If Your Employees Do Not Know How To Take Care Of Themselves, They Will Never Operate At Peak Level
Stress in the workplace is at an all time high, between burnout, financial stress and our collective uncertainty about the future as we continue to recover from a worldwide pandemic. According to the American Psychiatric Association “Excessive workplace stress causes a staggering 120,000 deaths and results in nearly $190 billion in health care costs each year. This represents 5% to 8% of national health care spending, derived primarily from high demands at work ($48 billion), lack of insurance ($40 billion), and work-family conflict ($24 billion)”. If that doesn’t give you pause about the future of the health of our workplaces, I don’t know what will. Something needs to change and it hinges on investing in self-care.
To begin investing in the wellness of your employees you must identify what stressors they are experiencing.
They may be asking themselves questions like, “Why am I having so much trouble focusing? Why do I have this uneasy, nervous feeling most days? Why can’t I get a lucky break? How can I find my passion again?” All of these are symptoms of low energy due to a lack of self-care and time to build your energy. I know because I experienced it first hand. For years I toed the company line and supported the status quo to my detriment. I lived this type of work life for what seemed like forever and I only wish my leaders had shared the benefits of morning rituals, meditation, breathwork or even how movement is a great way to release anxiety.
If you are leading a team - listen to their concerns and their doubts. Ask the hard questions. You may not like the answers you hear, but it is far better to ask now before your team is pushed over the edge. You may also find out that everything looks fine on the surface, but there is a lot more angst going on underneath it all. And once you get your information, you must take action to try and alleviate this stress at the source.
Taking action sounds easy, but it must be intentional and effective.
There are a barrage of options out there for leaders and managers to lift the spirits of their crew, but they are not all created equal. I remember during the crash of 2008, my employer brought in a motivational speaker which was right up my alley. Although he was a good speaker, and funny–which I appreciated, his main message was to "just be positive". Trust me I wanted to be positive, but being a financial advisor when the whole financial world was crashing down was absolutely terrifying. I left the meeting annoyed, angry and confused. I was desperately in need of tools to help me "just-be-positive", because on the inside I was holding on by a thread, but was offered none. Between $7 dollars in my bank account, foreclosure letters coming, and a manager who was extremely toxic, I did not have a single ounce of positivity inside me to pull from. I wish I had the tools then that I have and use now on a daily basis. I wish that my colleagues and I were given these tools and this knowledge instead of falling apart and developing destructive coping mechanisms. For this reason it is imperative that when help is offered that actionable advice is given instead of just meaningless platitudes.
That is why today I am on a mission to share my story and the collection of tools that I have discovered along the way.
These tools have transformed my energy, which in turn has transformed my life and my career. It is truly amazing how energy plays a key role in our success and our ability to operate at peak levels. The best part is that there are business practices that we can incorporate into our workday to drive our energy and efficiency and in turn drive results. If your team is struggling with lower employee engagement, increased sick time, lower levels of productivity, loss of revenue, or low morale there is a very good chance that there could be some underlying problems that need to be addressed. One of my greatest passions is supporting organizations, to equip their leaders and teams with a new stream of knowledge and an innovative toolbox to help their teams thrive instead of just survive.
Self-care is always important in the workplace, but especially with April being stress awareness month I implore you to dedicate some time to the betterment of your teams’ self-care. It is a worthwhile investment that will show results in all aspects of your business and your healthy workplace will easily become a wealthy workplace.