The Grim Reapers!

HR specialists are experiencing extreme burnout as they carry out multiple lay-offs ...

Key learnings:

1. HR professionals need support to manage lay-offs induced stress and anxiety
2. Emotional distancing is one of the key fallouts of lay-offs
3. Training and HR support networks can help ease the pain associated with conducting lay-offs
   

HR professionals are living their worst nightmare! Their worst fears suddenly have come true, with lay-offs and job cuts becoming more frequent than one would have ever imagined. .HR professionals are feeling the heat from the emotional outbursts of people being laid-off and the stress caused because of overseeing continuous rounds of lay-offs. The most disturbing part of lay-off related stress is that more than thirty percent of HR professionals are considering a job shift! The reactions seem graver than one would have bargained for, Organisations thus need to take notice of the not-so-welcome trend that is beginning to unfold. Understanding the reasons for anxiety, stress and depression and providing help to overcome these negative feelings is thus pressing for organisations that wish to preserve their HR asset.

The weathered and wilted

HR professionals surely are gaining experience of a different kind by engaging in lay-offs round after round. The experience is extraordinary and faraway from normal. While the experience can be enriching as human resources professionals, getting weathered by the storm is terrible. Some would argue that excessive weathering is causing them to wilt under pressure and stress is leading them to disillusionment. .

Traditionally, it has been the human resources department that has provided counselling to stressed and anxious employees, however, today HR professionals need support of the same kind more than anybody else. Statistics provided in the report presented by workforce management would enable better understanding of its gravity. The HR anxiety survey reveals that:

1. Out of the 370 respondents surveyed more than sixty-five percent had started drinking more while others lit up when they felt unduly stressed
2. More than thirty percent HR professionals are thinking about a job change
3. Sixty-six percent of HR professionals are worried about losing their jobs
4. Seven percent HR professionals have already lost their jobs
5. Fifty percent of the surveyed professionals have conducted three or more rounds of lay-offs in a time span of 16-18 months
6. Majority feel distressed as people call them names like “grim reaper” and “the axe man”
7. Seventy percent have reported with complaints of sleeplessness and stress-induced depression
   

The foregoing statistics are alarming and suggest the need to take preventive measures for containing the negative impact of today’s uncertain economic times as it is resonating deep and far within the corporate fold.

According to corporate psychologists, HR professionals have been corporate caretakers. They have played a key role in hiring people to ensure better organisational productivity. Removing them for ushering cuts in corporate outlays and containing loss because of poor economic conditions is a bizarre experience for HR professionals. Such conflicting experiences are taking a toll on the mental and physical health of HR professionals. The implications can be worrying for both employers and HR professionals. While HR workers would have to battle out ill-health and a poor mental state, the employers would have to worry about the morale of HR workers and the resulting medical costs that the company would have to bear.

The most worrying fact about the whole lay-off caused stress and anxiety is that, most employers are oblivious to the implications of lay-offs on people who conduct them. All remedial measures are directed to those being laid-off and none towards HR professionals who have been sitting for lay-offs round after round. For instance, the employer providing laid-off employees with outplacement services, however, there is no counselling or aid provided to HR professionals to help them cope with the pressures of axing jobs.

Emotional distancing

Apart from the health issues, emotional distancing is the most obvious fallout of excessive lay-offs. HR professionals are increasingly distancing themselves from their colleagues. According to Laura Rhode, HR director of Bonita Springs, Florida-based hardware giant, “as HR professionals we do not want to get too close with other colleagues as it would really hurt if they were asked to leave”. Where HR professionals are not emotionally distancing themselves we find employees distancing themselves from their “HR friends”, as they believe that they are “sorrow makers”. According to a survey, twenty-five percent of HR professionals believed there has been a dramatic change in their relationship with their colleagues ever since they carried-out lay-offs.

HR professionals thus need help. The criticism, self-induced stress, anxiety, tagging by friends and depression are reasons enough to take professional help. Most HR professionals are fighting the ailments at their personal level without much success. The need to get some professional counselling that can make them feel better about their work is important to spread cheer and gaiety among the HR fraternity. Apart from professional counselling HR professionals can set up formal support networks that work towards providing common comfort. However, the disadvantages of a formal network would be that it could lead to a “HR” versus “us” idea..

This apart, HR professionals can enrol for training on how to conduct lay-offs and deal with issues related to lay-offs. Most HR professionals surveyed believed the training they received helped them cope with stress and therefore recommend it with great conviction. However, experts believe that while training surely helps HR professionals get a grip on conducting lay-offs, explaining the strategy behind lay-offs can highlight the impact of training.

While the survey brought out some real grim facts about conducting lay-offs, it also has given hope and a reason to cheer. According to the survey only nineteen percent respondents believed the stress and anxiety would have a long-term impact on their health and adversely impact their attitude towards HR function. The rest sounded upbeat and positive and believed that this phase too shall pass and the “grim” reapers would soon become “grin” reapers!

Ref: TheManageMentor.

Manage, Motivate and Retain Great Staff

Have you ever wondered what is takes to create a dynamic,motivated, high-functioning child care team? If you've answered yes, you are not alone. My office receives emails from all over the world from child care leaders who are on a mission; a mission to figure out the key elements in managing, motivating, and retaining great staff. Some of the leaders I've consulted with have spent their entire professional career trying to figure out the answer to this question. Some admit to giving up because the challenges involved in creating a dynamic, motivated team are exhausting.

The wonderful news is that there is a specific plan of action that you can implement immediately to help you manage, motivate, and retain great staff. This plan of action is not a quick fix, but rather a long-term solution to the motivational challenges child care leaders face (including the four case scenarios presented at the beginning of this article). Before I share with you this transformational plan of action, let me ask you:

If you could motivate your staff to do 5 things this year, whatwould they be? Would you like your staff to function as a dynamic team? Would you like your staff to communicate more constructively with each other, their leaders and the parents? Would you like your staff to refrain from destructive communication such as gossip? Would you like your staff to come to work full of energy and excitement about the lives that they're about to impact? Would you like your staff to resolve conflicts and issues on their own? Would you like your staff to value the contribution each individual staff member can make in accomplishing new team goals? Rest assured,whatever it is that you would like to accomplish, the following5-step plan of action will help you.

Let's begin this journey in learning what it takes to manage,motivate and retain great staff with step 1 of your motivational plan of action. The 5 steps I'm sharing this week are the foundation of my Leadership Retreats.

Step 1: Possess a strong, positive belief in your team. This is acritically important first step. Without a positive belief, thereis no hope, without hope there is no vision of the greatness you can accomplish within your program. When a program lacks a vision, it also lacks motivation.

As crucial as this step is, it can be one of the toughest toimplement. Why? Well, it all boils down to the thoughts you, the leader, think and the actions you take as an end result. So it starts with you and what you truly believe about your team. That's right -- what you believe and what you feel - not just what you say to appease others.

Do you possess a strong, positive belief in your team? When Iconsult with leaders about the changes they would like to see happening in their working and learning environments some have stated: "Good luck in working with my staff -- they're just really not capable of accomplishing much." I've also heard worse comments than this, but I think you get the idea.

It may be a true perception that one's team is simply not capable of accomplishing much, it's still not the thought or the vision that a leader who would like to create a motivated, dynamic, high-functioning team should hang on to. A leader must create a vision beyond present circumstances and help team members aspire to it. And if current team members are not on board and don't share your vision, it may be time to seek employees who do.

To help you develop your vision, imagine for a moment that your staff functions as a dynamic team. Imagine that everyone is a team player. Imagine that each employee is motivated. What does that mean to you personally and professionally? Many leaders share with me that if their staff was more motivated and functioned as a team, their stress levels would be reduced. The parents and children would be happier. Positive word of mouth advertising would spread far and fast. Your program will be the program where parents want to send their children and where top-notch child care professionalswant to work. You will have more time and funds available to invest in what you value most. You and your staff will experience less burnout.

Visualize this several times each day. Visualize that you and your team have more energy as the workday ends and visualize everyone returning to work with smiles on their faces. It's a great start.

Step 2: Create an environment where direct and open communication is a priority.

During leadership retreats we spend hours talking about this step because it's such an important element in creating a positive, productive and dynamic environment for working and learning. With each organization I work with, I find that when direct and open communication does not exist, gossip and other destructive communication patterns persist.

There are three main components from a leadership perspective in creating an environment where direct and open communication is a priority. They include getting direct and open communication, giving direct and open communication, and facilitating direct and open communication among staff.

As crucial as each of these three components are, there are communication barriers present in many child care programs preventing leaders from getting it, giving it, and facilitating it. It's very important to realize that when communication barriers are present they most often lead to turnover and unmotivated staff. Thus an important step in managing, motivating and retaining great staff is to identify what communication barriers are present in your working and learning environment and then put a workable plan of action in place to break them down.

Step 3: Challenge your team.

Help your staff understand your vision, your program's mission statement and how their efforts contribute to the big picture. Many times staff members simply focus on their immediate responsibilities as opposed to a broad-spectrum view of what they can accomplish within your program and in the child care profession. When this happens staff may be reluctant to do more than their fair share of the work. They may feel unimportant and undervalued.

A major element of this step is to help your staff understand their role in making the big picture happen through extending their focus beyond their immediate responsibilities. Help them focus daily on how: their successes will make a positive impact on the lives of the children, the parents, the community and your child care program.

Another important element is to coach your staff to set and achieve new goals; goals that will help them truly become a top-notch child care professional.

Before we move on to step 4, it's important to understand that the steps presented in this plan of action are cumulative, beginning with step 1. The common mistake many leaders make in implementing their plan of action is to implement step 4 or step 5 before implementing step 1 and step 2. To achieve optimal results from implementing this plan of action, it's important to implement the steps in order 1 through 5. Steps 1 and 2 are the toughest, yet the most important.

Step 4: Appreciate your staff.

Most child care leaders are very good at offering gifts to express their appreciation to their staff. However, please be aware that there are staff appreciation pitfalls that must be avoided to make your staff appreciation efforts effective. Staff appreciation pitfalls include routine appreciation, general appreciation, and undeserved appreciation. Additionally, if you have not put into practice steps 1 and 2, your appreciation efforts can be very ineffective.

When your staff appreciation methods are ineffective and pitfalls are present, you may hear staff complain about the type of cake they got for their birthday and how another co-worker got something better than they did. One leader shared with me how she purchased beautiful gifts for each staff person. Unfortunately, all she got in return were complaints.

Step 5: Make working for your program fun.

Find ways to make the mundane, stressful tasks fun. Incorporate fun into your staff meetings. Use music to transition from the end of the day craziness to an energizing, informative staff meeting. Incorporate a humorous attitude in your dealings with staff and parents. Of course this doesn't mean make fun of others but lighten up a bit.

When you're ready to implement this step, facilitate a fun team building activity with your staff. The objective is to list all the tasks that are mundane or stressful and then brainstorm with your staff on how to make them more fun.

Make a point in ending the day by helping each staff member leave with a smile. Here's what one teacher told me how she ends her day with a smile. "One of the things that keeps me motivated to stay in the teaching profession is all the humorous moments I encounter through the day. When my workday comes to an end, I reflect on all the funny stuff. Then I laugh and end my day with a huge smile on my face and I bring home a smile and share my humorous moments with my family so they can all end their day with a smile."

Wow! What a great thing -- to end the day with a smile. Not utter exhaustion and stress limits pushed to the max, but a smile to relish in and share with our loved ones. Smiles and laughter - two things that children naturally share and pass on to others. And boy, don't you love it when they do!

In addition to the 5 steps presented in this article, there are two important elements that go hand in hand with each step. They are coaching and modeling. It's important to view yourself as your team's coach. Often leaders in the child care profession can easily be mistaken for another stressed out member of the staff. You have to rise above personal issues and focus on facts, benefits, and solutions in order to help your team accomplish great things.

Modeling the behaviors that you would like your team to display on a daily basis is just as important. If you're constantly showing up late for work and meetings, don't be surprised if your team follows suit. Undoubtedly, you set the protocol for how your staff behaves.

Implement this step-by-step plan of action, model the behaviors you would like your team to display and coach your team to accomplish great things and your child care program will be the program with a motivated, dynamic, high-functioning team.

Ref: Julie Bartkus

Reducing Worker Stress in Turbulent Economic Times

These are stressful times, particularly for those who work in restaurants and hospitality establishments. Customer expectations are up, while tips are down. Yet workers must continue to provide exceptional service, even as staffs are sliced and diced. Here is what you need to know in order to significantly reduce the stress level in your workplace.

People have different ways of handling the shaky economy. Some people run around the organization informing everyone the sky is falling, while others hide behind the bar hoping the pink slips will land in someone else's station. Both of these scenarios do nothing to keep your establishment on course, which is exactly what must occur if you are to weather this economic storm. Here are seven tips on what you can do to reduce employee stress in turbulent economic times:

1. Provide your employees with opportunities to share their immediate concerns. You may be thinking, "But what if I don't have an immediate response to their concern?" That's okay. Let them speak and just listen. The simple act of stating fears out loud is often enough to calm people down so they can be productive again.

2. Keep the lines of communication open. Do not wait for the office grapevine to strangle your company. Instead, be proactive. Let employees know how your organization is doing financially. Seek input on ways to improve revenues and decrease expenses. Empowered employees, who feel like they are making a contribution, are much more productive than those who are waiting around for the ax to fall.

3. Focus on providing value and exceptional service. When the economy gets bumpy, companies tend to react by reducing services. If history repeats itself, there will be plenty of opportunities for customer- focused organizations to pick up new clients who appreciate the attention. By focusing on the positive, you will alleviate the negative thoughts that create a stressful work environment.

4. Give your employees a break. Whenever possible, try to schedule consecutive days off so they have time to rejuvenate their bodies and their minds.

5. Lighten up. The last thing people need in their lives right now is a boss who keeps riding them. Explain what needs to get done and appropriate timelines, provide the resources and allow your employees have some control over their workload.

6. Look for ways to make the rushes go smoother. Can you cross train people so they can help out in a pinch? Is the manager willing and able to fill in when you are down an employee or two?

7. Set the example. Take up meditation, yoga or running to blow off some of the steam that is bound to accumulate during this stressful time and encourage your staff to do the same.By following these tips, you will be able to alleviate stress in your workplace, while maintaining a sense of balance during these crazy times.

Ref: Roberta Chinsky Matuson

© 2008 Human Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the

About The Author

President of Brookline, Massachusetts based Human Resource Solutions (http://www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter "HR Matters" http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or Roberta@yourhrexperts.com

Spirituality at Work

Organisations can help employees bring their spiritual beliefs to work without letting it disrupt work place harmony

Key learnings:

• Spirituality and religion can be practiced at work place if a certain level of restraint is maintained
• Leaders and managers have to be sensitive to the spiritual and religious needs of others and respect their individuality in this regard
• Following certain guidelines for nurturing a faith- friendly work place can help de-stress employees

Spirituality and religion are extremely personal. Understanding this very basic aspect of this “universal” issue is important as organisations suddenly find themselves surrounded by beliefs and values that echo intolerance. There is tremendous pressure coming in from all quarters of the society. Today’s staff is highly stressed and therefore needs spiritual healing more than the earlier generations. It is important that organisations allow people to practice their spirituality and religion in the work place to soothe nerves of people. Some however may argue that faith -friendliness may lead to cutting favourites and therefore may result in corporate disharmony. While this fear is not completely unfounded, it surely does not define the whole truth. Corporate sociologists believe that religion and spirituality being extremely sensitive are topics that need to be handled with great care. However, once the right precautions are taken creating a faith -friendly work place will benefit the organisation. It would help workers bond better and would also serve as an effective stress- buster.

Keep the faith Organisations can build a faith -friendly place and refrain from succumbing to the dangers of faith favouritism by incorporating certain measures in their actions and policies. The following is an account of measures and restraints that leaders and managers must practice if they wish to teach spiritual etiquettes.

Respect personal beliefs Every individual has a set of personal beliefs that are rooted in religious and spiritual sentiments. Respecting these, without questioning them would help develop a certain level of comfort. It would enable individuals to voice their feelings without fearing consequences of any kind. In addition , leaders and managers must refrain from using words like “meditation” and “religion” that could ignite undesirable response from individuals and may lead to unnecessary conflict or tension. Leaders should instead choose to use words like “reflection” and “spirituality” that are more neutral.

Go beyond religion Sociologists say that when organisations take the matter of spirituality beyond religion it is reflective of a sense of maturity and calmness. Including concepts like compassion for fellow human beings, care for environment and love for animals are examples of expanded spirituality. Employees justify their spirituality when they begin to feel for others and show their concern for fellow beings. Encouraging employees to embrace spirituality with a flavour of compassion by motivating them to participate in campaigns, marathons and other socially motivated drives can help in building a more rewarding bond between the employer and his staff. Employees begin to respect their leader more as they see his concern for others.

Develop spiritual etiquette Spiritual etiquette is the respect that every individual is expected to show for views, opinions, values and beliefs of others even if they do not approve of it. According to sociologists, maintaining a certain decorum when religious opinions are voiced and not taking things personally are important to build a harmonious work place.

Guard against faith bias Faith -friendliness would lose its purpose if employers fail to maintain an impartial take on faith. Bias towards any faith or religion can create disharmony leading to chaos and internal conflicts. Organisations therefore should be neutral in their approach and provide for all faiths equally. For instance, at Ford Motor Co, the Interfaith Alliance operates on the principle that if you want to incorporate your faith group in the alliance then you must help others of different faiths to meet each other too . In addition every faith group in the alliance has to interact with each other and co-operate on certain issues of social significance. The programme initiated by Ford has been a great success and has helped the company create a stress-free work environment.

Refrain from using religious symbols and teachings Leaders and managers should be aware of the sensitivity of religious issues and therefore should refrain from using symbols and teachings from any given religious scripture. Leaders may want to communicate certain teachings that they believe are essential . Then they should paraphrase the teachings and project them as thoughts from the management and not as teachings of a given sect or religion. In addition forcing employees to use meditation techniques or yoga that may be perceived as teachings from a particular religion should also be restricted.

Know when to interject Given the sensitivity of religious issues, managers should always be watchful and alert of a possible conflict breaking out. They should therefore know when to interject if a conversation or discussion seems potentially damaging and diffuse the discussion for better .

Spirituality is integral to human well-being. Every individual has his own personal beliefs that for him define spirituality. It could range from a simple thing like conserving nature to more elaborate ceremonies like pujas and holy rituals. Irrespective of the definition, leaders should respect and acknowledge individual beliefs and master tolerance for the same .This would encourage workers to get their spirituality to work place as , for all of us spirituality is indeed a great stress buster.

Ref: The Manager Mentor