Reducing Stress in the Workplace

Transcription

1 Reducing Stress in the Workplace AND THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS Jennifer Oppelt ABOUT ME Founder & President of Enliven Wellness Works est Certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Licensed Massage Therapist State of FL (MA37357) since 2001 Workplace Wellness Program Specialist and Manager certified through the National Wellness Institute. 1

2 National Wellness Institute Conference JULY 2014 My Favorite Speakers: Joel Bennett: The Healthy Workplace Model James Porter: The Future of Stress Management Mary Jo Kretzer (Founder and Director, Center for Spirituality & Healing U of M): Opening Keynote Michael Arloski: Seizing the Momentum of Change for a Healthy World Craig Becker: Reshaping the Landscape Towards Wellness Gains Izzy Gesell: The Power of Story My Big Conference Takeaway THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS CAN NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED If you pull on anything, you will find that it s connected to something else 2

3 Americans are most likely to be considered thriving in their social wellbeing and suffering in their financial well-being across five elements of well-being measured by the newly updated Gallup-Healthways Well- Being Index. In general, more Americans are suffering or struggling than are thriving across all five elements. According to a survey from the American Psychological Association, more than one third of American workers experience chronic work stress and this is costing American businesses billions of dollars a year in lost work hours and medical bills. According to the CDC s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, studies have found the number of Americans who are extremely stressed at work range between 29% to 40% 3

4 Warning Signs SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF EXCESSIVE JOB AND WORKPLACE STRESS Feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed Apathy, loss of interest in work Problems sleeping Fatigue Trouble concentrating Muscle tension or headaches Stomach problems Social withdrawal Using alcohol or drugs to cope Not All Stress is Harmful STRESS CAN BE THE SPICE OF LIFE OR THE KISS OF DEATH Stress affects people differently. Some people seem to thrive on extremely stressful lifestyles, while others struggle to cope with everyday life. Everyone has an optimum level of stress. Too little excitement and too few challenges may lead to an extremely dull life, yet too much stress can lead to health problems. 4

5 Good Stress vs. Bad Stress What is Stress? Deadlines? Traffic? Over-commitment? Not enough time? Having to deal with rude people? These answers suggest that many of us believe stress is something that happens to us. In reality, stress is merely our response to all those external factors. 5

6 Stress Begins in Our Minds via a Thought or Belief An important key to neutralizing stress is to fuel our minds with more positive, happy, gratitude-filled thoughts in order to trigger our stress responses less often. Tools from Joel Bennett, PhD THE HEALTHY WORKPLACE MODEL Joel Bennett, PhD, is President of Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS), a consulting firm that specializes in evidencebased wellness and e-learning technologies to promote organizational health and employee well-being. 6

7 TEAM AWARENESS KEY IDEAS Resilient Healthy Adapting (getting by) Risk Problems OWLS, Individuals, groups, and organizations have a set-point for the well-being/joy (resilience) and disease/pain (problems) they are willing to tolerate 2. The set-point places an upper-limit on experience 3. A goal of Team Awareness is to raise awareness so that we choose a higher upper-limit 4. Our set-point is influenced by our willingness to examine and become conscious of risks and problems 5. We can become conscious and make better choices 6. Addictive processes (food, substances, compulsion, enabling) are a major factor in keeping us unconscious 7. Addictive and awareness-raising processes occur in individuals, groups, and organizations Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD Resilient Healthy Adapting Risk Problems Thriving Effective Coping Adapting (getting by) Tension Release Distress Love/ Compassion Responsive Tolerating Stigmatize Negativity Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD 7

8 Resilience THE BIG BUZZ WORD IN STRESS MANAGEMENT What does resilience mean to you? Team Resilience Activity BEST COWORKER EXERCISE What is your ideal coworker? Write on your paper, the qualities that your ideal coworker would have. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD 8

9 The 5 C s of Resilience CREATING RESILIENT TEAMS Centering Confidence Community Commitment Compassion Rarely does a single team member have all five. On any team, one member will usually show enough of one competency to make a positive impact on team performance and health. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD Centering Wellness (diet, moderation, exercise), stress management, faith, spiritual health, work-life balance. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD 9

10 Community Giving and getting help, peer referral skills, knowing how and where to get help. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD Compassion Empathy and action, heart-centered leadership, integrity, character strengths and virtues. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD 10

11 Confidence Positive self-focus, feeling challenged, knowing your limits, self-control and courage. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD Commitment Goals and dreams, clarifying direction and purpose, planning and organizing. Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD 11

12 The 5 C s and Your Best Coworker Looking at your list again, where do you see the qualities of resilience match up with the qualities that you would like to see in a coworker? Examples: Centering calm, mellow, focused, chill Community friendly, team player, helpful Compassion honest, kind, tolerant Confidence knows when to ask for help, in control Commitment organized, knows what they want Source: OWLS - Joel Bennett, PhD Organizational Stress Audit Organizational (System) Stress Audit This check-list is best used within a committee or task-force comprised of workers from all job-levels and representing different job areas. Note that there are five primary domains (Assessment, Communication, Work Stressors, Health Promotion, and Individual Education). A systemic approach shows (a) strength in all five areas, and (b) integration across areas. See "Integration Questions" below. I. Assessments (typically done in early stages of systemic intervention) Ergonomic analysis of the work space (how work is conducted, mechanics, physical environment and constraints) Health risk or wellness appraisals that are used to plan programs Work communication assessments that are used to plan programs Perceptions of work stress and work climate that are used in planning Individual assessments of role stressors that are used to plan programs Use established stress analyses (job strain, effort-reward imbalance) Other: II. Improvements in Communication Clarify lines of reporting Clear action steps in every meeting Processes for improving clarity of communication Significant staff-management coordination (Participative Management) Commitment to improvements through efficient committees Training for managers in effective (heart-centered) leadership Adobe Acrobat Document Source: OWLS Joel Bennett, PhD 12

13 The Future of Stress Management James E. Porter, M.A.L.S. President, StressStop.com James Porter has written produced, directed and edited over a twenty videos on stress management and has written hundreds of articles, workbooks and audio programs on stress management. Publication and Tools BY JAMES PORTER Can be found at: WELCOA.com & stressstop.com 13

14 The Future of Stress Management NOTES FROM JAMES PORTER S PRESENTATION What will happen when we can prove that stress causes inflammation? What would happen if we identified sources of and complications from second hand stress like we have second hand smoke? The Future of Stress Management NOTES FROM JAMES PORTER S PRESENTATION Where we are with stress now Our culture promotes stress (and being busy) like a badge of honor We have a mindset against managing stress (everyone for themselves mentality) We deal with stress in hopes of getting more done Doctors receive little training in stress management 14

15 Reduce Job Stress with Self-care GET MOVING Regular exercise is a powerful stress reliever even though it may be the last thing you feel like doing. For maximum stress relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of heart-pounding activity on most days. If it s easier to fit into your schedule, break up the activity into two or three shorter segments. Workplace wellness tips: Offer yoga or fitness classes onsite at lunchtime or before or after lunch. Reduce Job Stress with Self-care MAKE FOOD CHOICES THAT KEEP YOU GOING Not eating enough can make you feel anxious and irritable, while eating too much can make you lethargic. By eating small but frequent meals, you can help your body maintain an even level of blood sugar, keep your energy up, stay focused, and avoid mood swings. Workplace wellness tips: Create policy about only healthy foods at meetings, make healthy options easy with healthy vending options, offer group take-out orders for healthy lunches, provide nutrition education classes and/or health coaching onsite. 15

16 Reduce Job Stress with Self-care REDUCE ALCOHOL AND AVOID NICOTINE Alcohol temporarily reduces anxiety and worry, but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off. Drinking to relieve job stress may also eventually lead to alcohol abuse and dependence. Smoking when you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety. Workplace wellness tips: Create tobacco free policies to reduce nicotine use, connect with your EAP to help those that you suspect may have alcohol or drug dependence, provide stress relieving activities and or education classes to give healthy alternatives. Reduce Job Stress with Self-care GET ENOUGH SLEEP Not only can stress and worry can cause insomnia, but a lack of sleep can leave you vulnerable to even more stress. When you're well-rested, it's much easier to keep your emotional balance, a key factor in coping with job and workplace stress. Try to improve the quality of your sleep by keeping a sleep schedule and aiming for 8 hours a night. Workplace wellness tips: take a look at scheduling and workloads to make sure that employees have ample opportunity for rest, provide lifestyle management classes and/or health coaching to help with work life balance issues. 16

17 Reduce Job Stress with Self-care GET SUPPORT Close relationships are vital to helping you through times of stress so reach out to family and friends. Simply sharing your feelings face to face with another person can help relieve some of the stress. Accepting support is not a sign of weakness and it won t mean you re a burden to others. In fact, most friends will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your bond. Workplace wellness tips: create opportunities for team building activities, group projects, celebrations, group coaching classes, promote your EAP program, encourage team member recognitions, allow a social environment to take place. Loneliness A COLLECTIVE ISSUE Loneliness seems like such an intensely personal, private problem, but it s much more than that. Loneliness and isolation is a collective issue. Loneliness is a personal emotion, but it s not a private concern. The effect of loneliness is a concern for organizations and the community. 17

18 Loneliness can decrease productivity, limit creativity, negatively affect colleagues and ultimately hurt the organization s bottom line. Loneliness Statistics The standard U.S. questionnaire, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, asks 20 questions that run variations on the theme of closeness How often do you feel close to people? and so on. As many as 30 percent of Americans don't feel close to people at a given time. In a survey published by the AARP in 2010, slightly more than one out of three adults 45 and over reported being chronically lonely (meaning they ve been lonely for a long time). Who are the lonely? They re the outsiders: not just the elderly, but also the poor, the bullied, the different. Surveys confirm that people who feel discriminated against are more likely to feel lonely than those who don t, even when they don t fall into the categories above. A key part of feeling lonely is feeling rejected, and that, it turns out, is the most damaging part. 18

19 What can organizations and leaders do about loneliness in the workplace Listen - Take the time to listen to employees & get to know each of your team member s communication style. Employees who are reserved will likely benefit more from one-on-one talks. Employees who are more outgoing might enjoy the excitement of an office party so a mix of employee involvement opportunities is ideal. Walk Around - Managers should walk around and interact with their employees - every employee. Managers need to be visible so employees know they can go to them if they have a problem. Nothing can replace the human touch of walking around and getting a feel for what your people are actually thinking, saying and feeling. What can organizations and leaders do about loneliness in the workplace? Be sensitive - Being sensitive to what employees share with you, offering them some flexibility and making sure they have the necessary resources will go a long way. An emotionally-sensitive manager can make the difference between high-performing, happy employees and ones who are overworked, stressed and at risk of burning out. Company culture. Establishing a culture at your workplace that encourages employees to connect with one another and take a few minutes to unwind or chat briefly in the hallways can help your employees feel less lonely. 19

20 Zappos THE FACE GAME When you log into the computer system, after you enter your password, a face pops up of a fellow employee and you re asked to enter the person s name. Whether you answer correctly or not, you see a bio and profile another way of getting to know your fellow workers and building culture. Zappos Employees VALUES AND CULTURE BUILDING Zappos is famous for paying new employees to quit. After new employee training ends, each employee is offered the opportunity to quit their job and walk away with $1,000. They do this because one of the Zappos core values is be passionate and determined, and paying people to quit ensures that those who remain are incredibly enthusiastic about their work and in it for the long haul. 20

21 Shoppify A UNIQUE SYSTEM FOR EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION When Serena does something great, Daniel gives her thanks by going into Unicorn, logging her accomplishment, and giving her one, two or three unicorns. Everyone in the company sees Serena s plaudits and can pile on more unicorns if they agree that she did an awesome job. Unicorn gives the power of employee recognition and even bonus disbursement to every employee in the company, not just to managers and HR. How Managers or Employers can Reduce Job Stress It's in a manager's best interest to keep stress levels in the workplace to a minimum. If a manager can remain calm in stressful work situations, it is much easier for his or her employees to also remain calm. There are a number of organizational changes that managers and employers can make to reduce workplace stress. 21

22 Start with Yourself, and Learn How to Share BE KIND AND ATTENTIVE TO YOURSELF FIRST Often we put our heads down to get work done or to get through the day, and don t allow the chance to listen to ourselves. Reach out and share with each other. Make a point of connecting every day through sharing about things like work accomplishments and self-improvement goals. Sharing fosters opportunities to create a close, nourishing work life that permits people to be vulnerable yet supported and always aiming higher. Improve Communication Share information with employees to reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures. Clearly define employees roles and responsibilities. Make communication friendly and efficient, no finger pointing or pettiness. 22

23 Meditate, and Breathe Deeply JUMPSTART YOUR LOOP OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS, CONNECTIONS, AND HEALTH Trade in fifteen minutes of scrolling through your Facebook connections for fifteen minutes of mindful inner connection. Take a few moments throughout the day to take some deep breaths. Deep diaphragmatic breathing that s from the belly, not your chest. Show, Don t Tell, Your Attention BE PRESENT, BE AVAILABLE, PAY ATTENTION Managers can t say that they care about their team members, and then never be around to listen to them. Be mindful of how your team members are connecting. Constantly and visibly reach out, go on team trips, create processes of daily feedback. 23

24 Consult Your Employees Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their jobs. Consult employees about scheduling and work rules. Be sure the workload is suitable to employees abilities and resources; avoid unrealistic deadlines. Provide opportunities for career development. Promote an entrepreneurial work climate that gives employees more control over their work. Nourish Your Peers RECOGNITION AND GRATITUDE The way many companies handle employee recognition is counterproductive, dismissing the hard work that people do everyday. Most recognition approaches treat feedback like a formal event, administered by managers from on high, they also fail to acknowledge how that hard work often involves helping someone else. Try implementing crowdsourcing and peer recognition. Try platforms like youearnedit.com or create an internal system to crowdsource recognitions and bonuses. 24

25 Cultivate a Friendly Social Climate Provide opportunities for social interaction among employees. Establish a zero-tolerance policy for harassment. Make management actions consistent with organizational values. Take Time to do Small Things DON T FORGET TO PARTY! Even small gestures that are considerate and supportive can make a big difference to cut through feelings of isolation and the emotional paper cuts we accumulate as the day goes by. It s quality, not quantity, and small moments of true attention, support, encouragement, and fun can charge people up with a much-needed spark. 25

26 Takeaways AFTER THIS CLASS WHAT WILL YOU Start doing differently? Stop doing because it s not working? Continue doing because it s working or you see new uses? Don t Stress, Be Happy! 26