By Louise Dunn
or many of us, “stress” has become a common term tossed around with a flippant remark or a threatening stare. You most likely have blamed stress when explaining why you failed to complete a task: “Things are really stressful today; I’ve barely had time to breathe.” Or, perhaps after you snapped at a co-worker: “Don’t mind me, I’m stressed out.”
As often as we use the word during our day, have we ever taken the time to understand stress and its effects on our mental health, the team, and our family and friends at home? Just what is stress, and how can we relinquish its hold on our daily activities?
At this point, you may be thinking that since stress is a personal state of mind, the business has no “business” in the employee’s mind; however, this is where the stance to “leave your problems at the door when you come to work” comes into play. You have most likely said this phrase or been on the receiving end. The truth is, the business should pay attention to team members’ stress, regardless of its source.
Stress can also have a ripple effect. Not only is Sue stressed, but now her manager is stressing about speaking to Sue. The team is whispering about how worried they are about Martha, adding stress to their own lives. In addition, everyone is wondering what is wrong with Jack because they are tired of picking up his slack which is causing them stress. Stress was not left at the door when they walked in to work that day. Stress came with them, and it affected everyone else on the team.
Dr. David Posen, author of Is Work Killing You?: A Doctor’s Prescription for Treating Workplace Stress, placed workplace stress into three categories: Velocity, Volume, and Abuse.3 These three categories are readily apparent in the workplace of pet professionals. Here is how they are defined:
- Velocity. Everything seems to happen at the speed of light, or at least at the speed of the internet these days. Clients want access to you and the team ASAP—be it by phone call, text message or appointment. And team members want tasks done as of yesterday.
- Volume. Appointment requests outnumber openings available. Pet professionals are busy, and the sheer volume of work can result in long hours and skipped meals.
- Abuse. The third category is one we often tend to be silent about. It is about abuse, harassment, intimidation, bullying, belittling and threats. Work is not all playful kittens and puppy kisses. It can be snide remarks from a co-worker about your incompetence, intimidation from a client accusing you of only wanting the money and not caring about the pet, threats about being fired if you don’t move faster or jump higher, or harassment from those difficult personalities.
At this point, you may think that stress simply comes with the territory. However, while it may be true that the practice will likely continue to operate with volume, velocity and abuse, it is not true that its team members can’t be helped in dealing with the stress.
- Implement organizational changes to reduce employee stress. Clearly define roles (job descriptions) and responsibilities (SOPs). Create a quiet area for meals and breaks and schedule them so they aren’t missed.
- Ensure that mental health services are part of the organization’s health benefits and encourage the team to utilize the services.
- Provide education and training on dealing with stress. Use resource materials from the insurance provider at monthly meetings to discuss stress and other mental health concerns.
- Consider having an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAPs offer intervention programs to assist employees in resolving problems by offering services for counseling, substance abuse, stress, grief, family problems, crisis intervention, workplace coaching and basic legal assistance. EAPs are voluntary and confidential.
The goal of your programs and plans is to improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of the individual. But how do you reach an individual needing assistance? First, you may need to change the company culture…
- Always focusing on what is wrong.
- Criticizing or punishing people for taking time off.
- Giving negative feedback instead of praise or positive feedback.
- High turnover of team members.
- High absenteeism.
- Low productivity.
- Abusive management or leaders.
- Lack of leadership or an overly dominating leader.
If you check any of these off, you may have a toxic culture. Instead, you want to have a culture that emphasizes productivity and connectedness. A connected culture has a shared identity and an understanding of the vision. A connected culture values everyone on the team and provides the opportunity to voice ideas and opinions.1
Factors that are part of a connected culture are:
- Celebrating core values.
- Understanding priorities.
- Understanding the vision and being inspired to achieve goals.
- Everyone knows where they are going and how they are getting there.
- Non-leaders are encouraged to grow and thrive.
- Team members are in the right seat on the bus.
- People are challenged to enhance their skills and knowledge.
- Team is supportive of each other.
- Constructive feedback is given.
- It is psychologically safe to share ideas, give opinions, and even disagree.
Creating this cultural shift can seem daunting; after all, change is a stressor. An easy starting point is showing you care by simply asking. However, do not ask, “What’s wrong with you?” and then tick off a list of advice for the individual. It is equally harmful to ask, “Are you depressed?” because you are venturing into disability claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Instead, focus on behaviors and performance.
Consider stating, “I notice you don’t seem like yourself,” or “I am concerned about you.” When talking about performance issues, you can say, “You are usually very thorough, but now you are missing things. Is there something going on that we can support you with?” This sounds much better than, “Man, what’s wrong with you? You need to get your act together.”
Once you ask though, you need to take action. Do not ignore issues. This is the time to point out resources like health insurance coverage, the EAP, or even short-term disability benefits. The business needs a culture that encourages team members to recognize distressed co-workers and respond accordingly.
A business can no longer demand that employees leave their problems at the door when they come to work. The business needs to have a strategic plan to address its team members’ mental and emotional wellbeing to allow individuals to reach their full potential, cope with stressors, be productive, and deliver high-quality client service and pet care.
- Stallard, M.L., Stallard, K. (2014, Jan). Combating Workplace Stress. SHRM.
- Ray, A. (2011, Dec). To Promote Wellness, Help Employees Reduce Workplace Stress. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/Pages/ReduceStress.aspx
- Owens, D. (2014, Mar). Dr. David Posen’s Prescription for Work Stress. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0314-workplace-stress.aspx
