Leaders communicate effectively in one-on-one team and group interactions in both informal and formal settings.

Performance Management System Consulting & Workshops

Building Resiliency at Work and at Home

Have you heard?  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has declared stress a hazard of the workplace.  Whether family demands are weighing you down or tightened resources lay on the pressure at work, stress has become a daily obstacle in many people’s lives.  The result can be missed work days, low morale or depression, and even a higher risk of illness and injury. 

And don’t think that a job needs to involve physical danger to cause very real – and very unhealthy – stress.  Unrealistic deadlines, unfair workloads, and even personal expectations can bring about serious consequences for your workforce in the form of stress and burnout.

Why should I care?

While a certain amount of stress can motivate employees, unmanaged stress can be extremely expensive.  It costs your workers their personal happiness and health and your organization lost time and money in the form of sick days and lowered productivity. 

Your employees don’t even have to be enduring stress on the job for this to happen.  Stress from personal issues often invades workers on the job the same way that workplace stress can follow them home.  Whatever the cause of employee stress, the body’s reaction to it can create conditions that keep them from performing at the top of their game.

And with stress-related ailments and complaints making up 75% to 90% of physician office visits, that’s something you need to be concerned about.

What can I do?

Stress is never wholly unavoidable, no matter who you are or what you do.  But like so many other things in this world, managing your stress is something you can learn.  That’s where we come in.

Our stress management seminar teaches you and your employees about stress from all aspects: What exactly it is, how it manifests itself, how to cope, and how to keep yourself from burning out in the future.

What will I gain?

Healthier, happier employees.  Seen in a healthy light, stress has positive effects, and can motivate and drive employees to do their best and push their own limits. 

Employees who manage stress effectively no longer drag stress from home into work and vice versa.  They achieve better work-life balance and see improved relationships in both spheres of their lives.  And happy workers mean better productivity, improved morale, and, ultimately, increased retention for your organization.

Understanding the Stress Response

What is Stress? – The stress response is the body’s arousal to fight or flee when threatened, and the immediate response the body makes to extraordinary demands.  Unfortunately for modern man, extraordinary demands have evolved from wilderness survival situations to everything from unfair deadlines to procrastination.

The Physiological Response– Whether confronted with a grizzly bear or a heinous workload, your body mobilizes its defense against any kind of threat (perceived or real) in three stages: the Alarm Stage, the Resistance Stage, and the Exhaustion Stage.

What Does Stress Look Like? – Unmanaged, stress can manifest itself physically from headaches to shaky hands to an upset stomach.  Learn what happens to the body at each stage of the physiological response and stop stress before it turns into burnout.

Analyzing Individual Reactions to Stress– In this activity, employees take a closer look at themselves to pinpoint their stressors, their personality type, their symptoms, and how it all adds up at work.

Beware of Burnout

Understanding the Symptoms: Physical and Psychological – Hitting the exhaustion stage is dangerous to your employees’ health and your organization’s bottom line. The Freudenberger Burnout Scale helps employees evaluate their burnout level to determine how stress is affecting their lives.

Identifying the Causes of Burnout – Everything from major life changes to increasing demands at work can pile up and lead to burnout.  Inventory your stressors with the Holmes-Rahe scale to see what’s doing the most damage.

Bouncing Back from (and Preventing!) Burnout – View a short video to review what you’ve learned before teaming up with a partner to brainstorm ideas on how to deal with stressors.

Seven Steps to Beat Your Stress

1. Change Your Perception – Loaded questions influence answers the same way unhealthy perceptions fuel stress.  Learn how to form healthier attitudes and beliefs by identifying your personal values, letting go of what’s out of your control, and branching out to your support network.
2. You are What You Eat – Not only can eating healthy make you feel healthy, but it can also combat stress-related problems.  Review current information on what constitutes healthy eating to evaluate how your diet holds up.
3. Work (it) Out! – Exercising does more than just shed pounds; it also fights stress.  People who exercise regularly have increased vitality, a decreased risk of heart disease, and a healthy outlet to dissipate tension and mental fatigue, among other things.  Learn about the different types of exercise to find what’s right for you.  You’ll also practice stretching exercises you can do right in the office.
4. Stop. Smell the Roses. – A great way of coping with stress is to relax.  But it can be difficult to let go when you’re consumed by stress.  That’s why you need to learn how to relax.  Our relaxation and meditation methods oppose your body’s reaction to stress, ultimately calming you down. 
5. Take Time to Make Time – Your time is valuable, so use it wisely.  Use our time management tips to prioritize your day and replace mere activity with accomplishment.
6. Don’t Poke the Bear – Sometimes just dealing with your coworkers is enough to trigger stress on the job.  But armed with a better understanding of behavior styles that differ from your own and a plan for approaching common workplace problems, you’ll be able to reduce interpersonal conflict like a pro.
7. Be Assertive – Standing up for yourself with confidence can shoo away stress by building your self-esteem and helping you diffuse stressors in the workplace.  Review assertive, aggressive, and passive behaviors to see where you have room for improvement.

Taking Back Your Life

Diagnosing Your Individual Concerns –Review what you’ve learned throughout the seminar to pinpoint stressors, any unhealthy reactions you have, and your current symptoms of stress.

Relating Self-Management to Your Job – When you can manage the stress of everyday life, the demands of the workplace become less daunting.

Developing Your Plan – Use the lessons and techniques learned throughout the seminar to put together a stress-busting plan that’s right for you.  Follow your plan to reduce stress, and incorporate your techniques into your daily life to prevent getting stressed out in the future!