Workplace Resiliency: Developing a Personal Resiliency Plan

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Workplace Resiliency Developing a Personal
Resiliency Plan

• Presented by
• Randi C. Wood, LCSW, CEAP
• Colorado State Employee Assistance Program
• randi.wood_at_state.co.us
• 1-800-821-8154 or 303-866-4314

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The New Workplace Normal
Change is constant Turbulence is normal. Work
is relentless Life is precious.

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Consequences Of the New Workplace Normal

• Information overload
• Blurred work/life boundaries
• Time indigestion
• Adjustment to intrusion
• Globalization
• Decreased safety
• Non-personal connecting

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More Consequences of the New Workplace Normal

• Diminished support to meet personal/family
  commitments
• Do more with less at work
• Less time and attention is given to self care
• Lack of control
• Less social affiliation
• No down time
• Be innovative!
• Changing work conditions

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Results of the New Normal

• Low morale
• More errors/accidents
• Lowered productivity
• Turnover
• Presenteeism- employees who are physically at
  work, but not fully productive
• Burnout / deadwood
• Workplace conflict
• Gossiping/bickering

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Why Be Concerned About Personal Resiliency?

• National Study of the Changing Workforce (2003)
• Combined work hours of dual-career couples with
  children is 91 hrs. (80 in 1997)
• Men report high levels of interference between
  job and family
• 60 do not have enough time to finish everything
  that needs to be done.
• 36 report feeling used up at the end of the day
• 31 brought home work more than once a week
• 37 didnt have time for family or others
• 26 werent in a good mood at home because of
  jobs

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Resiliency

• The process of adapting well in the face of
  adversity trauma, tragedy, threats, serious
  health problems, relationship problems, financial
  problems, and workplace stressors.

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Resiliency

• Those psychological and biological strengths
  required to successfully master change.
• Source Resilience by Frederic Flach,M.D.

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Resiliency

• The ability to bounce back from adversity
• It is ordinary, not extraordinary, more common
  than not
• It isnt the absence of difficulty or stress
• It often involves considerable emotional stress
• It is going through, not around stressors

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Resilience Lessons from Nature

• Living things need to grow
• Living and growth require an ecologically
  balanced environment
• When ecological balance is disturbed, plants and
  marine life begin to die.
• Life and growth resume once balance is restored
• For human beings, action is required to change
  behavior and restore balance

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Resiliency

• Partly inborn ( biologically influenced)
• Temperament
• Anxiety level
• Energy level
• Tendency toward optimism or pessimism
• Other influences/family
• How we were taught to cope
• Trust in the world
• Confidence in self

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Situations Which Interrupt Balance and Test
Resiliency

• Life threatening trauma
• Everyday slings and arrows

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When I am out of balance, what happened to my?

• Attitude
• Creativity
• Interactions with people
• Effectiveness in my personal life
• Effectiveness in my work
• Leadership skills

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Resiliency

• Resiliency is learned behavior. It is
  behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be
  developed by anyone.

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Resiliency terms

• Reaction- A reflex that happens without any
  conscious thought or feeling of choice
• Response-Indicates that your actions after a
  threat or setback are guided by conscious choices
• Expectancy- highly resilient individuals expect
  to bounce back

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Psychological Resiliency

• Attitude-optimistic outlook on life
• Know how to manage stress
• Saying no
• Unwinding
• Enjoy life by making the intentional choice to
  participate in it.
• Dan
  Johnston
• 
  Lessons for Living

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How do I Change?How Do I Become More Resilient?

• By changing your views and habits by modifying
  your thoughts and actions.
• Are you ready to make some changes?

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Characteristics of the Resilient Employee

• A belief in continuous learning
• Personal and professional network
• Flexible
• Knows and expresses feelings
• Healthy dependence on others
• Emotional intelligence
• Creativity
• Manages stress effectively
• Uses resources
• Feels control over environment and feels
  supported by the work environment

• Handles change well
• Coping skills
• Learned optimism
• Thrives under pressure
• Bounces back from setbacks
• Internal locus of control
• High tolerance for pain, uncertainty, and
  ambiguity
• Personal insight
• Independent spirit
• Ability to depend on others
• Feels work contributes to organizational success

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Building Personal Resiliency Topics

• Hope and Resiliency
• Locus of Control
• Reframing Self-defeating Behaviors
• Handling Anger
• Time Management Setting Priorities
• Managing Personal Stressors
• Learning from Your Past

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Building Personal Resiliency Topics

• Strengthening Your Inner Self
• Holding up Under Pressure
• How to Maintain Good Energy
• Developing a Personal Resiliency Plan and
  Supporting Organizational Resiliency

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How Resilient Are You?Quiz
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Hope and Resiliency

• Hope is the counterbalance to despair
• For most of us, hope is about the future
• The anticipation of a continued good state,
  an improved state or release from entrapment or
  suffering.
• For some of us, hope is about the present
• The enduring feeling that life makes sense
• The belief in something greater than self
• 
  Thanks to P. Chard

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The Importance of Hope

• Hope is the sustenance for the soul
• When it weakens, the body often follows
• The will to live may dissipate
• Emotional resilience erodes
• Hope is an active, powerful process that lifts us
  out of despairBut how?
• Thanks
  to P. Chard

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Future or Present Hope

• Future
• Focused on what
• might be
• Cognitive
• A gamble
• About having/doing
• Based on desires,
• fantasies, needs, guesses

• Present
• Focused on what is now
• Experiential
• Sure thing
• About being
• Based on a unifying philosophy and sense of
  meaning
• Thanks to P. Chard

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Liabilities of Future Hope

• Future Hope takes us away from living in the
  present
• Future Hope helps us endure only when the outcome
  is what we wish for
• The loss of Future Hope creates despair
• What can be done when Future Hope leaves?
• Present Hope helps us endure and fully live no
  matter what the outcome.
• 
  Thanks to P. Chard

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Questions

• Do you have a unifying philosophy or belief
  system about existence?
• How does this philosophy help you cope when you
  are wounded or suffering?
• Can you immerse yourself in the present as a way
  of coping?
• If so, how do you accomplish this?
• 
  Thanks to P. Chard

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What Works?

• Coping strategies when hope diminishes
• Immersion in the now (absorption)
• Prayer or spiritual practice
  (transcendence)
• Talking with others (belonging)
• Task completion (empowerment)

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How Others Support Hope

• Visiting (being present)
• Listening and talking (genuine contact)
• Physical comfort or help (touching)
• Cheering up (laughter)
• Accepting as is (affirmation and compassion)
• Telephone calls, cards (being remembered)
• Thanks
  to P.Chard

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Sources of Self Healing

• Expression-art, music, dance, photography
• Nature-walks, gardening, quests
• Each other-friends, family (sometimes)
• Forgiveness-atonement, ritual
• Good enough-getting off your hook
• Laughter-the genuine kind
• Here and now-always available
• Being-rather than just doing or having
• Spirit-connecting with what is greater

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Locus of Control

• Locus of Control is the perceived source of
  control over our behavior
• People with Internal locus of control believe
  that they control their destiny
• People with an External locus of control believe
  that their lives are determined mainly by sources
  outside themselves.
• Locus of control influences the way you view
  yourself and your opportunities

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Do you control your destiny or is it controlled
by others or fate?
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Locus of Control Attributions

• Attributions-How people explain events that
  happen to themselves and others
• Internal attributions about themselves when they
  succeed (I did it myself)
• Internal attributions about others when they fail
  (it was their fault)
• External attributions about themselves when they
  fail (something made them fail)
• External attributions about others when they
  succeed (they got lucky)

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Reframing Self-Defeating Behaviors
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What is Reframing?

• A shift in thinking that helps you avoid being
  stuck in self-limiting and negative beliefs (Im
  not smart enough, so whats the point?)
• Self-limiting beliefs keep you from acting and
  getting what you want (If theres no point, why
  bother?)
• Prior experiences-beliefs and expectations- shape
  current behavior (Ive never been smart enough
  why would today be different than any other
  day?)
• Empowering beliefs are thoughts and statements
  that expand your capacity to deal with change,
  challenge, and opportunity (I think Ill take
  that evening class and learn how to do this
  better.)

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What You Can and Cant Control

• Factors you cant control Factors you
  can control
• I cant control.. I can
  control..

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Assessing Your Control

• Areas of control
  Areas of no control
• Take Action Mastering
  Spinning wheels
• No action Giving up
  Letting go

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Strategies for Effectiveness

• Ineffective Strategies Moving to
  Effectiveness
• Describe ways you are How could you
• putting energy into let these
  things go?
• things you cannot control
• Describe ways you are not What actions can
  you take?
• taking action on things you
• can control

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Handling Anger
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The Nature of Anger

• Normal, usually healthy, human emotion
• Caused by external and internal events
• Physiological and biological changes
• Can be specific or generalized
• Can be triggered by current or past events
• Can turn destructive

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Strategies for Handling Anger

• Relaxation
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Problem Solving
• Better Communication
• Using Humor
• Changing Your Environment
• Counseling
• Assertiveness Training

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Time Management

• Time management is a great American misnomer.
  As human beings, we do not, by any stretch of the
  imagination, have any hope of managing time.
• Time management, then, is ultimately reduced to
  two questions 1) How do we decide our
  priorities, and 2) How do we organize our actions
  effectively in accordance with those priorities?

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Personal Stress
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Facts on Stress

• Nearly half of all American workers suffer from
  symptoms of burnout, a disabling reaction to
  stress
• 60 of employee absences are due to psychological
  problems such as stress
• 60-80 of industrial accidents are due to stress
• Stress is said to be responsible for more than
  half of the 550 million workdays lost annually
  because of absenteeism
• 40 of work turnover is due to job stress
• 75-90 of visits to P.C.s are due to
  stress-related problems

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Formal Definition of Stress

• Stress is the perception of a threat to ones
  physical or psychological well-being and the
  perception that one is unable to cope with that
  threat.
• Components
• Stressor-environmental, vocational, financial,
  interpersonal, physical, psychological
• Stress reaction-immediate or ongoing/cumulative
• Stress coping-How do you respond to the stressor
  and how do you respond to your stress reaction?
• Too much or too little stress is not good.
• Why?

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Stress Management Tools

• Relaxation Practices (Diaphragmatic Breathing,
  Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Meditation,
  Imaging/Visualization, Quiet Activities)
• Nutrition/Exercise
• Sleep
• Medical Care and Medicine
• Psychological Approaches
• Family and Social Connections
• Problem Solving Models

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Current Status and Priorities

• Relaxation
• Current
• Desired Change
• Social/Familial/Relationships
• Current
• Desired Change
• Sleep
• Current
• Desired Change
• Nutrition
• Current
• Desired Change

Physical Activity Current Desired
Change Problem Solving Current Desired
Change Psychological State Current Desired
Change
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Learning From Your Past

• Past experiences and sources of personal strength
  can help you learn about what strategies for
  building resilience might work for you.

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Strengthening Your Inner Self

• Many people are too vulnerable to the comments
  and opinions of others
• Sometimes people with low self esteem attempt to
  make themselves feel good by making others feel
  badly about themselves
• People need buffers against hostile and hurtful
  remarks

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Holding Up Under Pressure

• To remain healthy and handle increasing pressures
  and constant change, you must act with
  enlightened self-interest.
• You must have an action plan for self care.
• Your situation is not responsible for your
  well-being, it is your reaction to your situation
  that counts.
• Avoid drifting into a victim pattern where you
  feel helpless and hopeless.

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How To Maintain Good Energy

• Take good care of your body
• Control what you put into your mind
• Review the days nice happenings
• Daydream about what you would like
• Laugh and play more
• Develop friendships
• Do something!

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Develop a Personal Resiliency Plan and Support
Organizational Resiliency
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Ten Ways to Build Resilience

• Make connections
• Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems
• Accept that change is part of living
• Move toward your goals
• Take decisive actions

• Keep things in perspective
• Maintain a hopeful outlook
• Take care of yourself
• Look for opportunities for self-discovery
• Nurture a positive view of yourself
• The Road to Resilience
• APA

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Where to Go For Help

• Friends and family
• Self-help and support groups
• Books and other publications
• Online resources (www.helping.apa.org)
• Licensed mental health professional
• Colorado State Employee Assistance Program
  (C-SEAP) 1-800-821-8154 or 303-866-4314