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stress

Jun 28

Hundreds of Hoosiers participate in free wellness program designed to combat stress, trauma, PTSD and burnout

By Feature

Eskenazi Health and Center for Mind Body Medicine training provides attendees with tools for healing in the midst of pandemic

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

As experts seek to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health, about 1,500 Hoosiers have recently enrolled in evidence-based training to proactively equip themselves with self-care tools, including meditation, guided imagery and biofeedback under Eskenazi Health’s Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative.

The free statewide initiative, which is sponsored by Eskenazi Health, in partnership with the Center for Mind Body Medicine, comes at a time when people are increasingly acknowledging the need for managing stress and trauma, said Megan Hider, Mind-Body Program supervisor at Eskenazi Health.

“I do think the conversation has really changed, in a good way, about how we think about stress, and our emotional health, spiritual health and how we physically function,” Hider said. “Wellness and mindfulness have become more mainstream throughout society. We’ve all been dealing with trauma and secondary trauma. We need to chip away at the stigma of trauma, whether it’s everyday trauma or a natural disaster, or whatever we experience.”

As part of the program, which was partially funded by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, individuals participate in small groups of 8 to 10 people led by a facilitator who has gone through a two-part training program. The participants are asked to commit to a series of 2-hour weekly sessions during an 8-week period. As part of the training, participants learn numerous self-care skills that have been scientifically proven to lower levels of stress, improve mood, enhance resiliency and optimism, and help prevent chronic health conditions.

Hider said that the free training, which is open to any Indiana resident, can better equip first responders and other employees who are in a position of helping others. By learning the self-care techniques themselves, they can manage the stressors in their own lives so that they can better focus on helping others in challenging situations. “With everything we’ve been going through in the past year, it came at a perfect time,” she said.

The benefits of the training were quickly evident, said Christy Gauss, MSW, LSW, owner of SCP Consultants and a former school mental health facilitator for the Indiana School Mental Health Initiative. Gauss, who underwent intensive training to become a licensed group facilitator under the Mind Body program, said it was a powerful experience.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went into it,” Gauss recalled. “You learn the science and skills of self-care in an environment where you have peer-to-peer support. It’s all about you and what it means in your own life before you start learning how to teach everyone else.”

Gauss said that type of firsthand learning is essential for those who support others, including first-responders, teachers and nonprofit employees. The potential for burnout can be significant for these groups, she added.

“You have to learn how stress is impacting you first,” she said. “You need to put on your own oxygen first, which we can be very bad at.”

Hider said the training can be very empowering for the attendees, who are able to devote an uninterrupted span of time to focus on themselves during each session. “It gives you space to become self-aware of your feelings, emotions and body sensations,” she said. “You’re able to learn about the physiology of the body and what happens when you’re stressed and when you’re calm.

“You are given the ability to heal yourself in a unique way that doesn’t happen in other spaces,” Hider added. “If we want to show up to places of service and places of community, we must be advocates for ourselves.”

For more information about the Eskenazi Health Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative or to sign up for a session, visit the program’s site here.

Jan 27

5 methods for improving employee work-life balance

By Sponsor Insight

By Barry Newman, senior human resources representative, Synergy

It might be obvious that severely overworked employees will burn out, but what about the harder-to-spot cases of employees who shoulder a little bit too much stress each day?

Improving work-life balance for your employees has been proven to create a more loyal and more productive workforce. While change can’t happen overnight, there are several methods for encouraging a healthier balance and preventing employee burn out.

Retire the nine-to-five mentality

As long as your industry and work product allow for it, try to provide more tailored scheduling for your workforce. This can make a huge impact, since 89% of surveyed professionals stated the number one thing that would improve their work-life balance would be flexible working hours. Look at each position and consider: why must this here employee be here for these exact hours? In many cases there will be certain meetings that need attending, but outside of that, allowing employees to come in early so they can finish their workday early or shift hours in another way can provide a huge boost to morale.

Offer remote working options

Today’s world is a digital one. Just as with business hours that are more flexible than ever, so too is the location from which employees work. Once again, look at each position and ask: ‘Why click does this employee have to physically be here every single day?’ If all they need is an Internet connection and computer to complete the majority of their job, there should be the potential to allow them to work remotely at least one day per month. In fact, the most engaged workers are those working remotely about 60% of the time, indicating a healthy work-life balance is critical to business success. Best yet, offering remote working options can be a great way to increase attractive benefits without adding any cost.

Tweak the office environment

People are products of their environments. Sterile, fluorescent office interiors are no longer in vogue. Employees desire to walk into a warmer workplace, one that is more vibrant and comfortable. While complete overhauls and construction from scratch can cost thousands, even small tweaks to your environment make a big difference. After all, employees spend a great deal of time at work. Think about the minor but impactful changes you can make, such as adding a new couch and TV to the breakroom, providing an unlimited supply of energy drinks and snacks, or putting a picnic table outside during the summer months.

Promote physical and mental health

An employer looking to improve their organization’s work-life balance must also consider physical and mental health, as psychological and physical problems stemming from burned-out employees cost between $125 and $190 billion per year in healthcare in the U.S.

Encourage employees to be active by enacting a step-counting contest or offering a discounted membership to a local gym. Bring in an exercise instructor once per week or month and have a yoga or other class outside at lunch or after work. Grant employees up to a $20 reimbursement for the purchase of well-being apps that can help them meditate or deal with stress in positive ways. Whatever the form it takes, promoting physical and mental health is an essential duty as an employer.

Adopt paid sick leave

Laws requiring paid sick leave are spreading, but even if it’s not a law in your area currently, it’s something that can go a long way to improving employee work-life balance. Many professionals force themselves to come into work when sick simply because they don’t want to take PTO that they’ve planned to use for their vacation or for an activity with loved ones. This is a dangerous trend since that employee who won’t likely match their normal work rate anyway can get co-workers sick. Build a sick leave policy into the employee handbook and benefits package so employees aren’t put in that situation. They will get healthy faster and appreciate their employer more.

5 ways to improve employee work-life balance

Improving employee work-life balance is more than just offering ample vacation time. While discretion will vary depending on the type and size of your organization, boosting employee morale is the duty of all managers, HR employees, and senior staff. Working together to determine what works best for your employees and implementing those strategies is the key to turning your employee experience from a seesaw to a balance beam.

Provide a boost to your HR and make your employees happier.

Barry Newman is a human-resources professional with nearly 50 years of experience in all facets of HR in a variety of industries. For the last 25 of which have been with The Synergy Companies, a leading Professional Employer Organization providing Midwest-based clients with outsourced human resources management, payroll and benefits.

Reach out to Synergy today.

Oct 27

“Doing more with less” often means burnout for nonprofit staff

By Sponsor Insight

By Stefanie Krievins, coach and founder, Radiancy Coaching Partners |

Nonprofit employees are a mission-driven bunch and sometimes help until it hurts, often doing this work at the expense of our families, health and mental wellbeing.

In a 2011 study, Opportunity Knocks, a national nonprofit job and career services group, found that over 50 percent of the nonprofit employees they surveyed were burned out or were in danger of becoming burned out. In part, the survey found that when an individual leaves a nonprofit, the organization often redistributes the duties.

As positions are eliminated or people leave, according to this study, the nonprofit sector is extremely unlikely to refill those positions, even with temporary help or consultants. We simply spread the work out among the existing employees. The cliché, “Do more with less” is a truism in our work.

Burnout is most often related to how organizations are staffed. The marketing manager is a one-person department in charge of social media, print material, public relations, appeals, volunteer projects, working with the Board’s marketing committee, website technology, planning special events, and marketing for new clients, volunteers, and donors. This is done in the name of those the mission serves. In other sectors, this would be at least four people’s jobs (minus the volunteer management, of course).

It’s time that these practices stop.

We need (and deserve) a resource to avoid burnout, to teach those of us serving the hungry, homeless, refugees and abandoned children how to also take care of ourselves. As the studies show, and we’ve experienced, we can’t be great professionals and continue to serve otherwise.

Radiancy Coaching Partners is that resource. Coaching and group workshops are available for nonprofit staff, boards and volunteers. These services can help with advancing the mission through one-on-one consultations, team trainings, and retreats:

  • Managing time and productivity: saying “No” more often and “Yes” to the right things that advance the plan
  • Understanding communication and work styles individually and as a team
  • Training staff to implement strategic plans
  • Managing for accountability and follow thru
  • Reducing stress

An Indianapolis nonprofit program director and client shared the power of coaching. She said: “I’d always assumed that coaching was for high-powered executives, not regular people. Boy, was I wrong. I began working with Stefanie at a time when I was facing some daunting personal and professional challenges.

“I felt overwhelmed by the choices, and was becoming increasingly unhappy. She derailed my path of unhappiness, helping me to stop and look at things in a new way. I came away from the experience feeling more relaxed and much more flexible about my life. The challenges didn’t go away. It’s just that I have more tools available to meet them.”

I faced this same burnout on more than one occasion in the 10+ years I worked for charities. This is how I found coaching and a new way to contribute to organizations’ missions. Radiancy Coaching Partners provides coaching and consulting exclusively for nonprofits. Learn more about how this resource can help you and your organization at radiancycoaching.com.

stefanie Stefanie Krievins is the founder, coach and trainer at Radiancy Coaching Partners. She has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from SPEA at Indiana University, completed credentialed coaching training from Erickson International, and has more than a decade of employment and volunteering in the charitable sector in Central and Southern Indiana and nationwide. She lives in a low-income neighborhood in Indianapolis as a way to stay connected to the causes she’s most passionate about: homelessness, food insecurity and helping each person get the resources he/she needs to be their best self.