Creating workplaces where people feel valued, respected, and mentally safe requires more than policies or training modules. It requires a shift from compliance to culture.
That was the focus of Beyond Checklists: Embedding Psychological Health and Safety into Data-Driven Inclusion Strategies, a webinar hosted by Opening Minds and DIGNII, an inclusive employee engagement platform.
For Cassie Apostolidis, Engagement Advisor at Opening Minds, the answer begins with connection. “Psychological Health and Safety is about creating a workplace where people feel safe to show up as themselves and speak up without fear,” she explained. “It starts by understanding where you are, measuring everyday experiences, and focusing on the presence of safety—not just the absence of harm.”
From Compliance to Culture
The conversation made it clear: psychological health and safety (PHS) is not a nice-to-have. It’s a workplace right.
Elisabeth Cooke, CEO and co-founder of Dignii, emphasized that “inclusion and belonging aren’t add-ons—they’re part of our occupational health and safety obligations and protected under human rights law.”
Both speakers underlined the need for a systems-based approach. Policies, training, and data must work together. “We can’t silo mental health and DEI,” said Cooke. “They reinforce each other. Inclusive workplaces protect mental health, and psychologically safe workplaces drive inclusion.”
Data That Drives Change
Organizations often collect data without knowing how to use it. The webinar challenged this mindset.
“Seventy percent satisfaction means little,” said Cooke, “if the 30 percent who aren’t satisfied are mostly women, racialized employees, or people living with disabilities.” She stressed the importance of intersectional analysis—using data to uncover patterns of exclusion and inform meaningful action.
Apostolidis added that evidence must translate into practice. “At Opening Minds, we’ve trained over a million people across 1,600 organizations,” she said. “The data we’ve gathered on workplace mental health literacy and stigma reduction informs tools like The Working Mind and the Psychological Health and Safety program. These aren’t theories—they’re frameworks that work.”
Learn more about these programs:
Overcoming Common Barriers
Participants were candid about the challenges. Limited budgets, poor follow-through, and lack of executive buy-in were recurring themes.
“Everything sits in HR,” Cooke noted. “But HR can’t do this alone. Executive leadership must model vulnerability and prioritize psychological safety as part of business strategy.”
Apostolidis agreed: “When leaders invest early in prevention—embedding mental health and inclusion into everyday systems—the cost and impact of future interventions drop significantly. It’s about building capacity, not compliance.”
The cost of inaction, she added, is far greater. “Doing nothing has a price—lost productivity, burnout, and turnover. Every small step toward awareness and literacy is a win worth celebrating.”
The Power of Leadership and Learning
A highlight of the discussion came when Cooke described working with senior leaders reluctant to engage in DEI or mental health discussions. “Many are afraid of saying the wrong thing,” she said. “We have to give people grace and time to learn. Change happens when we create safe spaces for mistakes.”
Turning Insight into Action
Both speakers stressed that success depends on consistency. “Frameworks can’t sit in a binder,” said Cooke. “They need to be embedded into onboarding, leadership development, performance management, and daily decision-making.”
Apostolidis summed up the message: “This isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Celebrate what’s working, share your learning, and keep going. Everyone plays a role in creating psychologically safe and inclusive workplaces.”
The webinar closed with optimism. “When we combine data with empathy,” said Cooke, “we move from checklists to change.”