DMEC's Boston Chapter hosted a terrific meeting on June 10th, 2009 at the Liberty Mutual Training Center in Weston, MA. The panel of speakers was led by Carol Harnett, who was joined by Tracie Foster, Dr. Edward Crouch and Dan Arkins.
This presentation was based upon the White Paper produced by the 2008 DMEC (Disability Management Employer Coalition) Think Tank. This is the second White Paper produced by DMEC and follows their successful "Workplace Warrior" project which dealt with best practices in the case of employees involved in military service.
The speakers discussed the perils of "extreme productivity" and the misconception that more work hours necessarily equals more productivity. The publication suggests that stress (caused by overwork) is a driver of reduced profitability, increased healthcare costs and reduced productivity. Clearly, this is not the result desired by an employer. But how do we fix the problem? Well, the presenters did not dare to suggest that they had all of the answers (although they seemed to have a lot of them), but rather stated that they were attempting to start the discussion which they hoped would continue into each employer's workplace.
As a basis for the discussion, the panel reviewed several real case studies of companies, both big and small, who had volunteered to participate in the Think Tank study. Some of the solutions were simple, as in the case of H-E-B Grocery who simply created a message from top management that encouraged employees to take advantage of existing benefits. The culture had become one where it was not expected that you would use all of your vacation days or take any personal time. Senior management was able to create a culture shift to a more healthy level of productivity and claims that they have improved their employee retention by at least 10%.
Plans adopted by other employers focused on increasing communication, such as the "daily huddle." The huddle is a brief, daily meeting designed to encourage communication between employees and typically with their manager. Tracie Foster explained that she decided to try this out with her own group and found it very successful. In Tracie's case, she and her staff have a 10 minute meeting every morning and each member speaks for 90 seconds, covering current roadblocks/hurdles, what other departments they are working with, and how they are benefiting the company. The idea here is the that employees feel engaged and also gain a fresh focus on how they impact the company. A more comprehensive communication model created by USAA was also outlined. USAA's "Personal Best" online tool helps guide employees by asking them to enter information about their own status and then provides them with the cadre of benefits offered by the company that can assist them. The tool also provides coaching resources to assist managers in dealing with their employees.
Lastly, the Think Tank explored the neuroscience of stress. Dr. Crouch outlined the medical reality that increased stress accelerates the loss of neurons in the brain and creates the downward spiral that leads to an actual reduction in productivity. Dr. Crouch talked about the healthy habits used to counter the effects of stress, such as exercise, which decreases depression and actually builds neurons, leading to "healthy, high productivity."
The "bottom line" conclusions were narrowed down to:
- The importance of the manager in modeling and encouraging adherence to corporate practices as well as fostering a healthy work environment
- Communication: Not just "what" is communicated but also "how" it is done can be crucial to employee satisfaction
- Resiliency: There will be ups and downs in employee stress levels, but giving them the tools to enable them to get back on their feet as soon as possible, is crucial.
If you don't think employee satisfaction is very important, just look at Sears' statistics. They found that for every 5% increase in employee satisfaction, their sales increased 1.5% and bottom line profit rose .5%. Apparently happy employees sell lots of appliances.
It was an interesting presentation and for more details, I encourage you to download the full White Paper.
Hope to see you at the DMEC Annual Conference in Portland, OR from July 19-22nd!
