A Competitive Advantage for Our Stress-filled World
As seen in the August 5th edition of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Online Newsletter
By Anthony Jensen, MD, Medical Director, Mental Health Systems and Gayle Gregory, author of Workplace Evolution, Common Sense for Uncommon Times
Amidst today’s wealth of studies and statistics it is impossible to deny the effects of workplace stress. Occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults, and these have steadily increased over the past few decades. Self-help articles abound, full of quick fixes, tips and techniques, yet workplace stress, rather than waning, is on the rise. Providing limited and temporary solutions to the symptoms of stress in the workplace doesn’t create real and persistent change. In order for an organization to see a true reduction in work-related stress among its employees, a real change in the workplace needs to occur – a genuine workplace evolution.
In the United States, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, more than half of the 550 million working days lost each year due to absenteeism are stress-related. Alleviating stress is not just the nice thing to do; it is a sound business practice that has a direct impact on the bottom line. The full weight of stress goes beyond the obvious absenteeism, healthcare costs, and turnover. Stress squeezes off employee engagement, the imagination required for innovative thinking and the pipeline of cooperation and community that feeds solutions. Left unchecked, stress strangles overall organizational sustainability.
In today’s world where everyone is looking for a competitive advantage, hoping to still be standing when the economy recovers, an evolutionary business model might just be the answer. Nothing supports the current stressful win-lose culture as the right way to do business – right for the employees, the community and the bottom-line – other than unimaginative traditional thinking. Accepting stress as a natural and necessary aspect of work is short-sighted and perpetuates an environment that impairs the health and productivity of workers, and interferes with the ability of the organization to be successful.
From Amazon to Zappos, organizations are figuring out that moving from the conventional top-down business model to one that respects and cultivates the potential of every person in the workplace is a long-term business winner. Such organizations understand that the power of community and freedom of expression, instead of suppression, translates into unstoppable success. Work-place stress is reduced when workers can feel that their personal goals and vision are aligned with the overall vision of the organization in which they work. A common vision creates a sense of community that binds people together for a greater purpose. When people are excited to go to work, untroubled, and fired-up with the potential of the day, they are at their most creative. Leaders must recognize this, and be willing to continually share their own personal goals with workers, with the intent on building a shared vision for the organization. This sense of community will eliminate work as a source of stress, because then work becomes a source of personal fulfillment for everyone within the organization.
5 Things You Can Do:
- Ask, don’t always tell. Being constantly directed is energy-zapping. Co-creation is empowering.
- If you are delegating, be specific and clear. It’s de-motivating to continue bringing different gems when the leader really wants a topaz.
- Allow staff to work from their strengths. They have gifts, let them use them.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. In the absence of correct information, any info will do. Misunderstandings abound when you could have simply communicated the truth.
- Take time to celebrate the little milestones. The road can seem endless if we don’t allow for sidebar triumphs.
Source: VPI Strategies
D. Anthony Jensen, M.D., is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry and also in the sub-specialty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. As the Medical Director of Mental Health Systems (www.mhsinc.org), Dr. Jensen is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s programs operate according to high clinical standards. Dr. Jensen also is a member of the MHS Executive Team, and works with the leadership of MHS, to direct the overall operation and success of the organization.
Gayle Gregory is the author of the award-winning business management and leadership book, “Workplace Evolution: Common Sense for Uncommon Times”, and co-author of “The Grand Experiment, an Expedition of Self Discovery”. She is a former senior manager with two Fortune 500 companies and the co-founder of Workplace Evolution (WE). WE’s coaching and facilitation services create a shift from ‘me’ to ‘we’ in the workplace that allows businesses to thrive in any climate. Gayle is a highly-motivating coach, a veteran of radio talk shows, and an inspirational and humorous, take-no-prisoners speaker.