Mary Jane Roy’s Post

This is a YES AND problem solving! 𝐘𝐄𝐒, employees should be supported in developing personal strategies for healthy stress responses and for building resilience. Very few step into the workplace with a well-thought-out strategy of self-care! Most of us haven’t learned how and certainly didn’t have the role models in our lives, to ensure our wellbeing is secured. 𝐀𝐍𝐃, next to offering these resources, organizations need to seriously evaluate what ‘status quo’ (toxic) behaviors, processes and business models need to change, to also support employees in their wellbeing. The WHO defines work-related stress as “t𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦.” It “[…] 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮), 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 (𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, no autonomy), 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.” McKinsey research indicates that “𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.” In that same McKinsey article, the global savings from workplace initiatives improving health and wellbeing is estimated in the trillions. We can’t avoid stress but we, and the organizations we work for, can certainly change factors, so that we can better respond to it and perceive it in a way that also serves us better. Gallup also provides ample data on the state of workplace stress with 44% of employees world-wide are saying they’re stressed. Since the average employee spends 1/3 of their life at work, it’s no wonder that: “𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 (𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 69%) — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 (51%) 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵 (41%).” In summary, organizations need to implement a two-pronged approached for reducing stress and overwhelm in the workplace: one focused on teams/individuals and the other on the organizational changes that need to be implemented. #livingfrommyheart