Eight in 10 employed U.S. adults say they feel stressed out at work, driven by everything from their commute to their workload, according to a 2014 survey by Nielsen.
At the 2016 BizTimes Wellness Summit, held March 18 at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, experts addressed the high cost of high stress and how employers can overcome anxiety to create a healthy workplace culture.
Employers must meet three basic psychological needs to keep employees motivated in a healthy way, said Greg Schramka, Psy.D., director of behavioral health therapy services at Aurora Behavioral Health Services in Milwaukee, who gave the keynote address.
The needs, which are part of an established global psychology finding called the self-determination theory, are: autonomy, or allowing the employee to have her own sense of will; competence, or building an employee’s effectiveness in facing day-to-day challenges; and relatedness, or creating a sense of connection with co-workers and feeling part of a greater purpose.
Some workplaces rely on external rewards or punishments, which work against the psychological health of many employees, Schramka said. Self-determination theory focuses on internal motivation.
“If we’re looking at really trying to help employees perform optimally in ways that are subjectively more enjoyable and more congruent with how they want their work lives to be…employers would do well to set up circumstances to help employees meet these needs,” he said.
Giving employees differentiated feedback and looking at problem-solving events together with them can help to meet these needs, Schramka said.
“We definitely have to meet certain objectives, but managers can look for ways to help employees find a certain amount of autonomy in that,” he said.
Managers and leaders should also be attuned to employees’ potential stressors and be on the lookout for signs of anxiety, such as irritability and fatigue.
And when an employer can refer an employee to a health care provider or employee assistance program early, it can prevent the situation from spiraling into a serious health event, he said.
Schramka’s remarks were followed by a panel discussion and a presentation about employee wellness and its importance to a company’s operations and productivity.
In “Back to Basics,” Paul Nobile, regional vice president, sales and account management at Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield in Wisconsin, guided panelists through a discussion of the keys to a healthy lifestyle.
Exercise is important, but it doesn’t need to take up a large chunk of each day, said Jennifer Smith-Hulbert, general manager and WorkingWell program director at Wisconsin Athletic Club in Menomonee Falls. Little victories can be a big start to getting into a regular wellness routine.
“I think sometimes people feel that they have to have a good hour to work out or they’re not going to be successful, or they have to walk 10,000 steps a day or they’re not going to be successful,” she said.
Employers could create breaks during the day during which employees go outside for 10 minutes and walk around the block. Or they could lead desk stretches or offer on-site yoga classes, Smith-Hulbert said.
In that same spirit, setting realistic goals on nutrition and weight control can also lead to healthier choices on diet, said Mary Kelly, wellness manager at Sensia Wellness in Milwaukee.
Planning and preparation can go a long way in helping employees make healthy eating choices during the day, especially when they’re stressed, she said.
“Stressed is desserts spelled backwards,” Kelly said. “If I’m feeling super stressed or stress is something I’m dealing with a high amount of on a daily basis, what are things you can do to manage that other than eating?”
Sleep is also a vital aspect of wellness, and getting enough rest can help employees better deal with stress. Lisa Cottrell, Ph.D., CBSM, clinical health psychologist, board certified behavioral sleep medicine at Aurora Health Care, discussed the impact of sleep on health.
The presentation portion of the program, “Opportunity costs of an unhealthy workforce,” evaluated wellness as a talent attraction and retention tool, as well as a way for businesses to cut costs and increase productivity.
Paul Shekoski, chief executive officer of the Primex Family of Companies in Lake Geneva; Carrie Phelps, Ph.D., director of membership and resource development at the National Wellness Institute in Stevens Point; and Jerry Curtin, president of Cultivate by Standard Process in Palmyra, discussed the topic.
Not just physical health, but also emotional and social aspects of wellness, are important to the overall picture of health, Phelps said.
“If people aren’t healthy and well personally, they’re going to bring that into the workplace,” she said. “The data’s really clear that people spend most of their time at work. That culture needs to support people’s wellbeing.”
Message from the Title Sponsor:
At Anthem, we believe your health plan is your most valued employee benefit – and one of your most significant business investments. By helping employees improve their health Anthem can help improve productivity, reduce costly absenteeism, lower expensive medical claims and control health care costs through:
Access to high quality primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals and other health care providers.
Engaging with members & their physicians for preventive screenings or when more cost effective treatment alternatives are available.
Cost & quality transparency tools to help individual’s better control expenses take charge of their health & manage chronic conditions.
Offering a broad range of plans to provide comprehensive care –and improved health for your employees including dental, vision, life & disability & EAP.
Find out how Anthem can help your business thrive by visiting anthem.com.
Best of Health,
Paul C. Nobile
Regional Vice President, Sales & Account Management, Anthem
Message from the Sponsor:
Outcomes are the most important part of any wellness conversation. Without it, wellness becomes a nice-to-have—rather than a must-have—strategy to drive business success.
Cultivate is a revolutionary, on-site, chiropractic-led corporate wellness offering. Cultivate is built on ten years of data that shows direct correlation between wellness and business performance. And, here’s why you should care.
For starters—and there’s more—here are four outcomes Cultivate achieved at our parent company, Standard Process:
Healthcare costs down 55%
Short-term disability claims down 24%
Employee spousal healthcare costs down 18%
Absenteeism rates and associated overtime costs also down
So what can you do with this information?
Ask your CEO and CFO what your company would save with these results.
Then visit www.cultivateonsite.com. We’d be glad to discuss how we would work within your organization.
Jerry Curtin
President, Cultivate by Standard Process
