Happy World Mental Health Day!

Each year, on October 10th, World Mental Health Day is celebrated, which is a proclamation initiated

by the World Health Organzation. This year is a bit special: The theme is "The Workplace" (Did you know?)

Work is sometimes--often--a 24/7 experience for many employees in the Western hemisphere (and beyond.) Suffice it to say, that work is on our minds a lot!

Our mental health is directly affected by work, and our mental health affects the workplace, productivity, and the bottom line. It's a two-way street, and enhancing mental health wellness is crucial to human welfare.

Depression and anxeity affect well over 500 million people worldwide. And the cost to productivity is a cool $1 trillion dollars.
Celebrate today by bringing attention to the importance of any work organization's employee assistance program, and remind employees and managers that the EAP stands ready to assist them.

You will find more information about World Mental Health day at these links, and consider any of the tip sheets from WorkExcel.com to help you celebrate it -- they are always reproducible, editable, brandable, and web-usable.

http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2017/en/
http://www.who.int/mental_health/in_the_workplace/en/
Resources
Tip Sheets for Workplace Wellness
Catalog of Products
2-Page Catalog
EAP Newsletters
Training/Awareness for Employees
Training/Awareness for Managers
EAP Tools and EAP Resources

Daniel Feerst, BSW, MSW, LISW-CP
Email me: publisher@workexcel.com
Publisher 1-800-626-4327
WorkExcel.com

Office Romances and Productivity: Information for Employees and EA Professionals

​Busier lifestyles have made finding romance more difficult today than in recent memory.

With communication technology often reducing human interaction to abbreviated text messages and shorthand emails, many find the office

Romance in the workplace, think twice before the plunge

to be a rare exception where they are still able to engage in meaningful, face-to-face interaction with others. Romance at work can be a natural consequence. And it can feel quite compelling.

Many companies suffer productivity losses from workplace romance issues, which is why policies against workplace romance sometimes exist. They are not illegal.

The following are the top concerns from a poll of HR practitioners according to research from the IRS Employment Review:

https://www.workexcel.com/blog/hmm-should-i-or-shouldnt-i-romantic-relationship-and-dating-someone-at-work-advice-for-employee-assistance-professionals-offering-guidance/

EAPs Massively Overlooked as Customer Risk Reduction Tools by Property Casualty Insurers and Risk Managers

EAPs Massively Overlooked as Customer Risk Reduction Tools by Property Casualty Insurers and Risk Managers: Risk Managers overlook employee assistance programs as tools to reduce risk for insurance customers and enhance their marketing efforts

Property Casualty Insurance Markets: The One Resource Overlooked in Workforce Risk Reduction

Lew sat quietly in his office at the Chino Mines in the 1950's trying to find a solution to a

massive problem he was hired to fix. Lewis Presnall, D. Div.-- was a pastoral counselor hired by Kennecott Copper Corporation to deal with a massive alcoholism problem among workers and their associated problems placing the company at risk.

These problems included injuries, morale problems, insubordination, harassment, absenteeism, tardiness, property damage, stolen property, firings, conduct and attitude issues, violence in the workplace, and family members coming to work and bringing domestic squabbles with them. Kennecott Copper was at wits' end. Perhaps this Lewis Presnall could figure it all out and solve the problem. He did and his work is what truly led to the creation of broad brush comprehensive EAPs 20 year later. Read more.

Value Added EAP: Burnout Contagion and Employee Assistance Programming

In light of new research, EAPs may want to consider screening for burnout contagion in employee assessments, identify patterns emerging with the workforce, and proactively propose EAP programming to make a impact on the work organization with interventions that reduce risk.

Humankind is, collectively speaking, a social animal. We are aware of one another on certain levels, and if one was to make a map of the world solely based on how relate to one another, you would also be looking at the travels of shared ideas, sickness, love and hate.

We connect with one another through various means and ways, including empathy, emotion, success and defeat. These ribbons of relation changes not just day to day, but sometimes minute to minute.

Among those, though, is something that simply does not get enough credit: burnout.

A new study by Michigan State University education scholars are proving how the culture of an environment (such as the workplace an EAP may find themselves in) can contribute directly to a contagious spread of burnout.

Do consider the information presented here: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/is-teacher-burnout-contagious/

Burnout is a terrible affliction--an insidious slow boil process--that can strike in just about any workplace, especially in a workplace environment that is not keeping the employees health and well-being into consideration. Late nights, unfair workloads, time away from family and home - all of these are indicative of a ticking time bomb!  Eventually the human animal will break down, and pretending that such a thing will never happen to you can only bring harm to the workplace.

Consider, if you will, the fast-paced and emotionally charged setting of a hospital. RN’s bustling about, residents doing 20-48 hour shifts and worse. All it takes is one person to suffer from the various symptoms of burnout before it begins to spread like wildfire, causing mayhem within the personal lives and habits of the entire staff.

“Wherever there is smoke, there is fire,” or so it’s said. There are plenty of symptoms to be on the lookout for, and recognizing overpowering workload per person is one thing to keep in consideration. A culture that does not promote the mental well-being of their employees is one that will eventually suffer in quality of produced work and overwhelming turnover rates, costing a company in both time and money.

The modern day professional, no matter what level of employment they are at, should be aware and mindful of what kind of environment they are empowering within the workplace. Listen to one another, and hear one out. Pay heed to stressors and how they are affecting the workplace and the workers themselves.

Do consider such resources as found here: https://www.workexcel.com/stress-management-training-powerpoint-ppt-presentation-with-stress-management-tips-for-employees-or-ppt-dvd-web-course-video/
The benefits of having such an employee awareness program will easily pay dividends and help counter burnout within your company! Stress management is more than an art form, it’s a daily awareness.

By recognizing stressors and how to properly manage them, paying heed to co-workers, employees, and employers alike one can certainly fight back against such a negative culture, creating a workplace that will positively affect output and production as well as the mental health and well-being of all involved. #burnout #eap

Seven Reasons Business Organizations Should Offer Employee Drug and Alcohol Awareness Education

Seven Reasons Business Organizations Should Offer Employee Drug and Alcohol Awareness Education: Employee drug and alcohol awareness education and training in PDF, Web Video, Web Course, and DVD Player

Yoga and the Treatment of Depression: Put this in the EAP Tool Box

The statistically high rate of revitalization, flexibility, physicality, and an increase in mind-body connection is what describes Yoga. So, heck it should help depression right? Right.

Let’s talk about yoga and how it’s being proven to effectively reduce depression!

You know the types of tropes that get associated with yoga: upscale and overpriced coffee-drinkers, overly heated rooms, manbuns, yoga pants, and Hollywood’s love of showing how it can enhance those pelvic muscles.  The thing to consider, though, is the actual mentality inherently within yoga itself, the kind of oneness and personal exploration within one’s psyche promoted within the practices.

Studies have been produced at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association which notes how yoga can help with stress reduction, and can impact depression and the symptoms leading to it.

Whether it be bikram, hatha, or some other form of yoga, the increase in quality of life and physical health is noteworthy, and can surely be of use to one’s professional life as well as personal life.  Finding the balance in both is truly key in effective and efficient life management, and can affect the overall output and quality of your work.

EAP professionals guide employees in how to find solutions for personal problems, the kind which may not be easy to simply brush off once they cross that door towards the office. Depression is a common one, and while many resources are recommended, this one has been ignored.

Well, not anymore!  With more studies being produced showing how Yoga (of any known sorts) can help reduce stress and the symptoms of depression, it pays for the EA professional and wellness worker alike to give it a try and see how it can improve the overall health and happiness of the workplace.

It is suggested that you look up your local Yoga studios.  It’s easy to request a sit-in to see if it’s a good feel for you, and no matter the level of expertise of yogi or students, you should always hear that you can assume the easiest pose and simply rest while being mindful.

Mindfulness, stress reduction, and overall quality of progression on an extremely personal level are the hallmarks of a good yoga studio.

Follow these links for more information about "Understanding and Treating Depression: Education for Employees and the news on Yoga and its impact on treating depression.