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In 2017, Denis Trottier’s depression became so severe that he tried to resign from his role as a senior partner at KPMG Canada. Instead, he eventually found himself in the newly created – and rare – role of chief mental health officer (CMHO).
“I was not sleeping, not eating, losing weight and crying in my car, trying to convince myself that I would snap out of this,” Mr. Trottier says in an interview with The Globe and Mail. “I simply was not accepting that this was medical in nature and that I needed help. Most of the stigma is self-imposed and I was listening to my head that was saying I was no good and that I could not do my work any more. I tried to quit but the firm said no, they would get me the help I needed so I could be well again. Then, about seven to eight years later, after I decided to take early retirement, the firm approached me because of my passion for mental health to see if I wanted to be their first [CMHO].”
Eight years later, Mr. Trottier remains one of the few CMHOs in Canada, alongside more recently created positions at companies such as Telus Health and WorkSafeBC.
Experts believe more companies should appoint a CMHO, especially given the increased importance and attention paid to mental health in the workplace.
“Having a C-suite level executive whose sole purpose within the company is to ensure mental health stays top of mind provides an extra layer of assurance and assistance that many organizations have yet to adopt,” says Olivia Cicchini, an HR and employment law specialist with Peninsula Canada.
Vulnerability as a strength
Mr. Trottier believes the CMHO role should be outside of traditional HR departments and held by someone in the C-suite to ensure mental health is part of the company culture.
“Having mental health outside of HR allows companies to think differently and appoint a leader whose only goal is to invest in the mental well-being of their team,” he says.
“It’s tone at the top,” says Mr. Trottier, who often shares his personal mental health experiences, believing that “vulnerability is a strength as a leader.”
Whether it is one single CMHO or a mental health team that operates separately from HR, he advises companies to review what policies and programs they have in place and are lacking, so they can build on it.
For example, he says KPMG Canada recently overhauled its Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) to include ongoing mental health care for employees, which resulted in a 14-per-cent utilization rate of the EAP.
For context, Mr. Trottier says that when he first started in the role of CMHO, the EAP utilization rate was in the range of 8 to 10 per cent, which is reportedly common for professional services firms, according to Mr. Trottier.
He says he was able to do this because improving mental health (and mental health benefits) is his specific focus.
‘Influential and not just ceremonial’
When adding C-suite level mental health positions, Ms. Cicchini says the role needs to be “influential and not just ceremonial.”
“Policy development, open communication, destigmatization, work-life balance and employee support mechanisms are all items on any CMHO’s to-do list, and they must be executed for a company to reap the benefits,” she says.
Cissy Pau, principal consultant of Clear HR Consulting in Vancouver, says there should be metrics – such as reductions in benefit claim costs, absenteeism rates and short-term disability leaves – to ensure success. Otherwise, having a CMHO is just for show.
Not all companies, in particular small- to medium-size organizations, have the resources to bring on a full-time CMHO, but Ms. Pau says they should consider how to incorporate more mental health considerations with what they have available.
She cites one client that provides an extra benefit specifically for mental health, which amounts to roughly $1,000 a year.
Ms. Pau says the first step is listening to employees about their mental health concerns and then figuring out how to support them.
“It’s about educating ourselves on what resources are available and having resources that you can refer employees to, just like any other issue,” she says.
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