sence, regardless of what the situation is? People really need to look
at their employee assistance programs (EAPs), and to expand that
further as far as looking at coping and health and wellness programs,
or devoting a certain number of dollars that can be accessed
for a fitness club membership or yoga classes.”
Ultimately, in Earle’s opinion, “There are only three ways to deal
with a low-ROI situation. Number one, leave it. Number two is
to change it. Small fine-tunings, not from HR or top managers,
but from the workers themselves, can adjust the ROI. There’s so
much you can do with a feedback loop from the people who actually
know the job. In most companies, hardly any roll-up happens
from the people who know the job.”
He offers the example of one of his client companies, where he
asked a group of customer service representatives for ways to increase
their work satisfaction, and in particular to address the common
problem of lower back pain. The company implemented a suggestion
from the team: replacing their eight-foot telephone cords
with 15-foot cords. “Six months later, their disability days for lower
back pain were down by 52 per cent.”
The third approach is to learn how to live with the status quo.
“WORKPLACE STRESS IS
THE HARMFUL PHYSICAL
AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
THAT OCCURS WHEN THERE
IS A POOR MATCH BETWEEN
JOB DEMANDS AND THE
CAPABILITIES, RESOURCES
OR NEEDS OF THE WORKER.”
– Jennifer Lee, Project Manager, Work With Us
Among the various resources available through the Canadian Institute
of Stress is instruction in raising personal satisfaction levels.
MAKING CHANGES
“It’s necessary to look for some win-win solutions that the people
who write the cheques can get behind,” said Earle. “You’ve got to
demonstrate that it’s a saving for the company.”
In the climate of the new Canadian Standard for Psychological
Health and Safety in the Workplace, making the case for investing
in stress reduction has never been more pressing.
“One of the things that HR professionals need to appreciate is
the legal climate in which the Standard emerged. Employers are really
in the crosshairs of about seven different branches of law where
they can be hit with liability for mental injury. HR folks have a
responsibility to be aware of this themselves and also to be talking
it up to senior management,” said Shain.
“People come into the workplace with problems, but what we’re interested
in is what the workplace does to detract from mental health,”
he continued. “This is basically a whole new horizon of risk.” n
Photo by Comstock Images/Photos.com
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36 ❚ JANUARY 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
