Learning Center

Having medical insurance is no longer a guarantee that you can get the mental health services you require. A recent survey conducted by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation found that more than half of the adults who sought mental health or addiction treatment experienced significant difficulty in getting that care. The obstacles to receiving care were so ...

I have just reviewed a very compelling new research report which concludes that companies who “embrace best practices for employing and supporting more persons with disabilities in their workforce have outperformed their peers.” The study, presented in a report from Accenture in partnership with Disability : In and the American Association of People with Disabilities, found that companies that championed ...

Bad bosses are an unwelcome, but all too common, feature of the American workplace. Work environments have an abundance of stressors, but having a bad boss may be the worst. Consider the fact that approximately 50% of American workers have left their jobs in order to get away from a bad boss. Furthermore, according to Gallup’s 2017 State of the ...

It is critically important for organizations to be certain that their employees fully understand the definition and risks of harassment in the workplace. A well-designed training program can have a positive impact on reducing the types of misunderstandings and confusion that, if left uncorrected, can lead to a disrespectful or hostile work environment. An ounce of prevention is truly worth ...

On June 28th, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed House Bill 4640 which will create one of the country’s strongest family and medical leave programs. This new program will provide participating employees with the ability to take paid leave for up to 12 weeks a year to care for a family member or to bond with a new child, 20 weeks ...

Is your company prepared for a potential increase in the reporting of harassment due to the social momentum and heightened awareness generated by the #MeToo empowerment movement? There has never been a better time to review your organization’s training strategy in this critical area. You only have to look at the Wynn Corporations losing 18% of its value following sexual ...

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 ...

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 ...

Meetings are important. For better or worse, most organizational decisions are still made in groups. Meetings are a ubiquitous element of organizational life even as teams are now often geographically dispersed and collaborating online as well as in person. A productive meeting energizes, coordinates and galvanizes a team. Dysfunctional meetings, on the other hand, lead not only to bad decisions, ...

Work environments have an abundance of stressors, but having a boss who behaves badly may be the worst. The experience of being treated unfairly or rudely is always unpleasant, but when it comes at the hands of someone who has significant power over your income and career it can be devastating. The problem is often compounded by the well-meaning, but ...

Advances in brain imaging technologies are extending the reach of scientific comprehension into the complex and fascinating recesses of human motivation. By studying detailed pictures of the brain’s responses to different situations neuroscientists are changing our understanding of why people act the way they do. Business leaders have an opportunity to translate these discoveries about human motivation into organizational cultures ...

Some days it feels that way. You’re a manager with an ever lengthening task list and rapidly approaching deadlines and you worry that your blood pressure and stress level may be reaching new heights. Then one of your employees, let’s call him Ted, walks in the office and asks: “Have you got a minute to talk?” Freeze frame. You are ...

Of all the employee personal issues that managers and HR professionals are called upon to address none is more complicated, hidden and stressful than domestic violence. A new Massachusetts law, signed by Governor Deval Patrick on August 8, 2014, has now codified specific employer responsibilities to employees who are victims of domestic violence. Under the new law, employers with at ...

It was about an hour before I was supposed to “run” my first therapy group. The clients, ranging in age from 20 to 60, were in various stages of recovery from heroin addiction. I was 26 years old, had never run a group by myself, and was suddenly feeling a little panicky about the assignment. Among them, the group members ...

Employers doing business in states which have legalized marijuana should make sure that their employment policies are keeping up with a rapidly evolving, and often contradictory, legal environment. Their employment policies need to reconcile the new state laws, permitting the medical use of marijuana, with the reality that marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug by the federal ...

Ward Cleaver was an exemplary Dad, calm and wise and always available to talk with his kids and guide them. His wife June was an iconic nurturing at-home Mom. The Cleavers made a great team and their children adored and respected them. The men of Ward’s era were not expected to be present for their children’s births and did not ...

“Anger impedes our ability to be happy, because anger and happiness are incompatible” -Unknown Anger is a combustible emotion which leaves a trail of regret in its wake. The inappropriate expression of anger can destroy a marriage or a career. Unexpressed anger, on the other hand, leads to a different, but equally toxic, set of problems. It can fester and ...

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 ...

I met Steve Mellor in the mid-1980’s when he was a young HR professional and I was a green EAP consultant. We bonded immediately as allies and comrades learning to make a place for ourselves in the corporate world. Along the way, we also took time to compare notes on the joys and challenges of being husbands and dads. Later ...

Let’s begin with the iconic image of Tom Hanks as the exasperated coach of a woman’s baseball team in the movie A League of Their Own, declaring “There’s no crying in baseball!” This image resonates for so many men because, let’s be honest here, some of us are flummoxed by tears and uncertain about how to respond to a person ...

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, ...

The next time I present a training program for supervisors about using the EAP to help manage performance, I will be referencing a news story that was reported a couple of weeks ago in the Detroit area media. The story focuses on a letter Carolyn Moceri, the City Treasurer of Warren, Michigan wrote to the Director of Human Resources requesting ...

Of all the complicated personal problems that employees bring to the workplace, none is more difficult for organizations to manage than drug and alcohol issues. Employee drug and alcohol problems pose uniquely troublesome challenges because the risks they pose to safety, health and quality are often obscured by employee deception and denial. Employees who are missing work or making errors ...

One of my best management experiences was coaching my son’s Little League baseball team. I may not be able to remember the name of the movie with what’s-his-name in it that I saw last week but I can tell you the name of each kid on the team and what position they played. That group played hard and had a ...

Organizations face daunting challenges when it comes to effectively managing employees whose personal problems begin to interfere with their work performance. Just ask the city of Toronto. The headlines concerning Rob Ford, Toronto’s embattled mayor, have progressed from sensational to almost unprintable in just a matter of days. We have been deluged by a steady media stream of Mr. Ford’s ...

Of the 21.5 million veterans in the United States, 9.1 million are currently in the workforce. According to government estimates, one million service members will be leaving active duty over the next five years. Last year on Veterans Day I posted a piece on the special value and skills veterans bring to civilian work. I would like to observe this ...

Workplaces with high levels of employee stress and anger are increasing their risk for many negative business outcomes including: Employee fatigue, concentration difficulties and diminished problem-solving abilities Diminished quality, productivity and customer service Under reporting of critical business issues (in order to avoid blame) Poor teamwork and coordination among individuals who are resentful and feel that they have been treated ...

Meetings are the place where an organization can access the collective knowledge of its members to make the best possible tactical and strategic decisions. Meetings are the place where organizations can work out conflicts, coordinate individual efforts and get everyone on the same page.   Meetings are an inevitable, necessary and ubiquitous element of organizational life. To my knowledge, no ...

In my role as an EAP consultant I have a front row seat for observing the damaging effects of workplace conflict on individuals and organizations. Destructive conflicts should not be confused with the constructive process of conflict that often propels creativity and innovation. Constructive conflict is based on a spirited competition of ideas and strategies and aims to improve the ...

You may have noticed that Comprehensive EAP has been featuring a “We help with everything” theme in many of our communications this year. The reason for this is straightforward: despite our continuing efforts to communicate the incredible diversity and breadth of services we offer organizations and their employees, many people still think only of mental health counseling (and maybe dependent ...

In March of this year, I had the honor of being invited to Brazil as part of a vocational and cultural exchange sponsored by Rotary International. During my month abroad, I met with many talented Human Resources professionals, primarily in the manufacturing sector. Here are five observations I made in the course of those meetings.   1) Brazilian Human Resource professionals ...

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 ...