Danielle Mik:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Pearls of Wisdom. Today, we are going to chat with Derrick Borean about the challenges of developing mentally healthy workplaces and the role of rehab consultants and how that can assist and work with employers to maybe grow that. So welcome, Derrick.

Derrick Borean:
Thanks, Danielle. Thanks for having me.

Danielle Mik:
No problem. Derrick’s co-founder and CEO of Altius Group and is currently president of the Australian Rehab Providers Association. And Derrick’s been involved in the rehab profession for more than 20 years. Derrick, I hope that’s right?

Derrick Borean:
Yes.

Danielle Mik:
And in the past, at some point worked as occupational therapists in the industry.

Derrick Borean:
Correct.

Danielle Mik:
So you’re obviously well versed to talk about the rehab industry and what that can contribute to developing mentally healthy workplaces and assisting employers. So thank you for joining me today. Derrick as we know, obviously, and I’ve been discussing this across the interview series, mental health has risen very much in its profile and it’s a very significant issue for us all. A lot of people are struggling anyway, but with the pandemic, that’s just amplified issues and the COVID climate is not helping.

Danielle Mik:
Statistics show that about three quarters of people saying mental health is actually an important consideration when applying for a job. So an employer choice, it’s an issue. And a half believe that employers should be doing more in this space. So certainly the view is that employers have an obligation and the legal pushes for employers to take on more responsibility in that space rather than considering it a personal issue that people just have to manage. And look, PWC in their report showed that for every dollar invested, it’s roughly a $2.30 return. So the financial incentive is there for employers, but I’m not sure that they understand how to actually go about reaping that benefit. So I’d love to hear your take on how the rehab industry and rehab consultants can assist employers in creating a mentally healthy workplace. What would you consider, what role can the rehab industry and rehab consultants play in that space?

Derrick Borean:
Sure, Danielle. They’re all really pertinent points you raise. Obviously one of the roles of rehab consultants is to be at the workplace and be involved with employers. And so to that extent, it’s a very privileged and important position that they have in assisting employers to understand injuries and whether those injuries be physical or psychological. The context of how those injuries came about, but also the context of how people are going to recover at the workplace and look for any physical injury. As most of you will know, if you’ve been injured physically, there comes a bit of psychological overlay that happens regardless. And so people’s environment is very important to their recovery. Psychologically safe environments, obviously optimize recovery and they help support people who are recovering from injuries and obviously help prevent injuries.

Derrick Borean:
So I think rehab consultants, because they have a role within the workplace, they’re meeting employers, they’re forming relationships with employers and they’re building trust with employers, there’s a very privileged position that rehab consultants have to influence employers and have employers understand what factors contribute to psychologically safe workplaces and how to get the best of that in their environment and in their context. As you say, a lot of employers don’t have the time or resources to get depth of knowledge about these things. So things that are pragmatic, things that can educate an employer on practices that make a simple difference and a real difference to their environment. I think that’s a big role that rehab can play.

Danielle Mik:
So they’re really in a prime position, aren’t they? Because a lot of the time the rehab consultants that are working with employers have got a trusting relationship with them, they develop that trusting relationship. So they’ve opportunity to influence them, aren’t they?

Derrick Borean:
Absolutely. It is a rare position and it’s a unique position. So there’s a big role for rehab to play in that.

Danielle Mik:
What are the main skills that you think rehab consultants have got, or should advance or develop if they want to work with employers in that space?

Derrick Borean:
I think fundamentally it’s understanding how psychologically safe workplaces are created and the behaviors that are associated with psychologically safe workplaces is really crucial. There’re things that are fundamental to these workplaces or to practices and behaviors that create the environment, and for rehab consultant to understand those and deeply understand them is crucial. You have to believe in them, obviously, and then that gives an ability to convey them. So things like an acceptance that errors are going to occur, that innovation and the changes require failure, that mistakes are de-personalized, and that there’s a team problem solving when it comes to issues in a workplace. Other things like curiosity and a desire to ask questions and to broaden discussions and encourage inclusion and again, team problem solving. I think those things are healthy.

Derrick Borean:
And then I think fundamentally, and I think this sounds really simplified, but an authenticity around behaviors as well. So, are you genuinely interested in what others are saying? Are you genuinely interested in acknowledging other people’s ideas, whether or not you take them on or not, but able to bring other people into the organization, into decision making, particularly if those decisions relate to themselves. There’s a really nice ability to do simple things and a consultant’s ability to convey that to an employer to build that into planning around someone’s recovery, or to build that into cultural changes or creating an environment at a workplace that’s healthy, they’re doable and employers can get their head around those things because it’s a behavior piece or it’s a way of doing things.

Danielle Mik:
Just adding onto what you’re saying there, I think that’s a really important point. I think a lot of employers in them mind have overcomplicated what it takes to, they think it’s some very elaborate thing. And I think if rehab consultants got the power to de-simplify it and just talk about it in terms of behaviors and concrete things that they can do to make those changes. Because I think a lot of employers are saying, oh, I’ve got to have an in-house registered psychologist to do this. It’s not as complex as I think a lot of them think it is.

Derrick Borean:
No, absolutely. And look, the health profession’s pretty good at complicating things. We use jargon, we [inaudible] complicated. We say things that we think others might understand, but they don’t. This is not complicated. This is not complicated. In fact, you could argue that it’s quite simple, but it does require either knowledge and then the application. So I think again, employers can be probably very sure about that, but they genuinely lack the, generally, sorry, lack the knowledge, but most of them are really well intended. They want to create a good environment for their team members. And particularly in the environment we find ourselves in today, looking after our team, our employees, whatever language you use is crucial. So most people really want to do the right thing.

Danielle Mik:
Yes, absolutely. Do you see that there’s a role for additional training for RCs these days to specialize a little bit more in that space to do some more with employers a little bit?

Derrick Borean:
I think so. There’s a little lot of great resources that are available for people that are curious, and there’s some fantastic work from Amy Edmondson that you can find online. She’s done a lot of work around how to create psychological safety at work and there’s TED Talks and all those sorts of things that are available to people. She does a really good job at creating a pretty simple structure around psychological safety. And there’s also, I think probably ideally within the industry, and [APER] is very supportive of professional development activities and creating learning opportunities for the industry to take into employers and take into workplaces. I think that’s crucial as well. So that’s-

Danielle Mik:
[crosstalk] I was going to ask you about that. What role would you say APER is playing in that space?

Derrick Borean:
I think it’s got an important role to play. Ideally, these concepts of psychological safety get more and more embedded into the more formalized training structures that exist. So both for company directors, for example, right through to work safety professionals and also allied health professionals. And if we
can embed them into formal training structures we’ll get obviously a lot more momentum around psychologically safe workplaces. But the informal structures or the less structured learning, like professional development activities, webinars, online resources are things that APER is getting behind and supporting, and they’re available to members, obviously, they’re also readily available online. So I think it’s a great way to get familiar with what psychological safety is, even if it’s sparking ideas around how you might bring it into a workplace or into your own workplace, I think maybe ways of looking at it.

Danielle Mik:
So from your experience in the industry, and obviously you’re an employer yourself, what do you see as the main challenges for employers in developing a mentally healthy workplace? I guess you get feedback from rehab consultants and I’m sure there are times when they’re looking to return someone to work and they go in there and they can inherently see that the environment is possibly not as safe as it could be to return someone to work. And then they’re trying to make that change with employers. What is the sort of feedback they give that are the main things that get in the way?

Derrick Borean:
There’s a few. I think there needs to be a compelling case for this beyond, although most of us would consider people’s wellbeing an absolute compelling case, there actually needs to be a financially compelling case for more psychologically safe workplaces. And I think that’s the language that will cut through for a lot of employers. And if you’re a small business company director and you’re thinking, oh, how do I create this, what’s the point in me creating a psychologically safe workplace, this can be really key decision points. I’ve got a million other things that are important, why would I spend time and effort on this? Because it is an investment that returns financial gain, but it also creates wellbeing and wellbeing in a workplace environment has enormous benefits in terms of productivity, engagement, output, retention, high performance.

Derrick Borean:
So again, countless research around this, including one that Google did to analyze [inaudible] that actually identified their highest performing teams, and that found that the key factor in a high performing team was psychological safety. That applies to a construction site, applies to any sort of trade just as much as it does to a professional services business or what role.

Derrick Borean:
So I think making it really compelling, making the argument compelling beyond just, it’s a good thing to do, it’s a good thing to do because X, Y, Z, and a financial return is important to that. And then having the resources and the knowledge and the education tools available to employers to support that. Again, unfortunately from a rehab perspective, we’re often involved with employers who’ve already had an issue, someone’s been hurt at work, whether it’s a physical injury or a psychological injury they’re being hurt. And we’re going in to help that person recover and help educate the employer to support that and how to best support that. It would be great if you know that there’s a little bit of investment at the front end to prevent these downstream events occur. I think there’s an impetus around that. I think there’s some momentum around it, but there’s always more that can be done.

Danielle Mik:
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, thank you very much for your time today. I think there’s some really great insights for the industry and for people to know that there’s training available through APER as well. You [inaudible] got website, so that’s fantastic. And yes, I certainly see that there’s a lot of room for rehab consultants to expand their work that they do into this space and it would be great resource for employers with the skillset that they’ve got to help them navigate their way through those behavioral changes and cultural changes of attitude towards people with mental health issues.

Derrick Borean:
Absolutely.

Danielle Mik:
Thank you very much for your time today. Thanks for joining Pearls of Wisdom and hopefully one day we’ll be able do this again.

Derrick Borean:
Sounds great. Thank you.

Danielle Mik:
Thanks, Derrick. Thanks for your time.

Derrick Borean:
Bye.

Danielle Mik:
Bye.