odd to think it has taken this long to “normalize” being sick.

CA: When you put it that way, and I think back to all the times a cold or flu would whip through the entire office, I’m not sure how much time or money was being saved by having a dozen people barely able to work, instead of missing one person for a day or two.

MY: As well, I think I about the “money lost” in lack of performance. Thankfully things along those lines are starting to change for the better, too. People are talking more proactively about their health, too.

CA: We’re definitely having those conversations at WRLA. We recently finished a “30-in-30” challenge with the whole WRLA team.

MY: Right. We did (or tried to do) thirty minutes of activity a day, for all thirty days of November. It was tough, but having it be a team activity made it easier. It’s the accountability piece with your peers that always helps me. More fun.

CA: I ended up doing a lot of time on the treadmill, but by the end of the month, I found myself looking forward to it. Building up that habit.

MY: Fitness is one of my passions, so I bike, hike, you name it. Even then, creating that kind of everyday habit isn’t the easiest. I love how moving my body helps me work through most issues, a fresh new perspective, It’s so valuable to get moving.

CA: Definitely. I read that blog you sent me recently, “The employee mental health crisis.” We’ve been talking physical fitness mostly, but mental health is so, so important. People are under more stress than ever, and everyone needs some help sometimes.

MY: I loved that line, “It’s time to get comfortable being uncomfortable, embrace the awkward and jump in with both feet.” We need to be talking about and addressing the stress and anxiety people are experiencing.

CA: Yes to all of that. Especially to employers getting involved. Individual employees can raise issues, but nothing is going to get done without management moving things along.

MY: But we as employees can look out for each other, too. Most of us work as part of a Team, and we’re all really busy, but taking an extra minute to listen to each other—not necessarily offering solutions—but listening, can make a huge difference. Heck, even a genuine greeting in the morning can make someone feel better.

CA: And I’d imagine it’s even more difficult for those that are working remotely. I know there’s a lot of benefits that come with that, but it’s got to be a little bit difficult, not having that ready source of personto-person interaction. I know I felt it when we were in lockdown back in 2020. With you out there in Calgary, I’m sure you’ve had some downs to go along with the ups.

MY: That’s one of the reasons it’s been so important to stay active physically, and I also focus on staying emotionally and intellectually connected with my team as well. With our organization, Liz really makes the effort to make sure those of us who work elsewhere feel connected to the team, and that we get opportunities to come together as often as possible. That brings me to some of the other suggestions in that blog we mentioned.

CA: Things that employers can do to help promote good mental health at work.

MY: There were a lot of great suggestions. I think that article was written back when every meeting was a Zoom meeting but a lot of those ideas still apply. Like mental health days, for example.

CA: Right. The point being that, just like a sick day, it’s helping you be more productive overall by taking that time to rest and recharge, instead of getting burned out and having all your output get worse. They made a point to say that employers should absolutely do the same.

MY: How many WRLA members are small business owners? How many hours a day do those owners put in? It’s no wonder people are getting so stressed that they’re burning out. There’s traditional thinking that a day away is just going to cost the business money they don’t have, but what is the cost to the business if you are so overwhelmed that you start making mistakes and errors in judgment? Being your own boss has many perks; however, entrepreneurs can really benefit from having an accountability partner. Ensure that they are looking after themselves mentally and physically.

CA: It’s a tough call, to be sure, when there already aren’t enough staff to go around, but if there’s a way to make it work, the health benefits are there.

MY: Related to that one and bringing us back to remote work for a second—employers should also be looking at setting expectations for their salaried employees. When you don’t clock in and out, it can be really easy to keep working well past the end of the day. It’s especially common for people who’ve been working from home to end up working much longer hours than they’d be putting in at an office. It’s important to have a separate working space and to ‘put your things away’ at the end of the day. Make the distinction between work and home.

CA: The expectations you’re referring to are so important. Does that email really need an answer at 9 p.m.? Maybe it does, but in that case, it’s important to ensure that these are exceptions and not the norm. If it’s an on-call situation, which some businesses need to have—that’s a reality—there’s a need to make sure it’s not always the same person.

MY: It’s taking that step, on the employer’s part, to also hold off sending those after-hours emails that can wait until the next day, and to have those conversations about work-life balance. Employers need that mental break, too!

CA: All of these suggestions sound like we’re saying, “just work less, and take more time off.” But I don’t think that’s quite it.

MY: It’s down to a quality-over-quantity approach. If we’re taking care of people’s mental and physical well-being—or making it much easier for them to take care of it themselves, they’re going to be more productive when they’re doing their job.

CA: There’s some things that can be done while everyone is at work, too. One of these is to establish “no-meeting” days.

MY: I think everyone agrees that sometimes you feel like you’re only ever attending meetings—which leaves you wondering how you’ll ever get the work done that you’ve been talking about. Holding one day in the week as a no-meeting day can give everyone a mental break.

CA: So it really comes down to a change of mindset, I think. Compared to the way things have always been done.

MY: It’s about treating people as individuals and realizing that the traditional practice of expecting people to leave all their personal challenges at the door is just not realistic anymore. Offering company-backed supports, we end up with a healthier, happier workplace. It starts with creating a psychological safe space for the entire team, which ultimately enhances the collective level of trust. This will ultimately allow everyone to feel safe to share and ultimately be more productive, effective and everyone wins in the end.

CA: Thanks so much for taking time to speak to me about these topics!

MY: Talking about this stuff is how good things happen.