Employees come to work every day with stress from home and family matters. Then there is additional stress at work resulting from imposed deadlines, frustrated patients, miscommunication with coworkers, malfunctioning equipment and manager demands.

An organization can't eliminate stress, but it can give employees resources to cope with it. Let's look at some resources that companies are using.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

An employee assistance program (EAP) is an employer-paid service for employees. An employer can buy services that offer several sessions of personal counseling for employees and their dependents. The service is confidential and free to the employee. Some EAPs offer the service by phone to employees of companies in many states. Others have a network of therapists throughout the areas where employees are located.

HealthONE Bethesda EAP in Colorado offers Work Life Management Services on their Web site. These services include referrals to child care, support groups for any type of concern, legal and elder care organizations, information about mental illnesses and mental health professional networks. Bethesda EAP also offers on-site workshops on many topics such as stress management, dealing with loss, conflict resolution, coping with change and personal safety. These workshops can be offered during an afternoon stress reduction break or during brown-bag lunches.

WELLNESS PROGRAMS

A wellness program can offer a variety of on-site and off-site stress reduction resources. Some companies are paying a portion or all of the membership and monthly dues to health clubs. Reimbursement for any wellness classes is sometimes provided when employees take advantage of smoking cessation, yoga, Pilates, aqua aerobic classes or even massages.

More companies are taking a proactive approach by bringing in instructors to the place of business. Yoga or t'ai chi is offered during lunch. Massage therapists come to work and give neck and shoulder massages to employees.

While there are costs associated with offering wellness programs, it's better than absences due to stress related illnesses, increased medical costs and turnover.

A recent study looked at recreational music-making and its positive effects to reduce burnout and improve mood states in long-term care workers.¹  Each of six one-hour sessions included a listening to soothing music on the Clavinova (a state-of-the-art computerized electronic keyboard instrument), breathing and awareness exercises, and playing instruments such as hand drums, bells and maracas.

The study found that these sessions increased the ease of communication, respect for one another, supervisors caring about employees as persons and new employees feeling welcome. In addition, there is a likelihood that the employees would recommend the employer to a friend or family member. The study goes on to say that there is a correlation with employees taking this program and reduced turnover in these long-term care workers.

HUMOR IN THE WORKPLACE

When employees positively regard their companies, they say things like: "It's fun to work here;" "Every manager is approachable and human;" "I always feel comfortable working here;" and "I can do my best work because I am relaxed."

Humor has been found to minimize differences between employee status, alleviate tension, facilitate work, improve socialization, bond employees together, improve communication, break down barriers, relax everyone, create rapport and boost moral.²

We go to funny movies to laugh and come away feeling better and less tense. Can we duplicate this humor in the workplace?

We do need to have some caution in what type of humor we display in the workplace. Poking fun at religion, political views, gender, age, weight or race would inappropriate humor that is also illegal harassment in the work environment. The safest humor is on oneself. Telling a story about turning an embarrassing moment into a humorous one does wonders to humanize oneself. Imagine the power of this humor when a manager does it!

One department has a funny hat day and for one hour in the morning they all wear their silly hats. It sets a fun and relaxed mood for the rest of the day. Another company ran funny movies in their conference room and served popcorn for employees to pop in for a good laugh.

In my own findings, people who laugh more at work are less anxious, less depressed and more satisfied with their jobs and lives in general.

COMMON COURTESIES

Respectful behavior creates an environment where employees feel comfortable and relaxed. Additionally, saying "please" and "thank you" goes a long way to build respect among coworkers. Rude, flippant, attacking, aggressive or offensive behavior should not be tolerated. If this occurs, give immediate constructive feedback. At times, employees need conflict resolution skills so they can effectively deal with interpersonal conflict in the workplace.

While a company can't eliminate the work demands of a job, it can create a more caring culture where employees feel relaxed and comfortable in their work environment. EAPs, wellness programs, humor and common courtesies go a long way in creating a stress-reduced workplace so employees can better cope with the work demands and avoid potential burnout.

 References

1. Bittman B.et al.Recreational music-making: A cost-effective group interdisciplinary strategy for reducing burnout and improving mood states in long-term care workers. ADVANCES in Mind-Body Medicine, Fall/Winter 2003.

2^. Clouse RW and Spurgeon KL. Corporate analysis of humor. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior. 1995; 32 :12.

 Sue Romero is a human resources consultant and facilitator specializing in employee relations issues, manager coaching, management and team training. She has over 20 years experience coaching managers on enhancing their effectiveness. Her web site is www.romeroconsulting.com.