Quick Summary: Companies need a wellness check during stressful periods. One of the most important healthy habits an employer can use in the fight against burnout is frequent communication.
Is your company expecting more from fewer employees? Is your workforce feeling the pinch of recession in productivity? Just how much did you have to tighten your company’s budget? And how are the consequences of a poor economy affecting the health of your workforce?
The bigger question for health managers is this: What can you do about all these issues? Better communication is one answer.
Recent reports show that job satisfaction rates in the U.S. are at the lowest level in more than two decades. The recession has caused employees and employers to tighten their financial belts. In many places work that was done by 3 or 4 colleagues is now being managed by one.
As a consequence, stress, anxiety, and job burnout—made worse by unhealthy habits and poor communication—can devastate business results.
“People are worried about losing their jobs, making bank payments, and keeping their families safe,” said Dr. Mary Capelli-Schellpfeffer, medical director of Loyola University Health System Occupational Health Services. “Their fears are real. For companies, the economic uncertainties are impacting market predictions. Fatigue is climbing as managers and their teams cope across difficult months.”
Everyone is exhausted, she said. And that job stress and fatigue can lead to poor health habits like these, for example:
• A busy working mother may cut out exercise to spend precious time with her children.
• Another employee may stop eating lunch to open a slot for an extra meeting.
• Or a worker with high blood pressure may cancel doctors’ appointments and stop medications to bridge an insurance gap.
“During hardship, a healthy routine can actually be a huge help to employees,” Dr. Capelli-Schellpeffer said. “Staying well can ease stressful experiences. The healthier a person is, both physically and mentally, the better they can deal with the challenges life throws at them.”
She encourages individuals to do an inventory of good habits by considering these questions (and this is where your wellness program plugs into the process):
• Are you taking your prescriptions and keeping up with medical visits?
• Do you get more than 7 hours of sleep a night?
• Is there fatty fast food in your diet?
• Has your regular exercise fallen by the wayside?
Your message will be something like this: “If you think you’re too busy to work out, start with 10 minutes a day for a short walk. In a year you will complete 50+ hours of this simple fitness activity! You will feel more in control of your wellness and better prepared to deal with troubles around you,” Dr. Capelli-Schellpfeffer suggests.
“Communication is critical to success. That’s always true. But it’s harder to do during challenging events because of all the ‘noise’ from bad news. Make sure your [healthy lifestyle choice] messages are being repeated and sent to employees in a variety of ways. Don’t assume one email is going to reach everyone,” said Dr. Capelli-Schellpfeffer. “Shared messages can become an important vehicle for solidifying trust and a team perspective.”
“When a supervisor stops by an employee’s desk asking, ‘How are you doing?’ the action makes an impact. The added bonus is that the supervisor is more likely to gain valuable firsthand information about what is or isn’t working in the enterprise,” she said.
The bottom-line message is that employers and employees are living in the same world of work. Wellness program managers can promote healthy habits through communication to beat business burnout and protect productivity until the recession’s effects ease up.
Next Steps:
• Work with your employee assistance program to train supervisors in identifying overworked employees who are feeling the pain of downsizing and burnout and offer referral services.
• Include messages about EAP services and other community resources in your health communications to employees through various print and online media.
• Consider company-wide team building and wellness programs (all-company picnic, noon walk, at-your-desk stretching).
• Offer healthy choices and snacks—readily available and priced as low as possible.
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