About BC Hydro
BC Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation and one of the largest energy suppliers in Canada, generating and delivering electricity to 95 % of the population of British Columbia. Committed to safety, reliability, and affordability, the company aims to deliver clean electricity while contributing to a sustainable future for the province.
As an employer of over 7 500 employees across the province, BC Hydro prioritizes customer satisfaction, integrity, teamwork, and innovation. With a focus on healthy work-life balance, BC Hydro promotes a positive and inclusive workplace culture. The organization has been named one of British Columbia’s Top Employers and one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for four years in a row.
Investing in employee health and wellbeing: A cornerstone of the BC Hydro philosophy
BC Hydro is an organization that has always prioritized the health and wellbeing of their employees to support a safe, healthy, and productive workforce. As part of the health and wellbeing strategy, employees have access to comprehensive flexible benefits, generous time off, competitive wages, opportunities for career growth and a lifetime pension. In addition, they have access to a wide range of health and wellness programs and resources and a dedicated team that provides recovery and return to work support.
An important pillar of BC Hydro’s health and wellbeing strategy is supporting mental health. Their long-established approach covers many aspects such as 24/7 mental health access through their Employee and Family Assistance Program and extended health benefits that include a separate mental health practitioner benefit. In 2008, BC Hydro chose to integrate LifeSpeak into their approach to provide proactive mental health support earlier in the continuum of care. LifeSpeak provides mental health and wellbeing education through thousands of micro-learning videos and guidance from top mental health experts.
Corrina Hill, the manager of Health and Recovery Services at BC Hydro, tells us why they chose LifeSpeak. “It was important to us that we provide evidence-based content to our employees. LifeSpeak content is based on research and developed by experts. At BC Hydro, our philosophy includes helping employees in a way that meets them where they are. LifeSpeak provides a depth and breadth of content that our team members can access to meet their unique needs. That aligns with our philosophy because it allows our employees and their families to access resources that are most meaningful to them.”
Supporting earlier substance use challenges with confidential, on-demand resources and coaching
Since the early 2000s, BC Hydro has offered treatment support for employees with a diagnosed substance dependance. Recognizing that many employees facing substance use issues may hesitate to seek clinical help due to stigma or job concerns, BC Hydro aimed to offer support at earlier stages of substance use and provide resources for the wider employee population seeking to improve their relationship with substances and make changes for a healthier lifestyle.
Providing a proactive mental health resource as a part of their comprehensive benefits
BC Hydro weaves LifeSpeak into its health and wellbeing strategy in many ways. LifeSpeak is featured in every monthly newsletter circulated by their health and wellness champions. They use LifeSpeak in their safety meetings and in communication with employees who are returning to work after illness and injury. BC Hydro turns on all the LifeSpeak campaigns and promotes them through their health and wellness champions, including launches of promotional material and embedding LifeSpeak links into their virtual wellbeing sessions. BC Hydro even developed a campaign on financial wellbeing with a board game concept called Hydropoly to promote their internal financial health resources including LifeSpeak in a fun way.
BC Hydro also supports their internal employee networks with help from their LifeSpeak account managers who collaborate to develop content for their sessions. Hill says, “Our LifeSpeak account managers have been very helpful – they have attended our Health and Wellness events and walk people through LifeSpeak resources with suggestions on how to use them in a way that suits their needs. They’ve been great to work with.”
As a customer of LifeSpeak for over 15 years, BC Hydro has been pleased that LifeSpeak has been an accessible, valuable resource for employees and their families across the province. With healthy utilization across their employee base, the Health and Recovery Services team became interested in exploring LifeSpeak’s Substance Use Health track as an additional resource for employees.
