Canadian employees are divided on whether there’s a significant difference between the workplace culture cited by their employer and the reality, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest mental-health index.
Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of employees believe there’s a significant difference. This group also had a lower mental-health score (58.7) than the 37 per cent who believe their workplace culture is aligned with their employer’s claims (73.3). The survey’s respondents reported an overall mental-health score of 65.0, down slightly from 65.1 in July.
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More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of respondents said they like their workplace culture and this group had a mental-health score of 69.3. By comparison, 13 per cent said they don’t like their workplace culture. The mental-health score of this group was 52.5 — nearly 13 points below the national average.
The survey also found 37 per cent of respondents reported their workplace culture increases productivity and this group had a mental-health score of 69.9, compared to the 14 per cent that reported the opposite (53.3). Notably, managers were 40 per cent more likely than non-managers to indicate their workplace culture increases their productivity.
Seven in 10 (70 per cent) respondents indicated their workplace culture promotes inclusiveness, showing a favourable mental-health score of 67.6, while nine per cent expressed the opposite and had a mental-health score of 56.8. More than half (59 per cent) noted their workplace had a flexible culture and their mental-health score was 24 points higher than those who felt the opposite (74 and 49.7, respectively).
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More than a third (35 per cent) of Canadian employees said they’d prefer working onsite four days per week with the same amount of work expected in five days, while 34 per cent preferred working from home five days per week and 31 per cent preferred the same work situation they had before the pandemic.
Managers surveyed were 40 per cent more likely than non-managers to prefer working onsite four days per week with the same amount of work expected in five days, while working parents were 40 per cent more likely than non-parents to prefer the same work situation they had before the pandemic.
The average energy employees gave to work in August 2022 was 87 per cent, on par with the pre-2020 benchmark of 89 per cent and 85 per cent in August 2021. The mental-health score of Canadians who gave 90 per cent or more energy to their work on a typical day was nearly 14 points higher than those “quiet quitters” who give less than 50 per cent of their energy to work (68.4 compared to 54.5, respectively).
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