Most of us get caught up at one time or another in what seems to be the never-ending cycle of stress that characterizes society in the 21st century. It's therefore most fitting that the theme for Canada's Healthy Workplace Week (CHWW) 2007 is It's All About Valuing People.

So much stress these days, in the workplace and at home, is caused by our neglect of important relationships. It seems sometimes that we've forgotten how to value other people ? and that's a dangerous trend, particularly in business organizations.

It's probably safe to say that many situations in which people feel undervalued in the workplace are inadvertent. Most of us do value our colleagues and appreciate their contributions to organizational success. But sometimes stress and the pace of work erode relationships, undermining the way which we relate to one another and creating perceptions that some people are not valued as much as they should be.

Canada's Healthy Workplace Week is of course about celebrating success and accomplishment rather than focusing on failure. We believe it's important that organizations that have found ways to adequately and consistently value their people, share their lessons so that we can all benefit.

If your organization has a special way of valuing people we would like to hear about it. Please drop us a line and let us know what works for you so that we can share your experiences with others.

Knowing what employees want from their jobs is an important starting point. Demonstrating appreciation through words and actions that don't align with employees' own notions of how they should be valued could be a waste of time, energy and resources. The way to resolve this is to ensure that employees are sufficiently engaged in a process that allows them to provide input, and that their input is acted on.

There is no shortage of research data on how people like to be valued and ? believe it or not ? material reward is generally not top of the list.

For example, the global consulting firm Accenture said interesting work, regular recognition and rewards for accomplishments, and opportunities for quick advancement were ranked as most important by 4,100 job seekers in 21 countries in a worldwide survey last year.

In other words, job satisfaction and recognition of skill and aptitude - both of which are important components of demonstrating to employees that they are valued - are critical elements in organizational culture.

Similar sentiments were expressed in an interview with the college newspaper shortly after Stanford University Executive Director of Human Resources, Diane Peck, was appointed in 2003. She said she had long believed that money was not the most important component of an employment package.

"Everyone wants to make money and earn enough to produce whatever standard of living they want to have, but more important to people is, 'How am I treated? Am I valued and respected? Am I proud of the place where I work? Do I feel like I get satisfaction from what I'm contributing?'

"We need to be sure as leaders and managers that we are taking that into account when we think about how we spend our time. Worry less about the fact that you can't get people an increase. While that's never a good place to be, think about how can you inspire and motivate by recognizing and valuing and making people feel like they're contributing. Because they certainly are."

The centre of the Healthy Workplace Model shows that the goal of healthy workplace development is not only employee health, but also organizational health and success. The surrounding 'drivers' - healthy leadership, planning, people focus and healthy outcomes show the actions required to have healthy workplace development.

As shown in the diagram, the broad view of employee health considers an individual's ability to optimize their physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being. How an organization functions - including its leadership style, communication methods, the way work is structured, reward systems, decision making style, culture, etc. - can significantly affect all aspects of an individual's well-being.

A healthy organization is one that is productive, effective, has high morale, high employee engagement levels, and a healthy bottom-line. Organizational health is impacted by the well-being of the employees, but is also affected by workplace culture, leadership, communication, job design, decision making styles, etc. And these factors, in turn, affect employee health.

Dr. Martin Shain has described organizational health as "relying upon management to create a supportive management culture through policies, leadership, programs and other initiatives, and upon employees to care for their own well-being."

The four drivers on the outside of the circle are fundamental to creating a healthy organization. These 4 elements include:

• Healthy Leadership
• Healthy Workplace Planning
• People Focus
• Healthy Outcomes

For further information on these 'drivers' click here to access the Canada's Healthy Workplace Criteria.