Lorenz Clinic’s Post

Thoughtful Tuesday! 💡Have you ever wondered how effective PTO management can prevent burnout? In today’s fast-paced work environment, the importance of taking time off cannot be overstated. According to the American Psychological Association, taking regular breaks and vacation can help one relax, improve productivity, reduce stress and improve overall mental health. By effectively managing our PTOs (Paid Time Off) we strike a healthier work-life balance and potentially convert our “Monday Blues” into “Monday Bliss”?!?! 😅 We at Gartner are very grateful, where our well-being is prioritized though a supportive PTO policy and our leaders generously extend the required support to manage both work and life effectively. #EmployeeWellBeing #PTO #BurnOutPrevention #MentalHealth #WorkLifeBalance #Gartner

🌿 It's Wellness Wednesday, and today's topic hits close to home for many of us. The recent discussions surrounding return-to-office and school sick policies raise critical questions about our well-being in the workplace and beyond. 💼📚 As we navigate the transition back to in-person work and our children are back in school, it's essential to prioritize health and safety measures. One thing that's become apparent, especially with the rise of remote work, is the blurred line between work and personal time, particularly when it comes to sick days. It seems that there isn't really such a thing as a sick day when you work from home. You would have to be really sick to actually take the day off. If you have mild symptoms or just a slight head cold, most of us just power through and keep working. However, it should be said that if you aren't well enough to make it into the office, then you probably shouldn't be working from home either. It's important to listen to our bodies and take the time to rest during illness. 🛌💻 Flexible sick policies and adequate time off not only promote physical wellness but also contribute to a positive work environment and increased productivity. 🌟 Let's advocate for policies that support employee and student well-being, fostering a culture of care and understanding. 💪💬 What are your thoughts on this issue? How can we ensure a healthy balance between work, school, and wellness? #WellnessWednesday #ReturnToOffice #EmployeeWellBeing 🌱

None of us are new to sick days, but have you ever pulled a “sickie” just because you really didn’t want to work? If you haven’t, recent research suggests you may be in the minority! Happy, healthy employees should be a top priority for employers. Research consistently shows that employees are more engaged and productive when satisfied with their work-life balance. This serves as a reminder to keep sickness and absence policies up to date with appropriate training offered to all management for managing their team’s health and wellbeing. Please find our full portfolio of eLearning training here: NI – https://bit.ly/41LTHmP ROI – https://bit.ly/3yYkBvJ More from theHRDIRECTOR here: https://lnkd.in/dqE_A3ht #WorkplaceSickness #WorkplaceAbsence

The Next Workplace Wellness Epidemic: Financial Illiteracy? Employer role in workers’ money matters goes beyond offering a retirement plan https://lnkd.in/gfZj6VEN #wellness #wellbeing #selfcare #wellnessatwork #wellbeingatwork #corporatewellness #employeewellbeing

"Recognizing and Supporting Employees' Mental Health During the Holidays" As the holiday season approaches, it's crucial for employers to foster a workplace environment that prioritizes the mental well-being of employees. The holidays can bring joy, but for some, they may also intensify feelings of loneliness or stress. Recognizing signs of depression in employees during this time is a responsibility that extends beyond the professional realm. Employers play a pivotal role in creating a supportive atmosphere that values mental health. Identifying Signs of Depression: Changes in Behavior: Keep an eye on noticeable changes in behavior, such as increased isolation, withdrawal from social interactions, or a decline in work performance. Mood Shifts: Pay attention to shifts in mood, expressions of persistent sadness, or a lack of interest in activities that once brought joy. Physical Signs: Look for physical symptoms like changes in sleep patterns, fluctuations in weight, or a general lack of energy. Communication Patterns: Be attuned to alterations in communication styles, such as increased irritability, difficulty concentrating, or expressing feelings of hopelessness. Supportive Strategies for Employers: Open Dialogue: Encourage an open and stigma-free dialogue about mental health within the workplace. Let employees know that their well-being matters. Flexible Schedules: Offer flexibility during the holiday season, recognizing that personal matters may impact an employee's ability to adhere to a rigid schedule. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Promote and provide access to Employee Assistance Programs, offering counseling services and resources for mental health support. Training for Managers: Equip managers with the skills to identify signs of mental health challenges and create an environment where employees feel comfortable seeking assistance. Remote Work Options: Acknowledge the stressors that may come with holiday obligations and consider offering remote work options or flexible hours to accommodate personal needs. Encourage Time Off: Advocate for employees to take the time they need for self-care. Encourage the use of vacation days to decompress and recharge. Holiday Support Initiatives: Implement holiday-themed initiatives that promote a sense of camaraderie, such as virtual holiday parties, team-building activities, or gratitude-focused events. Remember, the well-being of employees extends beyond the workplace, and fostering a culture of empathy and support can contribute to a healthier and more productive work environment. This holiday season, let's prioritize the mental health of our teams and cultivate workplaces that truly care. #MentalHealthInWorkplace #HolidayWellness #EmployeeSupport

Do you have 'scheduling rules' and if so, how often do you update them? Basically, the guidelines you set to protect your time, energy and highest priorities. In our latest update from the Mom's Hierarchy of Needs, LLC post-pandemic research study, with over 3,700 parents mostly Moms (97%) participating, we've heard a lot about barriers to wellbeing. Including, how difficult self-care is, when your professional calendar is always full. Here are the key points from this week's update: 1. Self-care hasn't recovered post-pandemic As the world tries to move on from Covid, many remain stuck in a state of emergency. Between limited childcare, a tight economy, and lack of relief at home or in workplaces, 79% of Moms in our current survey wave cite doing "terribly" or "not as well as usual" at self-care. 2. Work schedules or expectations remain a barrier for many Almost 9% in our current survey wave, cite “not having enough time during the workday” as a barrier to self-care. Followed by just over 6% who are “worried about taking time off or being unavailable to their colleagues or managers during the workday.” 3. Rethink your scheduling rules Untangling your known obligations helps disrupt patterns of overload. It won’t always go according to your plan, but get intentional about what you want to happen and place the blocks on your calendar. For example, the maximum number of meetings you’re willing to have in a day. Or desired space in between meetings and days of the week you’d choose to have meetings. #workingmothers #workingparents #employeeexperience #employeewellbeing

Stay employed long enough and you’ll get your turn working in a dysfunctional team or organization. There’s plenty of books and articles about how such toxic workplaces affect employees - from negative mental health effects to stunting long-term career growth to warping one’s sense of what’s professional or normal in the workplace. These are all very real consequences of working in dysfunction, but the reality is many people have to stay in a dysfunctional org because, well, capitalism. Telling someone to just “get out asap” isn’t realistic for many people (in this economy?!). I’ve known people who have had to stick around for years in such environments for all sorts of reasons - financial, health benefits, WFH flexibility, childcare perks, etc. So what do you do if you find yourself in a dysfunctional workplace you can’t leave anytime soon? Without ignoring all the negatives, you can still work the system to your benefit. Some survival strategies for those in this situation: - Highly dyfunctional teams usually have high turnover, which can mean greater opportunity for you to get promoted or take on roles faster than you might have been able to in another org. - Keep track of all the great lessons on what NOT to do in your next job. - Also keep notes on the wild stories and gossip that happens in your workplace. These are great bits for parties or dates, and sharing these with others will help remind you that no, this is not normal. - Speaking of, make sure you daily tell yourself that This is Not Normal. Don’t fall victim to normalizing bad behaviors. - Keep tight boundaries. This is not the job to go above and beyond for. You should not be letting it cross into your personal time, taking calls on weekends, etc. Take all your PTO. - Therapy helps. - Find the things you do like about the job, and try to do more of that where possible. This could be anything - an actual project/task, talking with a specific coworker, the Cat Memes Slack channel, the lunch place downstairs, etc. Build in these moments of joy each day where you can. - Build breaks in your days. Block off time for a walk, listen to a podcast or music, call a friend, or go out for lunch. - Challenge the story you’re telling yourself about having to stay. Sometimes, you truly do. But I’ve heard friends say things like “I can’t leave until I take advantage of these fertility benefits, cause I'll never find that again” or “I’ll never get this salary elsewhere, so I’ve got to wait until my spouse gets a promotion.” Oftentimes those benefits and salary are not as unique as you think they are. It’s worth looking around just to confirm what’s out there. - If you do have to stay, remind yourself this isn’t forever. Whether you’re job searching or not, just know there is another, better job in your future. You’ll escape one day.

Feeling the post-holiday blues? Maybe there is an opportunity to reflect on them many benefits of taking a holiday - especially for leaders ... According to the American Psychological Association (APA), as quoted in Forbes (link below), holidays have been found to: * protect against burnout, * reduce stress, and * support cognitive health and social wellbeing. Studies carried out by the APA found that a majority of working adults reported increased energy (66%), increased productivity (58%), improved work quality (55%), and reduced stress (57%) after vacation/holiday. On the other hand, "over-work compromises productivity, creativity, and the ability to have the most impact. And burnout is a real risk". And if that isn't enough to get you back into the groove, it could be a good opportunity to plan/book your next holiday! https://lnkd.in/gjF2G9YX

This morning, I’ve been reading about the potential ending of the GP’s role in issuing Fitnotes. The medical certification for absence from work started in 1948 and changed to the Fitnote in 2010 and has always been carried by GP’s. Along the way there have been numerous discussions about how effective it was and or is and today seems to be similar to what’s gone in the past. I do think it’s time to seriously look at replacing the Fitnote as a good way to measure sickness absence. The original sicknote relied upon the expertise and labour of doctors but was in no way a scientific assessment of an individual’s capabilities relative to their usual work duties, which I think you could argue is still broadly the same today. GP’s were trained in occupational health, but I understand that this stopped some time ago. So, if GP’s aren’t going to issue Fitnotes or new version, who is? As well as the Fitnote,there is the Advisory Fitness for Work Report which are used by clinicians mainly in secondary care. It’s similar to the Fitnote but focussed more on patient-reported work-relevant difficulty, recommendations and goals, which can be more useful to an employer than the comments section in a Fitnote. If GP’s aren't going to issue Fitnotes, we will need large numbers of occupational nurses and doctors to make an assessment, but there is a problem as there aren’t enough people being trained in these roles and a sizable number who are nearing retirement age. Whatever takes Fitnotes place needs provide information to an employer on what has led their employee to becoming ill, and what support the employer can give employee to make sure that they can return to work successfully. I would propose that if Fitnotes are replaced, then a more holistic assessment is needed. At SOHAS we do use wellness action plans, an example of a mental health related version can be downloaded from  https://lnkd.in/egB3fsjh, which does provide an holistic approach to work and health issues. It won’t work on it’s own but it can give an accurate overview of the issues that have caused the employees ill health and give practical information to an employer.   Hopefully the speech will lead to a useful discussion on how a better system in place on sickness absence.  

Two fifths of UK employees call in sick with a physical illness when they are in fact experiencing poor mental health. However, could "unhappiness leave" be a straightforward solution to encourage honesty and self-care? A supermarket in China have allowed staff to take up to 10 ‘unhappy days’ a year on top of their annual leave and sick days. This initiative aims to honour the mental and emotional health of employees by dedicating days off for mental wellbeing. However, could employers be doing more to support employee's mental health through a better work life balance? What are your thoughts about these ‘duvet days’, ‘unhappiness days’ and ‘unhappy leaves’ that some companies have implemented to support employee's mental health? Let us know in the comments below. Read our blog to learn more about maintaining your mental health as an engineer: https://lnkd.in/dQaiqeAf #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness