Making Space and Time to Get the Mental Health Care You Need

Last week, a dataset on mental health was released from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey, and the numbers are sobering. In the last year, approximately 2.8 million people in Canada over the age of 15 reported symptoms consistent with mental health or substance abuse disorders. This is roughly 10% of the population.*

*What is even more startling about this number is that it excludes people living on-reserve or in other Aboriginal settlements, full time members of the Canadian Forces, or the institutionalized population.

Having a mental or substance use disorder, experiencing higher levels of distress, or having two or more chronic physical health conditions were positively associated with reporting a need for mental health care. This is something we encounter frequently at Champions, where the combination of living with a disability and a mental illness can exacerbate symptoms of both conditions.

Counselling was reported as the most common type of care needed by respondents, and nearly 33% of people who had a need for mental health care said their needs were either not met or only partially met. Personal circumstances – like being too busy – were the most frequently reported reasons for people not receiving the mental health care they need.

Time, stress and general busyness can make taking care of our health difficult. It is interesting that those who required medication had the highest rating for having their needs met, over 90%. This suggests that certain parts of our health care system are more adept at treating mental illness than others. The treatment where we need to create time and space for ourselves, or for others, continues to be lacking.

If your workplace or personal life is so busy that you can’t find time to care for your mental health, then they are probably a source of or at the very least contributing to the problem. The best place to start is often to stop. At work, this means creating space to recognize the issues around mental health and get a dialogue going. Only when people begin to discuss and talk about mental illness in an open and honest way can solutions begin to reveal themselves.

Everything begins with workplace culture. And workplace culture rarely begins with a policy or forced workshop for staff. If you are a manager, ask yourself how many people in your workplace have a mental health issue. If the answer is zero, you most likely have a problem. Why? Because the odds of your workplace being the one place where the 1 in 10 Canadians with a mental health issue don’t work is exceedingly improbable. On the flip side, if your staff members are repeatedly taking stress leave, or extended absences from work, then you may also have a problem.

Emotional intelligence training can be a great place to start in the workplace. This can get employees to think about their own emotions and those of others. Building this kind of social support in the workplace can create conversation and be the building blocks of a more supportive culture. Once this conversation gets going then space will be created for more programmes which look after employee health - ones that people will take the time to engage with.

A Journey Into Disability: Shifting My Own Perceptions

"Are there any accommodations or needs that we should be aware of that would make it easier for you to succeed in your potential role at Champions?"

I remember this question vividly from when I was interviewed for the position of Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Champions last year. At the time, I literally had no idea what Lori James, our Client Services Manager, was getting at when she asked me this. This was representative of the knowledge which I had about disabilities, inclusion and employment at this time in my life - which was little to none.

Prior to this moment, I had generally been committed to issues and ideas surrounding the concept of social justice, both in my professional and academic lives. I have always been deeply concerned about the various inequalities which exist in the societies we live in, and have embarked on a career path where I aspire to address their root or structural causes. (My friends in the corporate world call this career path the PDG - Professional Do Gooder - but this isn't article about addressing their cynicism) While I had never worked with persons with disabilities, or as a career developer for that matter, applying for a position at Champions Career Centre seemed to fit neatly within the kind of work I wanted to do with my life.

At the time, and immediately after being hired, it seemed so simple. Of course people with a disability deserve an equal opportunity to participate in the workforce! Let's help them get jobs!

About one month into my time at Champions, and after a several week crash course on all things related to diversity and inclusion, I participated in my first all day staff meeting. Which was the first all day staff meeting I had ever attended in an office environment. By the end of the meeting my head was pounding and I was completely disoriented.

Now, I understand that almost everyone has a special place in the dark corners of their heart for an all day staff meeting. I sincerely doubt anyone really looks forward to them, or relishes in their glory as they creep into their seventh and eighth hours. However, what I was feeling wasn't the normal fatigue related to being knee deep in a swamp of minutiae all day long, but were symptoms related to Post-Concussion Syndrome.

Before coming to Champions, there were two realities to my life. I loved to work independently, with most of my work experience involving consulting, research and volunteering in a solo capacity. I also seem to love to hit my head. Over the course of my lifetime I have taken a good half dozen shots to the skull, with the after effects getting worse with each concurrent blow, fall or golf ball. It was only with my last concussion - the aforementioned Titleist -  that I had to see doctors about the change in personality and symptoms I was experiencing in the weeks after the accident. Over time, the post-concussion symptoms subsided, and because I worked independently and at my own pace, I didn't believe there any long term ramifications associated with this injury.

It was scary to see my symptoms return. How do you tell a new boss you're struggling? Is it okay to ask for "special" treatment? What will my co-workers think? What if I can't do this job?

I am sure you can see the irony here. All of these questions are asked at Champions almost daily, both by our clients and by employers who want to tackle these challenges. If there ever was a place where a person could disclose how they are feeling about a barrier they are facing in their job, it is at Champions.

One meeting later, I met with Lisa Moon, my Executive Director, to disclose how I was feeling and come up with strategies to be successful, and my official journey into the world of disability began.

And what a journey it has been.

The great thing about being in Marketing and Communications in the modern world is the concept of engagement. Being good in this role is more about listening than anything else. I am a person who loves to learn - I would have gone to university my whole life, and many people would accuse me of trying - and to be a good "MarComm" person in this age involves listening and learning every day.

For the better part of the last two years I have been able to listen and learn from the amazing team at Champions, from the personal successes and challenges facing our clients, and from the amazing people and resources available online.

"Everyone experiences their disability in a unique way." This is a common phrase when it comes to talking about disabilities. It makes sense at a general level, but being able to experience it at a personal level has completely changed my perspective about the world. The fundamental change I have experienced is a respect and understanding for difference.

Yes, I deal with Post-Concussion Syndrome still to this day. Do I consider it a disability? That is tougher to say. I am not alone in this thinking. There are many people who are hard of hearing or deaf who don't consider themselves as living with a disability. Yet there are many, many others who embrace the term. I have no idea what it is like to live with spina bifida, or to be diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, or to live with fibromyalgia and be in chronic pain. Believe me, the list of what I don't understand in the world of disabilities is a mile long - because that is the range of experiences that exist.

Developing an understanding of this range of experiences, and an appreciation for difference, has resulted in me viewing the world completely differently. One of the first things that comes to mind when I enter a room or building is to wonder how accessible it is. I understand the importance of language when talking about disabilities, both in general and at an individual level. I will never upload or create a video without adding captions, no matter the time required.  

Finally, I have seen the inventiveness, innovation and adaptability that goes hand in hand with living with a disability. Every single person has barriers, whether they live with a disability or not, and there are countless things many of us can't do. For myself, I can't hold a tune, hold focus very long in prolonged conversations, or "demonstrate sensitivity at a personal level" (girlfriend's words). Some of my limitations may be a result of my inability to prevent my head from coming into contact with objects at high speeds, but most of my limitations are just personal barriers I have been dealing with my whole life.

My time at Champions has caused me to de-link the things we "can't do" from disability. Yes, some people face real barriers that relate to their condition. I would never deny this, but I also would never start there. I have seen a wide range of disabilities in my time at Champions, but I have seen an even wider range of abilities, and the realm of possibilities are far beyond what I ever imagined.

As I embark on the next chapter of my career path, and move away from Champions, I would like to express a sincere thank you to everyone on the Champions team, the clients and employers we have worked with, and the greater disability community at large. My life is fuller and more enriched from my time engaging with you.

Diversity Champion: ServiceMaster Clean

Aligning Core Values with Talent Needs
One in six Albertans has a disability. This enormous talent pool is largely untapped.

When our team at Champions approaches local employers, this is one of the first things we share with them. We know firsthand how hard it can be for employers in Calgary to find and keep the talent they need.  We believe they might be overlooking a pool of talented individuals who can help them meet their recruitment needs.

So when Susan Basudde, one of our Employment Retention Specialists at Champions, contacted ServiceMaster Clean about matching one of our clients with an available position in their company, a new relationship was born.

ServiceMaster Clean is one of the leading cleaning companies in Calgary. They provide janitorial services to commercial buildings, creating better, cleaner environments for employees and visitors of the facilities they service.

“One of our industry’s biggest challenges is employee retention,” says Jennifer Ashley, Director of Business Services at ServiceMaster Clean, “This is a tough job and it takes work to keep people happy and understanding. Cleaning an entire commercial building is a demanding task.”

To meet this challenge, ServiceMaster Clean looks to their core values for keeping their current employees and also to bring in new talent when needed. Central to achieving these goals is their commitment to diversity.

“We believe in diversity. We have associates from very different backgrounds and we know firsthand how a diverse team improves our thinking, makes us more creative, and helps us achieve our collective goals,” explains Jennifer.

ServiceMaster Clean’s commitment to diversity has been an ideal match for working with the team at Champions. In a short period of time we have been able to provide them with several candidates to fill open positions in their company. The variety of positions they have in their organization, and the various work environments that are available, means there is a lot of space to make different accommodations for employees, something ServiceMaster is happy to do.

“The whole team at ServiceMaster Clean is open to new ideas, they want people to work hard and they accommodate them to help make them successful in their role,” says Susan, “They really go above and beyond for their employees.”

We are proud to have ServiceMaster Clean as our Diversity Champion for this month, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them into the future. When we talk to the team at ServiceMaster Clean, we know we are dealing with leaders in their industry and in their commitment to inclusion.

“We care about people, we value teamwork, we do the right thing and we do what we say,” says Jennifer. “We believe in giving everyone an opportunity to work and make a difference in society.”

Doing Everything to Get the Job You Want

“As a child I read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica for fun. Had I known the Internet was coming I would have spent more time outside.”

When you have a vibrant personality, sometimes you just need to let it show. So when you read Maria’s LinkedIn profile and the blurb from above, you can tell she is letting out her fun side.

For many of our clients, including Maria, they come to Champions for advice and help after experiencing failure while trying to find a job on their own. We often serve as a last resort for people who feel as though they are seemingly sending their resume into the void, applying for job after job and never receiving a phone call in return.

Maria had never needed a resume before, she had always been able to network her way into work through her own personal connections. However, after a long career in the restaurant industry as a Chef and Restaurant Manager, Maria wanted to make the switch to an administrative role in the oil and gas sector - and this switch presented her with numerous challenges.

“When I was applying for work in the oil and gas sector, I was literally competing against people from all over the world,” Maria explains. “Recruiters get bombarded with applications and I needed to find a way to stand out and get a foot in the door. I had sent out hundreds of resumes with no response and was extremely discouraged thinking that the two years of education I had put in to switch careers was a waste. That’s where Champions was able to help.”

At Champions, Maria and her Case Manager, Mat, were able to revamp her resume. She was able to develop a disclosure plan to talk about her hearing impairment to an employer – something she hadn’t done since she was fired as a young woman because of her disability. Finally, she participated in our “Jump Start Your Job Search with Social Media” workshop to learn how to manage her online brand and network more effectively online.

Yet it is one thing to learn the skills to be successful in your job hunt, and it is a whole other thing to apply them.

“I’m really not surprised Maria found a job so quickly, or in her job target area,” says Rod Ruff, who facilitated the social media workshop with Maria. “Out of all the clients who have taken this workshop, I have never seen someone dive into LinkedIn and use it so effectively.”

One of the points we emphasize in the social media workshop is that Linkedin is only one part of the networking puzzle. Real networking is developing relationships with people who share your interests and can help realize each other’s goals.

Maria was able to master the combination of face-to-face networking while using LinkedIn as tool to facilitate her job search. When she found out that the career fair at the Calgary Oil and Gas Expo was sold out, she signed up to work it instead. It was here that she met several engineers who recommended she target smaller firms, as they would be easier to get in the door with.

Knowing this, Maria monitored the website of a local oil and gas consulting firm and when a position opened up she was able to apply almost immediately. She included a link to her LinkedIn profile with her resume, and her completed profile wowed the people at the firm so much that she was able to skip the telephone interview and move right on to a face-to-face meeting.

But it was at her interview where Maria was really able to shine.

“Prior to Champions, I had always tried to be really professional in an interview, but Susann (Employment Readiness Facilitator at Champions) showed me that it was more important to let my personality come out during the interview process,” says Maria. “Being myself made all the difference. We laughed the entire time during the interview and when it came time to disclose my disability it simply wasn’t an issue.”

Maria was offered the position as a Project Analyst with the company, which she was happy to accept. All of us at Champions wish you the best in your new job Maria and we are definitely going to miss having you here.

I Was More Lost Than I Thought I Was: Mat's Story

Last month, at our Annual Client Celebration, we had several of our clients give testimonials about their experience of looking for work while living with a disability.

Mat details his journey - from losing 85% of his vision in high school, to university, to struggling to find work after graduation - and ultimately finding the right job with the right employer for him. Which just happens to be a Case Manager at Champions.

This is his story.

Diversity Champion: ATCO Structures & Logistics

Reflecting the Diversity in Our Community

“Alberta is not the same place it was 25 years ago.”

Several economic booms, and corresponding busts, and an influx of people from all over Canada and the world have dramatically changed the shape of our province over the last couple decades. Nobody knows this reality better than Alitta Tait, Recruitment Supervisor for ATCO Structures and Logistics (ASL), who is tasked daily with meeting the recruitment challenges of operating in Alberta’s ever-changing work environment.

“Calgary is a boom and bust town,” Alitta explains, “And there is not a lot of available talent with the skills sets and team dynamic we are looking for. Hiring in Alberta is difficult – there are a lot of good companies and a ton of opportunities out there.”

The nature of the economy in Alberta can be both a blessing and curse for ASL. A booming economy creates more business for the company, but also makes it difficult to fill much needed positions to meet the demands of their industry. The oil and gas industry takes up a lot of the workforce and their ability to offer high salaries creates challenges for non-oil and gas companies to find and retain talent.

To meet this challenge, ASL looks to mirror the diversity inherent in their company and in our community.

“The ATCO Group of Companies is very diverse as an organization. We operate on six different continents and have nine different operating companies making the opportunities in our company incredibly diverse.  At the same time, Alberta is a diverse community and reaching out to different groups of people and adapting new sourcing strategies helps us remain competitive,” says Alitta.

At ASL, individual members of the recruiting team have taken on the task of reaching out to various groups who may represent under-utilized talent pools. These groups include persons with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, immigrants, women and more. It allows each recruiter to focus on an area they are passionate about and to connect to possible gatekeepers and knowledge sources for each group.

Alitta explains this philosophy, “Being able to meet with organizations who are specialists, who can guide us and help us network in the right way with the right people is critical. For example, Champions understands our work environment quite well - our workplace culture – and they know how to send the right people who can succeed and enjoy it here.”

Andy Potton, one of our Employment and Retention Specialists at Champions, says it is refreshing to see the commitment from ASL. They have interviewed and hired numerous Champions clients, and are actively working with our team on building a diversity plan that can guide their workplace in the future.

“They really are a leader in the hiring and inclusions of persons with disabilities,” says Andy, “They look right past the disability. All they see are skills and talents and how a person might be the right fit.”

Even with a strong commitment, Alitta knows how difficult building a diverse workforce can be and that it isn’t done in a day. However, since putting a major focus on diversity the results have been more than encouraging.

“At first, it can be daunting,” says Alitta, “But getting involved with Champions, and other community agencies, helps us immensely. Giving us tips on best practices and showing us how to get involved really got the ball rolling and now it has taken on a life of its own.  We’ve always had a great workplace culture here but the amount of excitement, sharing and openness that has occurred since the organization really focused on diversity has been very encouraging.”

If mirroring and reflecting the many diverse communities in Alberta is the goal, then the dynamic and multi-faceted workplace they are building at ATCO Structures & Logistics is definitely moving in the right direction.

ATCO Structures & Logistics has more than 65 years experience providing complete infrastructure solutions to customers worldwide. They are your source for award-winning, innovative modular building solutions, remote workforce accommodations, lodging and site-wide services, noise abatement and air emissions control technologies. They have manufacturing facilities in North America, South America and Australia, operations on 6 continents and a global supply chain, allowing them to deliver a rapid, turn-key solution anywhere it’s needed.

Shifting Perceptions: Right Person, Right Job

At Champions, we are often solicited by employers who would like more information about hiring and retaining persons with disabilities in their respective workplaces. When working with various employers we generally like to start by addressing many misconceptions that exist about persons with disabilities. Education and awareness can often go a long way towards removing stigma and discrimination and can be part of promoting greater participation of persons with with disabilities in the workplace.

For the next couple of weeks we are going to do a series of posts on this blog titled Shifting Perceptions. In these posts we will discuss many of the myths and misconceptions which exist and hopefully paint a truer picture of the reality of including persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Today's Myth: Persons who are deaf are perfect for noisy work environments.

Fact: Some loud noises can actually cause further harm to the auditory system. Persons who are deaf should be hired for all jobs that they have the skills and talents to perform. No person with a disability should be prejudged regarding employment opportunities.

At Champions, we see first hand how the right person
with the right skills in the right job is mutually
beneficial for everyone involved. Regardless of disability.  

This is a very specific myth regarding people with hearing impairments, but it represents an all too prevalent way of approaching inclusive hiring. Wheelchair user? Desk job then. Visual impairment? Answering phones. Bipolar? Maybe they should work alone. Down Syndrome? I have a cousin with that and he can't work. This is a dangerous way of thinking and often reflects the human tendency to generalize our thinking and stereotype based on past experiences.

One of my favourite books is Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman - a Nobel prize winning psychologist. It is primarily a book on decision making and how the human mind works in reaching conclusions. One of the concepts Kahneman introduces is What You See Is All There Is (WYSIATI). This theory states that when the mind makes decisions, it deals primarily with phenomena it has already observed. It rarely considers phenomena that it knows to be relevant but about which it has no information, and it appears completely oblivious to the possibility of unknown phenomena of unknown relevance.

Kahneman explains that people often fail to take into account complexity, thus their understanding of the world consists of a small and not necessarily representative set of observations. He explains how the mind generally does not account for the role of chance, or other external factors, and therefore falsely assumes that future events will mirror past ones.

What You See Is All There Is can definitely manifest itself when thinking about persons with disabilities. We have a tendency to quickly form opinions about certain types of disabilities based on past experiences. We often have employers tell us they "hired a person with a disability once and it didn't work out" - as though every disability is the same, and every person living with a disability is also the same.

The range of disabilities is almost endless, and the way that everyone experiences their disability is infinite. Stereotyping persons with disabilities into one large group, or even aggregated groups, does not speak to the range of possibilities and can often lead to stigmatization based on misconceptions. Even more troubling is that thinking this way denies the range of abilities and skills that persons with disabilities possess, which is just as varied as persons without disabilities.

At Champions we understand that not every person is a fit for every job. Who hasn't seen a coworker get let go because of poor attitude or performance? But by understanding the key elements of any position, then you will be able to look at the skills, experience and ability of a candidate and make a hiring decision based on fit.

One of our connections on LinkedIn, Ian Wilson, had this to say about hiring the right person for the right job:

"The right person, in the right job with the right tools does not have a disability with respect to their ability to perform the job."

We couldn't agree more Ian.

Managing Fatigue in the Workplace, Part 1

I think everyone can relate to the idea of being tired at work. We all feel burned out at one point or another, whether it be from stress, overwork, or just a serious case of the Mondays. Fatigue can be both physical and/or mental, depending on the kind of work you are tasked with doing. It is also not uncommon to feel physically wiped out due to being taxed mentally, or vice versa.

However, when you live with a disability, fatigue can be a daily reality and one of the biggest challenges when trying to be productive at work. For myself, one of the biggest eye openers when I returned to work following a brain injury was the level of fatigue I experienced. It was not uncommon for me to go home after work and nap for several hours, and most of my evenings were spent simply recovering from the work day. 

During my rehabilitation, my doctors and therapists were adamant about the fact that I needed to manage my fatigue. They gave me several pointers on how to do so and helped me develop a plan which could aid in my recovery. Hence the inspiration for this series of posts. 

While my experience directly relates to dealing with a brain injury, properly managing fatigue can help anyone with a disability be more successful at work. We always tell prospective job hunters to have a plan in place to tell your employer how you will deal with your disability at work - doing this allows an employer to see your ability, rather than disability. 

Without much further ado...

Managing Fatigue in the Workplace, Part 1: Keeping an Activity Journal

(Cue the eyeroll)

Is there anything that gets more eyerolls than telling people to journal? I know because I have done and seen it happen myself dozens of times. I am pretty certain my sigh was audible from blocks away when my doctor first told me to keep an activity journal. Journalling often falls into the area of life where some of us do it, many people wish they could make more time to do it, and still others scoff at it. 

The good news is that an activity journal is a lot different than a personal journal, or travel diary, and takes a lot less work. The even better news is that it can be really helpful in managing fatigue. 

If you find yourself getting very fatigued at work, or in your daily life, an activity journal is a tremendous resource for understanding how your body works and what is wearing you down. It allows you to move from generalities like "work is tiring", or "I am on my feet too much", to finding out how your body specifically responds to different tasks throughout the day. It will also let you see how different tasks can combine to wear you down. Once you understand how you are getting fatigued you can then begin to arrange your day and schedule in ways that will help mitigate this.  

The simplest format for an activity diary is to jot down at four different times during the day of what tasks you did and how you are feeling. A good starting place is once when you get up, then at noon, when you finish work, and again in the evening before you go to bed. Each entry need not be more than a couple of lines or jotted notes on what you have been doing, and your level of fatigue. 

Keeping task of how you feel first thing in the morning and in the evening can also allow you to see how the level of activity in your personal life may be affecting your work life. Spending all night cleaning the house, doing laundry, or socializing - things we take for granted - may be wearing you down as well. 

If you really feel that certain tasks at work are wearing you down then you can also log your activities more frequently. 

For myself, I started off using a small notebook to track my daily activities and then eventually switched to a diary app (there are literally dozens of them) on my smartphone to make things easier. 

After only a week I was able to look at my log with my doctor and begin to strategize ways to minimize stress on my brain and body. 

We will be back later this week with ideas on how to reduce stress and fatigue at work, but the first step is knowing what exactly the problem is. Yes it may sound cheesy, but I encourage you to give an activity journal a try, you may be surprised by what you learn. 

  

Shifting Perceptions: Absenteeism

At Champions, we are often solicited by employers who would like more information about hiring and retaining persons with disabilities in their respective workplaces. When working with various employers we generally like to start by addressing many misconceptions that exist about persons with disabilities. Education and awareness can often go a long way to removing stigma and discrimination and can be part of promoting greater participation of persons with with disabilities in the workplace.

For the next couple of weeks we are going to do a series of posts on this blog titled Shifting Perceptions. In these posts we will discuss many of the myths and misconceptions which exist and hopefully paint a truer picture of the reality of including persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Today's Myth: Absenteeism

If I hire an employee with a disability they will have a higher absentee rate than employees without

disabilities.

Fact: Studies have repeatedly shown that employees with disabilities are not absent any more than employees without disabilities. Many studies have shown a different trend - that individuals with disabilities have better attendance rates - and often stay with an employer longer - than their non-disabled counterparts.

The primary study on this topic was conducted by Du Pont in the early 1970's. In this study, 1,452 employees of Du Pont, including individuals with such disabilities as blindness, heart disease, vision impairment, amputation, epilepsy, paralysis, and hearing impairments were evaluated for performance and work attendance.

The key findings for workers with disabilities (compared to workers without disabilities) were:

• No lost time due to disabling injuries
• Job stability: average or better
• Special privileges: none.
• Attendance: 79% were average or better
• Job performance: 91% were average or better

Du Pont repeated this study two more times over the following 20 years with nearly identical results. 

Similar findings have been reported over and over again in the 30 years since the initial Du Pont study. Pizza Hut has reported that their annual turnover rate among non-disabled employees is about 150%, whereas the annual turnover rate for their employees with disabilities is less than 20%. In 2002, an Australian study of 800 employers found that employees with disabilities have lower levels of absenteeism and use less sick leave than their colleagues without disability.The costs to business of absenteeism and sick leave for employees with disability can be as low as 34 per cent of the cost incurred by their colleagues.

The Search for Untapped Talent: Alberta Labour Market Info, June 2013

A couple of interesting reports have been released in the last week regarding the labour market in Alberta. The first report, provided by the Alberta government, highlights several trends from the month of June in the province:

• Employment growth flat. Alberta’s employment dipped slightly (-700) in June, following
  two very strong months of job gains. June’s flat reading was largely due to losses in public
  sector jobs (-2,400), which more than offset the private sector gains (+1,600). Alberta has
  gained 55,100 jobs since June 2012, representing a 2.6% increase.
• Goods sector adds jobs. The agriculture (+2,800) and construction (+2,400) industries
  contributed the most to the 2,300 increase in goods sector employment gains. Employment
  in the services-producing sector fell by 3,100 in June, largely due to job losses in health
  care and social services (-6,600).
• Unemployment rate edges up as more people look for work. The unemployment rate
  moved up to 5.0 per cent in June. The increase was largely a result of 3,500 people joining
  the labour force.
• Weekly earnings continue to climb in March. Average weekly earnings increased to $1,098 in April. This is 3.4% higher than April of last year.

Even though overall employment dipped slightly, Alberta continues to have the highest employment rate in Canada. With an employment rate of 69.0% for jobseekers aged 15+, Alberta remains well above the national employment rate of 60.9%.

With employment growth flat you may be wondering about the impending labour shortage we continually hear about in Alberta. A new report from the University of Alberta’s Institute for Public Economics puts a steep price tag on the labour shortage - $33.5 billion dollars over the next four years.

To combat the shortage the report urges businesses to make greater use of under-tapped labour groups such as mature workers, people with disabilities and aboriginals.

To improve labour force participation of persons with disabilities they suggest that the government should take on the full cost of providing accommodations and making workplaces accessible to workers with disabilities. Consider this, by 2020 there will be over 525,000 people in Alberta living with a disability. This means that in the next 7 years there will be over 50,000 more persons with disabilities working in the province.

The report also raised eyebrows by suggesting to change immigrant policy by focusing more on bringing in skilled candidates from abroad, and eliminating temporary visas for unskilled labour. The idea being that vacancies in low skilled or semi-skilled positions can be filled by mature workers, persons with disabilities and aboriginals.

In response, many members of the tourist and hospitality industries stated that phasing out of the temporary visas for low skilled positions would be devastating. Temporary foreign workers currently account for 11% of all jobs in the accommodation industry.

What do you think? Will eliminating temporary visas for low skill positions help solve some of Alberta's labour problems, or make them worse?

Disability, Culture and Sexuality

Last week on this blog we started a discussion on disability and culture, and how disability forms just one part of our individual identities. However, the discussion remained largely theoretical and mainly focused on the many possible identities that can intersect in a given person's life.

Since that post last week there have been two incredible articles posted on the web that really highlight how disability intersects with other aspects of our lives. The first article, The ABC of OCD, chronicles the journey of Milton - a 46 year old Australian man living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). For Milton, the trigger of mental illness was the realization of his sexual orientation and also coincided with the development of an addiction:

"Milton says realising he was gay was his trigger, "I was fraught with renouncing thoughts about my sexuality, I was scared I would go to hell for being gay and conflicted by the suicidal thoughts I was having because that would send me to hell too.

In his late teens Milton became an alcoholic, while seeking treatment for his addiction, his OCD was also diagnosed."

Milton still battles daily with OCD and believes telling his story helps lift stigma while contributing to his own sense of self-worth. 

Feelings of self-worth are often right at the crux of where culture and disability intersect. Take this story, "Bulls Eye",  by Dave Hingsburger, a Canadian disability author and advocate. The other day, a random person threw a bag of garbage at Dave - simply because that person thought he should watch where he was going. This isn't a rare event for Dave, who as a person using a wheelchair often finds himself on the receiving end of abuse. In his own words, 

"I am used to people throwing things at me. I'm used to people rolling down windows of cars passing by so that they can lean out to throw 'piggy piggy' sounds at me. I'm used to being hit by trash, regularly, 'fatso,' 'lardass,' 'pigface.' I'm used to people throwing stares at me, I'm used to glances turning into lances and cutting me open. The other day it was so bad I had to touch Joe on the arm and say, "I've got to get out of here."

He continues,

"Never once, not once, in the last 7 years, since I became a fat wheelchair user, have I gone a single day in public space without many someones engaging in social violence. Bullying isn't strong enough a word, it's social violence, plain and simple. Not one day."

Again, we often think of culture as something foreign, or as a non-Canadian identity. But our own culture, and how we assess self-worth and perceive the worth of others, shapes our perception and treatment of persons with disabilities. 

I highly recommend subscribing to Dave's Blog, Rolling Around in My Head, as he provides daily insight into how disability, culture, and sexuality intersect. Both the good and the bad.  

When Culture Meets Disability

When we discuss diversity and inclusion, especially in regards to employment, there is a tendency to divide people into separate categories: Women, aboriginals, visible minorities, LGBT, and persons with disabilities. Attempts at hiring diverse talent often includes targeting individuals who appears to represent one of these distinctions.

However, human beings rarely fall into such clearly delineated categories. We are complex beings and have multiple identities.  It is not extremely rare to see an aboriginal woman living with a disability, or a gay man who is also a new migrant to Canada. Understanding how to truly be inclusive, and overcoming barriers and misconceptions, then requires an understanding of how our different identities interact. Our personal lives, relationships, and workplaces can all be impacted by different conceptions of culture, religion, sexual orientation and disability.

Specifically, let's talk about culture and disability. It is common to think of culture as something foreign - so when we discuss culture in the workplace we often frame it around non-Canadian identities. But it is important to remember that we all have our own sense of culture and identity, and that these identities are formed all the way down from nationality to community to family. Different communities, cultures, and even religious faiths can respond to disability in different ways.

In an increasingly multicultural city like Calgary, it is becoming more and more common for us at Champions to see people respond to their disability differently - based on their various backgrounds and ethnicity. For example, in Canadian culture we have a tendency to explain disability in medical terms (Although this dominant way of thinking is often challenged by persons would rather see disability defined in terms of how society creates barriers to the disabled). However, other cultures and religions may explain disability in different terms, such as through blame, punishment, or a form of karma.

In many cultures it is not unusual for a disability to be blamed on the activities of a mother or parent. It may be blamed on something they did during pregnancy, but also extend to sins or transgressions they may have committed in this life or in previous ones. In this sense a disability can often be treated as a source of shame, resulting in it being quietly ignored within a family or social circle. Responding to disability in this manner can lead to neglect of the person, or isolating and separating them from society.

Treating disability in this manner happens in all cultures. People living with HIV/AIDS in Western cultures were often treated with total neglect and isolated during the early stages of the outbreak as people feared their disease but also associated them with a highly stigmatized lifestyle.

When we talk about disability awareness and strategies for inclusion, whether it be in society or in the workplace, it thus becomes imperative to understand the different ways each of us respond to disability. People living with their disability may view their condition as a gift, a curse, or just an unfortunate accident. Similarly, people may explain another person's disability in those terms as well - which can create conflict when viewpoints differ.

Any discussion of inclusion must include an exploration of culture, faith and personal background. We often say that everyone experiences their disability in a unique way - there is not set path or golden ticket to building an integrated society. But if we pay attention to the details along the way we may just get a little bit closer.

This Girl is on Fire! Candice's Story

Last month, at our Annual Celebration, we had several of our clients give testimonials about their experience of looking for work while living with a disability.

Candice lost her arm to cancer when she was young and has been living with a disability her whole life, but only when she attempted to enter the Calgary workforce did she realize she might just need a little extra help.

This is her story.

Diversity Champion: The Westin Calgary

Embracing Diversity in all of its Facets

Didier Luneau, GM at The Westin Calgary,
 spends a day in a wheelchair
to better understand what it is like to
live with a disability. 

As an organization committed to helping employers build more inclusive workplaces we have a tendency to focus on persons with disabilities – this is our mandate after all. However, embracing diversity means embracing many different groups of people alongside persons with disabilities, including women, visible minorities and immigrants, aboriginals and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) peoples.  

Being an employer committed to diversity means embracing all of these groups, and our Diversity Champion for the month of July, The Westin Calgary, does just that.

Didier Luneau, General Manager at The Westin Calgary, believes the core of diversity is showing respect to individuals. “We have a lot of passion at The Westin Calgary for diversity and inclusion,” he says, “we know the more diversity we have in the hotel, the better we can accommodate our guests and our associates.”

The Westin Calgary partners with Champions and other community organizations in Calgary for several reasons. To find diverse talent that can help meet their recruiting needs, to improve awareness about diverse peoples in the workplace, and to give back to the community in Calgary.

Posting jobs on the Champions employment board and working closely with our Employment and Retention Specialists to find the right people for the right job is just one way The Westin Calgary tries to find diverse talent.

“Calgary really is a melting pot,” says Susan Reeves, Director of Human Resources at the hotel, “our guests and associates come from all over the world and bring many different values, culture and possibilities to the workplace. All of our new associates go through diversity training when they begin – including disability awareness training.”

Recently, Didier spent an entire day in a wheelchair as part of the Chair-Leaders Enabling Access event in Calgary.

“It was a real eye opener for me,” Didier says. “People were friendly to me but I could tell that they were looking at me more for my disability than as another person. It was interesting to be in that position as I did not feel as recognized as usual. I felt more empathy rather than respect for what I am bringing to the table.”

His time in the wheelchair also meant Didier was able to personally experience and identify many of the barriers which exist in the hotel, both for a guest and an employee. He hopes that they will be able to make the necessary changes in the future.

As mentioned earlier, building an inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities is only one part of how The Westin Calgary embraces diversity. Over 34 different languages are spoken among employees at the hotel, representing numerous cultures from around the world. The hotel hosts different cultural days throughout the year to honour all the different heritages their employees come from.

At The Westin Calgary, embracing different cultures is seen as a smart business decision as it makes the hotel a more welcoming place for their guests and associates.  Hotel associates receive training in cultural etiquette and go as far as to encourage their cooks from different areas of the world to create meals based on their own culture. It’s all a part of making people feel at home by giving them a sense and a memory of where they are coming from.

The Westin Calgary is also keen to include women in roles they aren't traditionally represented in. For example, women are often underrepresented in areas like the kitchen and engineering/maintenance in the hospitality industry. The hotel strives to find and present opportunities to women who are interested in fulfilling these roles. The Westin also continually reaches out to the LGBT community. In fact, Starwood Hotels (The Westin's parent company) was the first hospitality company to become a partner with the Pride at Work initiative – a Canadian organization dedicated to improving the climate of inclusiveness for LGBT employees in the workplace.

Most of all, The Westin wants to contribute to building a better Calgary.

“The community is giving us a lot, and we want to give back as much as we can,” Didier explains.

Which is why The Westin Calgary partners with many organizations like Champions, Inn from the Cold, the Drop In Centre, Rupertsland Institute, Immigrant Services Calgary, La Table Des Chefs (The Chef Table), Calgary Children’s Foundation and many others to find creative ways to give back to the community.  

For four years in a row The Westin Calgary has experienced the highest employee satisfaction and engagement for all of the hotels in Starwood Canada. With their commitment to diversity and inclusion, it is easy to see why. 

Managing Stress in the Workplace

One of our community partners - Canadian Mental Health Association, Calgary - has recently launched their first e-learning module on stress management in the workplace. This brief module, designed for anyone and everyone in the workplace, will help you to better recognize stress in yourself and others and provide tangible strategies to effectively address stress in the workplace. The information can also be useful in other aspects of your life.

We highly recommend for you to take this ten minute course and to share it with your co-workers, family and friends. It is a tremendous resource and can play a great part in shifting perceptions about mental health and disability in the workplace.

Start the course by clicking on the image below.

Managing Your Duty to Accommodate Conference

What: Managing Your Duty to Accommodate Conference

When: August 20-21, 2013. 

Where: Calgary, Alberta

Champions is proud to partner with INFONEX for their upcoming Managing Your Duty to Accommodate Conference this August. The conference will provide human resource and management professionals with the critical information needed to stay abreast of their ever-changing obligations. Hear from a distinguished faculty, including members of the Champions team, as well as other legal professional and industry practitioners, to get the real guidance you need to deal strategically with your most pressing accommodation issues.

Our Executive Director, Lisa Moon, will be leading a session titled Creating a Culture of Inclusion: Developing and Implementing a Disclosure Policy. She will also be joined by a member of our Board of Directors, Nicole Jelley, who will be discussing best practices on Accommodating an Aging Workforce for Greater Productivity.

More Information About the Managing Your Duty to Accommodate Conference

As an employer, you face increased pressure and costly challenges to accommodate physical, mental and stress-related disabilities, employee addiction, family responsibilities and many other issues in your workplace. Employers run into complex accommodation cases when employees fail to address their accommodation needs, deny reasonable requests for medical information, resort to self-accommodation or stay cooperative.

Get updates on the latest legal developments, rulings and guidance. Deepen your understanding of family status law and learn about a new ground where accommodation applies. Have a chance to listen to different views on the evolving law of family status accommodation from a legal expert, union representative and corporate representative in a panel discussion. Explore how you can strategically monitor your employees during the accommodation period - how to set appropriate time and policy. Understand when and how to accommodate your employee with mental illness as it can be often a convoluted and frustrating process. Maximize your ability to engage in partnership working with a union to develop an accommodation plan. Discover how you can create a wellness program for your aging workforce. Develop a greater awareness of how you can demonstrate your commitment and leadership towards accommodation to your employees. Compare the latest legal updates and rulings on disability management and how these apply to real word examples. Improve your soft skills to communicate with your employees on sensitive issues and develop your own communication framework that would fit your workplace.

Employers must stay on top of the latest legal updates and strategies to ensure the workplace is accessible and that their accommodation practices and comprehensive and legally compliant. Join us in Calgary to learn how you can best manage your duty to accommodate. 

• Listen to expert legal guidance and updates on duty to accommodate in human rights matter
• Understand the latest court rulings on family status accommodation and their effect on your workplace
• Learn how to overcome frustration of contract: how employment-contract frustration and the duty to accommodate interact
• Discover why you need to monitor your employees during their accommodation period and proven techniques for doing it right
• Explore processes and guidance for managing complex mental health and substance issues
• Define your legal responsibilities for accommodating employees with mental illness and their physiological states
• Enhance your partnership working with union in the accommodation process
• Hear about Alberta Health Services Continuum of Resources for the Workplace
• Get guidance on accommodating an aging workforce
• Explore why you need to place business value on successful accommodation
• Compare the latest legal updates and real-word examples of disability cases from injury, to modified duties, to return to work
• Develop your soft skills to communicate better with your employees on sensitive accommodation issues

Register today! Use discount code 1077-CCC-CaT to get a discounted rate as a friend of Champions. 

My Experience with Champions Career Centre

*This month we have been spotlighting some clients who are currently making their way through our services at Champions. Earlier this month, we told Grace's story about a young woman looking for work after she graduated from University with a degree in Engineering. This time, one of our clients has written an anonymous testimonial discussing their own thoughts on coming to Champions and using our employment services.* 

I first came into contact with Champions Career Centre in February of this year.  Prior to February, I did not know there was a job network for people with disabilities.  I think having a job network specifically for people with disabilities is a great idea.

I attended the orientation session in February somewhat wary about others knowing that I had a disability.  Through meeting others with disabilities at Champions Career Centre workshops, work with my case manager, and my work with the employment and retention specialist I am much more willing than previously to disclose my disability to a prospective employer, when appropriate.  I never would have considered this before coming to Champions Career Centre. I believe I have come to accept my own disability, and ultimately myself, more as a result of my involvement with Champions Career Centre.  I have not totally come out of the closet, so to speak, about my disability, otherwise I would be reading this to you in person. :)  However, I have recently disclosed my disability to some people reasonably close to me who did not know about my disability – I just got tired of putting on a brave face all the time – and I think we are even closer now.

With regard to the specific components of Champions Career Centre, I think everything has been very valuable – the Disclosing your disability workshop, the very important, practical information in the job search techniques workshop, information about cover letters, job interview skills, and mock job interviews.  I realized through the workshops that I was not very good at “selling myself.” Furthermore, working with my case manager and the employment and retention specialist have given me some important leads for jobs and networking and important resources and other information for alternative, yet still very appealing career paths for me. 

I do not yet have a job, partially because my job target so far has been quite specialized, but I feel in a much stronger position in general to obtain employment because of what I have learned from being involved with Champions Career Centre. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT CCC!!

- Anonymous Champions Client

Diversity Champion: Shell Canada

Thank you to the entire HR and
Recruitment team at Shell
Canada.

This month we are pleased to recognize Shell Canada as our Diversity Champion, our ongoing monthly feature where we acknowledge forward thinking businesses and leaders who embrace inclusion and diversity in our community.

As part of their commitment to building a diverse workforce, Shell recently invited Champions to host a Diverse-Abilities event as part of an Away Day for their HR and Recruitment team. We chose to host the event at the Winter Sport Institute at Canada Olympic Park – a key training facility for Canada’s Paralympic athletes and team. The connection? That just as a disability doesn't mean you can’t be a world class athlete, it also doesn't mean you can’t be top talent for an employer.

The Away Day featured speakers from Shell and Champions, both of whom spoke about challenges and best practices for recruiting persons with disabilities, and then we moved on to interactive games and disability simulation exercises.  The enthusiasm and participation from everyone at Shell was amazing as participants eagerly took part in all of the activities. The day wrapped up with a small panel discussion where members of the Shell team were able to ask members of Champions questions surrounding disabilities, recruiting and accommodation.

Speaking with Deborah Green, Senior Diversity Recruiter at Shell, it becomes easy to see how important diversity is to the company.

“As an oil and gas hub, there is a lot of competition in Calgary. To attract diverse talent the biggest challenge is making sure our inclusion piece is in place. We can recruit all we want, but without an inclusive environment our talent could be going out the back door. We really strive hard to make sure people feel they can be themselves at work.”

Shell Canada combines education and awareness training with employee networks to build an inclusive workplace. In Calgary alone, Shell utilizes seven different employee-driven diversity networks to raise awareness and build support within the company. For their efforts, Shell Canada has been ranked in the Top 100 Employers in Canada for the last 12 years, and been listed as a Top 45 Diversity Employer for the last six.

At Champions, we have been partnering with Shell since 2006 and have provided numerous disability education and awareness sessions to their team over the years.  Thank you to everyone at Shell Canada for your commitment to diversity and repeatedly inviting us to collaborate with you.

Grace's Story: They Have Given Me Hope

As you probably know, every month we like to feature a client in our newsletter. Usually, we try to tell their story about coming to Champions and their path to finding a job. However, when we only look at the story from the end result – finding and keeping a job – we can often lose sight of what the story may have looked like at the beginning.

We wanted to put a different spin on things this month. Rather than focus on a client who had already found a job, we wanted to showcase a client who has recently joined Champions and could talk about their journey through our services - as it was happening.

Fortunately for us, Grace was willing to share her story about how she came to Champions and what it is like to be a client looking for work.

Grace has just finished her Engineering Degree from the University of Calgary.  She came across Champions at the UofC’s Career Fair in February when she noticed a Champions poster that stated “We Help Persons with Disabilities”.  Being able to speak immediately with Andrea, our Intake Coordinator who was working at the Career Fair, Grace was able to share some of her fears and challenges about finding work once she graduated.

“I am visually impaired and I really felt as though I needed someone’s help to get my foot in the door,” says Grace, “I found it very hard to keep looking for jobs because I was so afraid of rejection.”

After just a few weeks at Champions, Grace says her eyes have been opened up to a lot of things.  She has tightened up her resume and cover letter, received tips on networking, and learned how to be better organized when doing research or looking for jobs. Prior to Champions, Grace would have never dreamed of cold calling an employer about a possible position.

But Grace has received more than just job search skills in her time at Champions.

“Every time I meet with Mat, he gives me hope. Thanks to Champions, I have confidence. I know I am well equipped and have the skills to find a good job.”

Grace is still progressing through the services at Champions, even though a sprained foot put a brief wrinkle in her plans. She has a passion for the environment and her core interest is finding work as an Environmental Engineer in the Calgary area.

We have no doubt she is going to be an invaluable addition to an organization sometime in the near future.

Illness, Disability, and Identity

A second amazing TED Talk in as many days! (Yesterdays was on ADHD and is also a must see) 

In our work at Champions we are often confronted with the different ways individuals identify with their disability. For our clients, even the term disability can be a lightning rod - some people look at the term negatively and don't want to identified as disabled, others embrace their disability and use it as major factor in developing their identity. Being born with a disability impacts people differently than those who acquire one later in life. Other disabilities may be fluid and change over time. For example, does a person with epilepsy who has not had a seizure in ten years still identify as having a disability?  

Which brings us to the TED Talk below. In this talk, Andrew Solomon discusses both his personal life and his research into families who have had to deal with a range of disabilities and illnesses - from deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, and those who are transgender. While each of these conditions may be isolating at an individual level, Solomon finds that the experience at the family level is universal as families share both struggles and triumphs. 

It is an amazing journey with an even more incredible conclusion: that diversity unites us all. Give it a watch.