TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - November 27, 2014) - Excellence Canada and Kimberly-Clark Professional* are pleased to announce the launch of Healthy Workplace^® Essentials, a one-year strategy to help organizations strengthen the physical and mental health of their people while being respectful of time and money constraints.

The success of organizations, and the Canadian economy, is directly tied to the physical and psychological health and well-being of employees. Three workplace studies by Linda Duxbury⁽¹⁾ over a 20 year period have shown negative trends in stress, workload, and depression. It's clear that action needs to be taken, but how can employers work to reverse these trends?

Excellence Canada, in association with Kimberly-Clark Professional* as its Development Sponsor and a Champion of Excellence, has published a foundational guide for the implementation of Healthy Workplace^® Essentials.

Objectives of Healthy Workplace^® Essentials are:

1. To help senior leaders understand the importance of an employee wellness strategy and the serious human and financial impacts of inaction.
2. To empower organizations to implement a Healthy Workplace^® action plan that is cost-effective, sustainable, and produces measurable improvement.
3. To certify and celebrate role-model employers as they advance through the Canada Awards for Excellence Standards.

"Organizations that have received other awards as exemplary employers are also likely to satisfy many of the requirements of the Excellence Canada - Healthy Workplace^® Essentials," says Allan Ebedes, President and CEO of Excellence Canada. "Those role models that come forward and share their effective practices with others will enjoy an enhanced reputation, through recognition and celebration of their successful journeys under the Canada Awards for Excellence Program."

"We are pleased to be partnering with Excellence Canada, a not-for-profit organization that is an authority on advancing organizational excellence across all sectors and industries," says Tom Fournier, Canadian Director of Sales for Kimberly-Clark Professional*. "Working with them to develop a framework that can help guide Canadian employers into a new era of maturity in workplace wellness aligns with our efforts to partner with businesses to create Exceptional Workplaces* that are safer, healthier, and more productive."

The Healthy Workplace^® Essentials certification program:

• Moves traditional health promotion programs toward a comprehensive and integrated healthy workplace system
• Ensures success through a focus on the most 'essential' policies, practices, and programs to achieve measurable improvement
• Embeds ongoing monitoring, measuring, and reporting for improvement feedback
• Supports your efforts with expert coaching, facilitation, and training as required
• Contributes toward a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce
• Reduces costs, improves output, and increases profitability

Contact Excellence Canada for a complimentary phone consultation about how Healthy Workplace^® Essentials can benefit your workplace. To find out more, visit us at www.excellence.ca/healthyworkplace 

About Excellence Canada
Excellence Canada is an independent, not-for-profit, organization that is committed to advancing organizational excellence across Canada. Since 1992, Excellence Canada has helped thousands of organizations create cultures of continuous quality improvement and become world-class role models through a four-level certification methodology, including the Excellence, Innovation and Wellness Standard, Healthy Workplace^® Standard, and Mental Health at Work^® Program. It is the custodian and adjudicator of the Canada Awards for Excellence program, of which the Patron is His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General of Canada.

About Kimberly-Clark Professional*
Kimberly-Clark Professional* partners with businesses to create Exceptional Workplaces* to help make them safer, healthier, and more productive. Kimberly-Clark Professional* is one of Kimberly-Clark Corporation's four business sectors. Key brands include: Kleenex^®, Scott^®, WypAll*, Kimtech*, and Jackson Safety*. To see how we are helping people the world over work better, please visit www.kcprofessional.com/home

⁽¹⁾ Linda Duxbury, http://newsroom.carleton.ca/wp-content/files/2012-National-Work-Long-Summary.pdf
Revisiting Work-Life Issues in Canada: The 2012 National Study on Balancing Work and Caregiving in Canada,
Linda Duxbury, PhD, Professor, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Christopher Higgins, PhD, Professor, Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario