Learning Center

It’s been about four months since workplaces first started navigating the uncharted waters of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are now entering a new phase of challenges which includes bringing back some employees who have been working remotely. This change will to be difficult for some employees so this is a good opportunity to review what is helpful to say (and ...

Seven months ago I lost my spouse of 52 years. My grieving process has been complicated by the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The isolation has deprived me of the opportunity to talk face-to-face with people and hug friends which I dearly miss.  However, it has not deprived me of the ability to manage my behavior and emotions with ...

Workplaces are entering uncharted waters as they try to figure out how to protect both the health of their employees and their businesses in response to a looming worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Company responses thus far have include halting non-essential business travel, cancelling professional conferences, having more employees work from home, forming task forces, dusting off emergency response plans, ordering increasingly ...

I have been journaling for a few years now and it has turned out to be one of the best methods I have ever come across for reducing stress and achieving increased clarity and about goals, relationships and problems. I write longhand in a notebook trying to get onto the page whatever is on my mind at the moment but ...

The project may be entirely ordinary like cleaning out the garage, or it may be critically significant like preparing a major presentation for work. The goal may be to start eating more healthy foods or to advance your career. Whatever the circumstances, one of the major obstacles facing any project or goal is the phenomenon of procrastination. And the digital ...

Our digital devices, the screens connecting us to an infinitely wide world of information, pose a significant challenge because they are so compelling and distracting. They pull our focus away from being in the moment and compromise our ability to concentrate on the essential tasks of daily life: paying attention to our loved ones, solving our work challenges, and practicing ...

Organizations implement rigorous strategic planning processes because they know they can’t pursue every possible goal. They have to make critical choices in order to focus their business on those objectives which provide the best opportunities for success. Similarly, if you want to be healthier and perform better at work, you should consider developing a strategic plan for improving your personal ...

In January 2018, Stress.Health.Business published a post which anthologized ten of our most popular blogs on the effects of stress on employee health, engagement and productivity. That anthology turned out to be our most widely read post of 2018. We are continuing this successful tradition in 2019 by assembling the following selection of our most popular blogs documenting the multi-faceted ...

Since its inception in 2012 stress.health.business has showcased numerous examples of companies making strategic choices which benefit both employees and profits. These companies do not view the workplace as a zero sum game where the needs of employers are competing with the needs of employees. Rather, they seek to achieve a competitive edge by identifying and promoting those factors that ...

You don’t have to be poor to experience significant financial stress. Even people with good jobs and substantial salaries can find themselves in situations where their family finances become precarious, setting off a cascade of stressful complications. I grew up in a home where there was substantial financial stress and I know from personal experience exactly how disruptive this can ...

During a February presentation at the Harvard School of Public Health Angus Deaton, the Nobel Prize-winning economist spoke about the rise in preventable deaths by suicide, alcoholism and addiction calling them “deaths of despair.” Public Health researchers around the world have started to recognize that loneliness plays a significant role in these deaths of despair and, as a result, loneliness ...

How do you like the idea of a diet that lets you eat as much as you want to and still realize a healthy weight loss? A diet which doesn’t require you to keep track of calories or points? If you like this idea read on, because not only is there such a diet, but a prestigious medical journal has ...

A large study conducted by the Federal Occupational Health (FOH), the largest provider of occupational health services in the federal government has linked EAP use with improvement on measures of productivity, work and social relationships, perceived health status, attendance and tardiness, and global assessment of functioning. FOH used a five-item measure, the Work Outcome Suite (WOS), recognized as the industry ...

“Twixt the optimist and the pessimist The difference is droll, The optimist sees the donut But the pessimist sees the hole” McLandburgh Wilson, 1915 Anyone who has ever tried to make healthy changes in the way that they eat, drink, exercise or smoke knows that you are not successful 100% of the time. We have many expressions for the all ...

We are all accustomed to receiving instructions for improving our health. We know these directions by heart: eat more fruits and vegetables, get 8 hours of sleep each night, consume less sugar, stay hydrated etc. Somehow these repeated commands fail to inspire many of us to change our behavior, even though we accept their scientific validity and know that we ...

The most successful employers are always looking for a fully balanced “win-win” when it comes to achieving both higher productivity and healthier, happier, and more engaged employees. These organizations do not view the workplace as a zero sum game where the needs of employers are competing with the needs of employees. Rather, they seek to achieve a competitive edge by ...

It’s not a shocker to learn that a blog with a name like stress.health.business. (inaugurated in 2012) has featured more posts about stress than any other topic. However, you may be surprised to see how many different dimensions there are to the stress/productivity/health relationship. So, as we commence our 6th year of the blog, I have anthologized a diverse sampling ...

For the past several years we have seen growing awareness in the business community about the high cost of sleep disorders. There is an abundance of research which validates the impact of sleep problems on productivity: An international human resource company has declared that “insufficient sleep” is the number one condition damaging corporate productivity. This finding followed a thorough examination ...

Many companies are beginning to change the way they operate in order to reduce employee stress. In doing so they are recognizing that excessive stress is not only bad for employee health and happiness but it’s also a drag on productivity and the bottom line. Some of the most promising initiatives in this area are focused on creating a workplace ...

A high-ranking source at OSHA has confirmed that the agency will require all managers and supervisors (from companies with more than 25 employees) to pass a licensing exam by the year 2020 demonstrating management competencies. The senior OSHA official, who wishes to remain anonymous until the agency officially promulgates the new regulations, declared: “Management induced stress is a plague on ...

A recent article in the New York Times detailing the arduous demands Amazon places on its employees has put a spotlight on the subject of working long hours. The authors contend that Amazon, an amazingly successful company well on its way to become the world’s first trillion dollar retailer, is conducting a Darwinian experiment in “how far it can push ...

A new research study from Stanford University and the Harvard Business School has named workplace stress as a contributor to at least 120,000 deaths a year and up to $190 billion in health care costs. 120,000 mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and coworkers who die prematurely, in part, due to work environments that are allowed to remain toxic. ...

We are forgetful creatures. I’m not referring to the “senior moment” variety of forgetfulness. I’m talking about the habitual forgetting that takes place in the midst of everyday life challenges and stresses, when we “forget” to make those choices that we know will keep our bodies, spirits and relationships healthy. We forget that change can only happen today and not ...

Last week the Boston Globe published a chart which details the current costs, in dollars and in time, of providing care for an older family member (It is worth noting that the chart appears in the business section because the astounding numbers illustrate just how significant this issue is for many employees and for the organizations that employ them)   ...

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 6.7% of the U.S. adult population has a major depressive disorder in any given 12 month period. The number goes up to 16.5% when looking at how many people have depression over the course of their lifetime. Depression is a devastating condition that can rob you of the precious ability to enjoy ...

Are you getting enough sleep? The National Sleep Foundation survey reports that 60% of us struggle with our sleep every night. Sleep problems, which are being linked to an ever expanding array of health and psychological problems, were recently described as “the new health frontier.” Employers, who are waking up to the mounting evidence documenting the impact of insufficient sleep ...

        We launched Comprehensive EAP’s blog on June 6, 2012  with an expression of hope for what it would become: ………a place where we can think about the psychology of behavior, health and productivity in the workplace.  What makes us more productive and more fulfilled? What gets in our way and impairs health, safety and productivity? What ...

The most persuasive evidence for the value of an Employee Assistance program (EAP) depends on who is making the decision. If you are a human resources professional, or you are a front line manager, your value equation probably includes how the EAP helps you get your work done and makes your life less stressful. You assign a tangible value to ...

Organizations are on a quest to identify the essential elements of employee engagement. They dream of building cultures and work environments that will capture every last ounce of employee discretionary effort. They want employees who arrive at work every day with all the optimism, ambition and enthusiasm that they brought on their first day believing that happy people create more ...

For the past 25 years the Families & Work Institute has been tracking the benefits practices, policies and programs of U.S. employers. Their findings have documented the many ways that employers and employees benefit from flexible and family friendly workplaces. The data demonstrates that in return for providing a more supportive workplace to employees, employers benefit by having “more engaged employees, ...

Sleep has become one of the hottest topics in medical and corporate circles. In the past 10 years there has been a mounting volume of studies, surveys and discoveries validating the fundamental importance of sleep. The National Institute of Health states it plainly: “sleep plays a vital role in your health and wellbeing throughout your life.” Insufficient sleep has been ...

Are you a superhero? If you hesitated, think again: Are you a family caregiver? Do you juggle multiple demands at work? Are you the “go-to” person for planning family activities? Do you ever pick up the slack for family members or coworkers? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may very well be a superhero. Although we ...

The path to perfect is littered with failure and disappointment and should be avoided by anyone seeking self-improvement. Perfect is the enemy of good because perfect is an oversized and complicated fantasy, not an achievable goal. When it comes to making changes in your work habits or your relationships or your health it often pays to think small. I am ...

A recent analysis from an international human resource company revealed that of the top 15 drivers of poor employee productivity the number one culprit is insufficient sleep. The remaining top 14 drivers of lost productivity were: depression; fatigue; back/neck pain; anxiety; hypertension; other emotional disorders; arthritis; obesity; chronic pain; headache; irritable bowel; high cholesterol; heart disease; and allergies.  Amazingly, eight ...

A few years ago one of our client companies merged with their biggest competitor and they asked us to facilitate some preliminary meetings with the other management group which, until the merger, had been their rivals. There was much anxiety in both management groups about how to merge the two very different, adversarial and extremely competitive cultures. Andrew, a senior ...

Philip Tuttle is a self-employed lobsterman who works the waters off Harpswell, one of my favorite spots in the midcoast Maine area. His enviable commute to work consists of walking about 25 yards from his back porch to his 26 foot lobster boat, the Queen Tut. His commute might be pleasant but that is the only aspect of a lobsterman’s ...

The business community is developing a variety of interventions that are designed to improve the health and productivity of employees while controlling their health care costs. Employers are well-positioned to positively influence employee health and behavioral choices with a wide array of tools including: financial incentives to reward positive health behaviors, healthy food choices in the cafeteria, effective management practices ...

When an employee reports being sickened at work by toxic fumes leaking into their work area, most organizations will carefully and expeditiously investigate the matter. We expect them to seek out the origin of the fumes and engineer a solution that protects employees from illness and the organization from liability. It would be short sighted and foolish, not to mention ...

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way ...

The compelling logic that supports organizations investing in EAP mental health and substance abuse services is based on some well-documented facts*: Mental health and substance abuse disorders are prevalent in the workplace In the U.S. 30-40% of the population experience mental health and/or substance abuse disorders at some point in their lives 15-20% require professional assistance in a given year ...

Even the “show me the numbers” folks over at the Wall Street Journal are alerting their readers to the fascinating body of research demonstrating the positive impact of smiling. It appears that remembering to smile more could pay off in a variety of ways including better heart health and lower stress levels. The idea that facial expressions don’t just reveal emotions ...

Perhaps you remember the cartoon image of Wonder Woman or the Lynda Carter TV version of the 1970‘s female superhero. As more women have entered the paid workforce over the last several decades, the image of needing superhero powers to balance work, family and health has become a familiar metaphor.  Unfortunately, tending to the multiple needs of others often puts ...

When that feeling of being under so much pressure at work starts to carry over and you feel just as driven at home, it’s time to slow down, not speed up.  We have gotten very good at doing more in less time, undertaking several things at once, processing ever more information, and constantly reacting with split second decisions. But these ...

Many of us have a love-hate relationship when it comes to making changes in our life. We think a lot about wanting to eat better, exercise more, drink less, manage our time more productively, be kinder and gentler with our loved ones, and continually improve our current selves. The desire for self-improvement is a hard-wired component of human nature, an ...

I am completely amazed that there has not been more debate surrounding the emergence of the so-called “free” EAP that is being offered as a throw in by some carriers as a way to attract business to their more profitable insurance products. Let’s start by calling this “free” EAP by its real name which is “pretend” EAP. “Pretend” EAPs offer ...

For the past 32 years I have had a front row seat at the ongoing drama of elation, disappointment, achievement, loss, bravery and betrayal that occurs every day in the world of business. This has been the sustaining and motivating privilege of working all these years in the EAP profession. Employees and managers and family members have trusted me to ...