BPM Talk

[00:00:08] Manal Ali

Hello and welcome to BPM Talk. I'm Manal Ali, Senior Sponsored Content Specialist. Climate change has become part of everyday conversation, but one piece of it gets much less attention: how it affects people at work. For some employees, concerns about the environment aren't left at the door when the workday starts. They can shape motivation, create stress, or leave people wondering whether their employer shares the same priorities. That doesn't mean every workplace needs a climate strategy. It does raise a question, though. When does this become something organizations should pay attention to? I'm so pleased joining me today are 2 guests who bring different perspectives to that question. Christelle Lim-Severe is the Sustainability Practice Leader at Beneva, where she leads the organization's sustainability strategy. She brings nearly 20 years of experience across insurance, finance, risk, and corporate strategy. She's joined by Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad, a workplace health advisor at Beneva. With more than 15 years of experience in group benefits and disability insurance, Mikaella works with organizations to strengthen psychological and workplace well-being by advising organizations with practical approaches to be implemented. Christelle, Mikaella, thank you both for being here.

[00:01:28] Christelle Lim-Severe

Thank you for having us.

[00:01:30] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

Thank you for having us.

[00:01:31] Manal Ali

Incredible. Let's start with the basics. So what is eco-anxiety and what makes it different from simply being concerned about climate change?

[00:01:41] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

I will take that question, Manal. Actually, eco-anxiety is the emotional response that people get — what they get or they experience when they think about the current and future environmental crisis. This is not a term that has been well understood in the last few years, I would say, and this is why Beneva — we did the first large-scale report, like Canadian study examining eco-anxiety, especially in the workplace with a focus on employees and managers working in small and medium-sized businesses. This research really was done to understand, you know, how climate-related concerns are influencing mental health. And when we talk about eco-anxiety, you know, these emotional responses can be worry, they can be fear, they can be sadness, frustration, anger, but we're also seeing some positive, like, hope. And you mentioned, you know, how is that different from just being concerned about climate change? And this is the whole point of the report, right? Because it's not just asking one question to the people that were surveyed, like, are you concerned about climate change? It goes actually wider than just one question. It actually asks, you know, are people worried about it? Do they talk about it on a daily basis? Is that impacting their sleep? You know, do they feel frustration? And then we see that actually 69% of the employees that were surveyed report moderate to high level of concerns about climate. So they are persistently thinking about it. And what we're seeing in the report as well is that 20% report moderate to severe impact on daily functioning, which is about 1 in 5. We can say it's not the majority yet, but actually, like, when I saw the statistics, I thought, you know, 1 in 5 people actually saying, you know, it impacts my daily function, that's actually quite high for me. So that's the difference than just worrying about, you know, what I'm going to cook tomorrow, for example.

[00:03:30] Manal Ali

Yeah, no, those stats certainly tell a very pointed story. So at what point then does it become a workplace issue rather than something I think people would think that is purely personal?

[00:03:43] Christelle Lim-Severe

That's a really great question, Manal. I'll take that one. I think it's really important to take a step back and reframe eco-anxiety from a singular issue as really a broader psychosocial stressor, the same way we would kind of economical stressors. Employees like you and me, we don't leave our concerns at the door when we come to work. So, people bring financial worries, family responsibilities, health concerns, and increasingly climate concerns as well into the workplace. So, eco-anxiety becomes a workplace issue when it affects concentration, motivation, sleep, energy levels, or a sense of purpose. So, we know from climate science and from our own experience as insurers that physical climate risks are increasing. People are living through more visible climate-related events — whether that's extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, or severe storms. So, exposure to these events continues to intensify, and so too will emotional and psychological impacts. So, if we — and by we, we really mean governments, employers, employees, communities, and society as a whole — we do not put in place measures and policies to address these impacts, investment and actions that are needed to accelerate a transition and strengthen climate resilience — concerns about the future are likely to grow. So that's why I see eco-anxiety as an emerging workplace health issue that organizations should start taking seriously today, not because employees are unable to cope, but because we have a window of opportunity for prevention. The research that we did shows that concern levels are already significant while functional impacts remain more moderate. In other words, people are worried, but most are not yet overwhelmed. So it really gives us time to act before concerns evolve into disengagement, burnout, presenteeism, reduced productivity, or really any other health challenges. So, the real question is not whether eco-anxiety will necessarily disappear. I think the real question we should ask is whether organizations are willing to help employees transform those concerns into action, hope, and resilience. And one of the most encouraging findings from our research is that concern often coexists with hope and a willingness to act. So, if employers can channel those emotions constructively, eco-anxiety can definitely become a driver of engagement rather than distress. And unfortunately, if we wait until the impacts become more severe, we will have missed that really important prevention opportunity. So, it's definitely an environmental issue, but it's also becoming a workplace and workforce mental health issue as well.

[00:06:20] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

Yeah, and Christelle, if I just add on this one — it's especially that we know that 1 in 3 Canadians are already experiencing anxiety, and mental health is already accounting for more lost workdays than any condition in Canada. So, that's just feeding into that broader mental health issue, anxiety, that we're seeing.

[00:06:42] Manal Ali

But I'm glad that you did bring up that the concern coexists with hope, that there is something employers can do. And I think a lot of times we're very aware of perhaps the issue, but then you're not sure of what to do. And not every employee is going to experience or display these concerns the same way. So what are some of the signs that an organization should pay attention to?

[00:07:06] Christelle Lim-Severe

That's a very good question, and you're right — no 2 individuals will present concerns in the same way. What's really to note is that the primary risk in and of itself is not concern, but it's what happens when concern accumulates without support. Our research really found that employees experiencing functional impacts from eco-anxiety are more likely to experience burnout symptoms. We are all fairly familiar with what burnout symptoms are, which can correlate with presenteeism. This is basically when individuals are in the workplace, but they're not as engaged, they're not performing as much — they're kind of just present, but not doing the output that they would had they been feeling better. So it's usually what precedes a leave of absence or absenteeism. We also note reduced productivity, lower perceived performance, emotional fatigue, higher turnover intentions, loss of meaning at work. All of these symptoms or red flags will kind of pop up when people experience burnout symptoms. In other words, really the signs to look out for are essentially similar to any other impact on psychological well-being, and the risk isn't that employees care about climate change. It's when employees feel powerless, isolated, or unsupported in dealing with those concerns. I'm a believer that there are opportunities to seize in every situation. For example, if we take into account that young adults present a higher level of concern at 73%, and they face higher impact on their day-to-day at 25%. So, 25% of them feel those impacts, which is really natural given it's their future we're talking about. It really creates a window of opportunity for organizations where young adults want to work in organizations that are aligned with their beliefs. So rather than seeing it just as an occupational health issue, we should also see it as an opportunity to attract and retain younger talent.

[00:08:59] Manal Ali

I'm glad that you're bringing very much actionable insights to the table as well. So we're hearing that early intervention matters. Why is it easier to address these concerns before they begin affecting performance, engagement, and then presenteeism?

[00:09:20] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

Yeah, that's — I will pick that question, Manal. And it's very interesting because that links to what Christelle was just talking about, right, in terms of it can progress to burnout, disengagement, the stress. But one thing to do is like prevention always wins. And it's not just prevention from eco-anxiety, because this is the beauty of it. This is not just prevention from a mental health or eco-anxiety perspective. It's also helping the environment, also helping your community. It's also helping your business because, as Christelle mentioned, people want to work for companies that have similar values to them. And as we see climate events — and we are seeing it wherever you are in the world — none of us can say we are untouched. The air pollution from wildfires, the flooding, your basement getting flooded — all these things create stress. I think prevention right now is the best tool to prevent further climate events as well, not just from a mental health perspective. This is the beauty of it — it's tackling your organizational values and your culture. It's tackling what you're doing for your environment and your community, and it's tackling the individual mental health. That's why you won't see many initiatives that are low cost — like just engaging and talking to employees and just letting them have that agency — tackling, ticking all these boxes. You just give the employees the agency and it's preventing all of this.

[00:11:18] Manal Ali

I imagine on the outset, it can be kind of a daunting prospect — managers can find themselves in a difficult position. Employees might expect certain answers, but the managers don't always have as much influence over the broader organizational decisions. So how do they think about that balance?

[00:11:39] Christelle Lim-Severe

I will answer that, Manal — that you always have power, whether you're a manager or you're an employee. In any job that you're doing, there is a change that you can bring. There might be that perception that managers are in a difficult position, but they are not, right? As a manager myself, I encourage my team to take sustainable travel. We do volunteering for the climate. We do small things like — this is the day where we're going to cook vegetarian food for a whole week, or for a few days. We encourage each other. And 10 years ago, this was not a topic that was well known, but actually what we're experiencing right now — we see it every day in the news. I don't think you can escape from it. So you have power in any shape or form, and it's just finding where you actually have that agency to make the change. A lot of people where I work, they want to work in sustainability, but I say to them: where you work right now, that's where you make the change. It's not just working for climate that the change will happen. It's actually in your everyday job, in your everyday living that the change is going to happen. I think this is very, very important to talk about so that people feel like they have the agency — like managers feel like they have the agency to make the change, and employees as well. Just talking about it is a form of power, right?

[00:13:21] Manal Ali

But I think some employees maybe worry that conversations about climate could become divisive or political. So how can organizations acknowledge employees' concern without maybe heading in that direction?

[00:13:36] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

Well, that's a great question. I'll take that one. There's a saying in social work that says that the personal is political. Any hard conversation can be deemed divisive or political. And the key here is really to turn hard conversations toward what connects us all — really the humanity and vulnerability behind the core issue. Given mental health is really already one of the largest drivers of workplace health costs, absenteeism, and disability, organizations should really gear the conversation towards creating hope because it remains stronger than helplessness. Employees are concerned, but they're also hopeful and willing to act. People are really worried about future generations. People have compassion for others who have been impacted by climate events. We see all the collective effort when flooding happens or when there's wildfires — communities really rally behind each other to support each other. And at an individual level, we also strive for that action. So it's really a desire to contribute positively and an ability to do so really lowers anxiety and is good for the planet. Enabling employees to take climate actions doesn't come with a high cost, as Christelle mentioned, but the rewards are really high. If organizations can keep that in mind, it's really going to give them positive leverage towards being an attractive organization, and it's also going to make their talent want to stay within the organization. So it's going to have really positive impacts on mental health and productivity as well. And overall, it's also good for the planet, which is what we're hoping for here.

[00:15:05] Christelle Lim-Severe

And if I may add — what we did at Beneva as well to make it accessible to everyone, it's all around the communication, right? So we have our impact statement, which is: investing in global wellness whilst accelerating a just transition towards a greener, more inclusive, and resilient world. When you communicate in a way that employees understand what you're trying to do — for us, investing in global wellness towards a more resilient world — who doesn't want that? I think that's how you take the political aspect of it. Who doesn't want cleaner air? Who doesn't want to live in a good community, right? So I think that's how you get people to follow, rather than just talking about the political side of climate change.

[00:15:55] Manal Ali

Definitely. And you've already mentioned a couple of these things, but if an employer wants to take a practical first step, where would you suggest that they begin?

[00:16:05] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

My advice would really, like Christelle stated, be to just start with the conversation, right? We are no longer in that era where people don't understand what climate change is. I think we are past that at the moment. Just opening up, just start to think about, as an employer, what is the environmental impact that the organization has on the environment and vice versa? How does the environment impact my business? And how can my employees help me in identifying those risks and those opportunities? I think this is where I would start — start with the basic sort of thinking, because if you work in agriculture, for example, without having a conversation on climate, you know that there is an impact because the weather is warmer, heat waves — there's food security implications. Just realizing what impact you have and what impact the environment has on you — that's already a first start. And then who will help you to put these actions in place? It's the employees. In all organizations, it's the employees driving the action. It's no different to how you would tackle any tough conversation, for example, on AI. Climate is exactly the same process.

[00:17:21] Manal Ali

And so just to round off — looking ahead, do you think this is an issue that more employers will need to consider as part of workplace wellbeing, or is it still too early to say?

[00:17:35] Christelle Lim-Severe

If I may, I think based on today's answers, I believe it's really becoming more apparent that we cannot close our eyes on the impact that this will have on organizations, on employees, and on communities as a whole. 1 in 5 employees are feeling functional impacts on their day-to-day activities. We're also seeing lack of sleep, lack of concentration, impacts on their work. This all adds to current existing mental health problems that we're already seeing. So it's really not just about productivity — plan sponsors should really care because it affects employees' engagement, retention, and attraction. And our study did show that younger workers in particular were attentive to whether organizations' actions align with stated values. When employees perceive a gap between what an organization says and what it does environmentally, engagement can suffer. Addressing eco-anxiety isn't just about mental health. It's also about culture, trust, and employee experience.

[00:18:30] Mikaella Hofmann-Azérad

Yeah, and I really like what you said, Christelle, at the beginning — it's like you can't leave your worries at home, right? Like anything, you take it to work and you spend more time at work than anywhere else.

[00:18:43] Manal Ali

Amazing. Mikaella, Christelle, I cannot thank you enough for joining us for such a productive conversation. As we've discussed today, eco-anxiety is very real. The numbers that Mikaella and Christelle have shared, they speak for themselves. There's no single approach for employers, but there are steps that can be taken by understanding the risks and the opportunities. That's a starting point for organizations to think about employee well-being and engagement. Thank you so much for tuning in to this BPM podcast. We'll see you next time.

[00:19:16] Christelle Lim-Severe

Thank you.