Lead with EASE. Minimize DISEASE. Watch the Results!
The workplace impacts employees’ physical and mental health (Levett, Coughlan, Longridge, Roumeliotis & Adams, 2019). Job stress has been identified as a significant risk factor in conditions such as cardiovascular disease as well as other chronic conditions (LaMontagne, Keegel, & Vallance, 2007). Job stress has also been identified as a significant factor in psychological distress. (Levett, et al., 2019).
Many studies have shown the link between productivity, safety, resilience, engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and organizational performance with employee wellness (Bakker, 2009; Levett, et al., 2019; Schaufeli, Bakker, 2010). The employees’ mental and physical health impact productivity and it has been strongly correlated with both absenteeism and presenteeism (Abebe, 2009; Meyer & Maitlin, 2010).
A leader adds to or reduces job stress; the leader-member relationship has been cited by many motivational theorists as a contributing factor to employees’ willingness to act on behalf of the customer. Herzberg, Maslow, Deci/Ryan, Skinner all support psychological wellness for optimal performance. And, with every interaction, a person can build another person up or knock him/her down. Leaders, you can choose wisely!
Take a breath. When someone is pushing your buttons, you want to react in a way that will bring healthy resolution. Breathe in deeply, and exhale slowly before responding.
Go to bed. Yes, sleep on it before you respond…. Often new ideas come to mind.
Recognize that your employees’ mental and physical health has an impact on your teams’ productivity, creativity, collaboration
Give positive reinforcement. Provide at least 4 positive comments to employees (and kids, and partner, and friends, and students) for every 1 critical comment (Daniels). Harvard Business Review states that it is closer to 6 to 1 ratio needed, for the most successful teams (Zenger & Folkman, 2013). Consider, “I agree”; “Good focus”; “Great to see this response to customer”.
Create a supportive and caring environment. It is good for that person, for your team, and for your customers.
Introduce meditation or mindfulness. Provide supportive tools for reduces stress and anxiety.
Provide time and resources on whole person wellness. It offers a positive ROI (Abebe, 2015).
Allow flextime (remote, varied schedules, etc.); it reduces employee stress (Werk, 2020).
Abebe, N. (2015). The value of workplace wellness programs. Employee Benefit Plan Review, 70(2), 7-9. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1703268946?accountid=14745
Bakker, A. B. (2009). Building engagement in the workplace. In R. S. Burke, & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), The peak performing organization (pp. 50–72). London New York: Routledge.
Daniels, A. (n.d.). Delivering Positive Reinforcement. ADI. Retrieved 6.7.20 from: https://www.aubreydaniels.com/4-to-1-Ratio#:~:text=Delivering%20Positive%20Reinforcement&text=The%204%3A1%20ratio%20should,get%20the%20behavior%20you%20want.&text=Making%20specific%20and%20positive%20comments,more%20often%20in%20the%20future.
LaMontagne, A. D., Keegel, T., & Vallance, D. (2007). Protecting and promoting mental health in the workplace: Developing a systems approach to job stress. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 18(3), 221–228.
Levett, K. M., Coughlan, S., Longridge, S., Roumeliotis, V. and Adams, J. (2019). Be well: A systems-based wellness intervention using mindfulness in the workplace – A case study. Journal of Management & Operations, 25:5, pp. 613 – 634.
Meyer, J.P., Maltin, E.R. (2010). Employee commitment and well-being: A c critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, Volume 77, Issue 2, pp. 323–337.
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Defining and measuring work engagement: Bringing clarity to the concept. In A. B. Bakker, & M. P. Leiter (Eds.), Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research (pp. 10–24) Psychology Press. Taylor & Grancis Group. Hove and New York.
Werk Research https://werk.co/documents/The%20Future%20is%20Flexible%20-%20Werk%20Flexibility%20Study.pdf
Zenger, J., and Folkman, J. (2013) The Ideal Praise to Criticism Ratio. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/03/the-ideal-praise-to-criticism