The Coping Crisis Discovering why coping skills are required for health and financial results

Transcription

1 The Coping Crisis Discovering why coping skills are required for health and financial results By Dr. Bill Howatt, Chief of Research and Development, Workforce Productivity Morneau Shepell 1

2 Greetings from Dr. Bill 25+ Years of experience Author: Certified Management Essentials (CME) 10-course program Pathway to Coping Skills: 9-week interactive program Regular contributor to The Globe and Mail s 9 to 5 and Leadership Lab Business Career Columns Author: The Coping Crisis Chief Research & Development Officer, WorkforceProductivity Dr. Bill Howatt 2

3 The Coping Crisis Today s discussion will include: Impact of stress on mental heath Why coping skills matter Reference: The Conference Board of Canada, September 30, Agenda 3

4 The numbers of employees reporting mental health and chronic disease on the surface continue to grows What you may not know is how deep this problem is and its root causes. Employees Reporting 4

5 The challenge for leaders 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime. One of the root problems of mental health issues is the fact that those with an illness are not disclosing their issue. 1/3 get treatment. Challenge for Leaders 5

6 Stress is not all bad It is when it moves from eustress to distress Peak performance Distress, resulting in hypoarousal Performance Distress, resulting in hyperarousal Depression Eustress Anxiety Stress severity and duration scale Stress not all bad 6

7 Daily stress load defines risk for mental illness driven by psychosocial stress 100 maximum tolerance 0 to low stress High Risk Frequency Duration Intensity (FDI) Low Risk Distress FDI can prediction Mental Health Risk Consequence and impact on home and work are evident Experience symptoms of stress physically and/or mentally Intense bursts of feeling overwhelmed Worry more about failing or experience stressful thinking Challenged Motivated Eustress can support life fulfillment and happiness Daily Stress Load 7

8 Five daily challenges that influence your total health Imagine you only had ten brain units. Health Self Health Self On average how many brain units do you spend focused on each of these five areas? Relationships Relationships Career Career Money Money Daily Stress Load 8

9 Stress, if left unchecked or not dealt with over time, can result in disease Stress Disease Burnout Crisis state Base Line Health Functioning state At each level it is common for a person to have a different abilities to cope with stress. Duration Stress Unchecked 9

10 Stress trapped: Resiliency is ultimately the ability to see the light and take action No hope Low energy Stuck No way out Rescue me 1 2 Light at the end Dig my way out A journey One step at a time Stress Trapped 10

11 What percentage of your workforce falls in each of the below five buckets? % % % % % Happy OK Stressed Mental Health Issues Mental Disorder (Organic/Cognitive) Risk 60% of employees are at risk for mental wellness challenges Five Buckets 11

12 Early signs that coping skills are being challenged through stress Common effects of stress on your body Headache Muscle tension or pain Chest pain Fatigue Change in sex drive Stomach upset Sleep problems Common effects of stress on your mood Anxiety Restlessness Lack of motivation or focus Feeling overwhelmed Irritability or anger Sadness or depression Common effects of stress on your behaviour Overeating or undereating Angry outbursts Drug or alcohol abuse Tobacco use Social withdrawal Exercising less often Early Signs 12

13 Exploring how to curb the slippery slope from health to mental illness Healthy state Coping challenges Mental health risk Mental illness Slippery Slope 13

14 To cope right we need to be thinking right Coping Right 14

15 Why assumptions can be misleading $1.10 $1.00??? Assumptions 15

16 Confirmation bias The tendency to seek out information that supports our pre-existing beliefs. Confirmation Bias 16

17 18 examples of cognitive bias 1. Decoy effect 2. Affect heuristic 3. Information bias 4. Ideometer effect 5. Confirmation bias 6. Conservatism bias 7. Ostrich effect 8. Placebo effect 9. Halo effect 10. Horn effect 11. Planning fallacy 12. Bandwagon effect 13. Blind spot bias 14. Gambler s fallacy 15. Post-purchase rationalization 16. Status quo bias 17. Projection bias 18. Anchoring effect Cognitive Bias 17

18 Coping skills Coping skills are the tools one has on demand at their disposal to manage the challenges, regardless of the source of stress. Internal stress they put on themselves External stress originates from their environment How effectively such stressful demands are dealt with ultimately depends on the person s skills to cope with relationships, life and work. Coping Skills 18

19 A large percentage of the population has never been formally taught coping skills How did you learn coping skills? Coping skills support: problem solving decision making how to manage life stress What is the impact when a person has gaps in their ability to cope? Source: The True Picture of Workplace Absence, Morneau Shepell 2015 Coping Skills Not Taught 19

20 How coping skills can help in predicting outcomes Perceived Stress Load Health Coping skills Engagement Productivity Environmental and Internal LEADING INDICATOR LAGGING INDICATOR Predicting Outcomes 20

21 What is your current resiliency coping charge? Resiliency Stress Size = coping capacity Resiliency Coping Charge 21

22 Take the first step to greater coping skills The Coping Crisis and psychosocial factors How many Sams are out there today who are not aware of how their micro decisions and choices are shaping their health? Information does not equal results. What's one key to losing weight? What percentage of people struggling with their weight know this success formula key? What is one potential roadblock? The First Step 22

23 The case of Sam Sam is struggling to cope with job stress in his current role and work demands. He thinks he is trapped with no options. He drastically increased his body fat. At age 39 he was put on hypertension medication. At age 43 he was put on medication for clinical depression. A G E He developed the habit of over-eating at night to feel better (e.g., chips, ice cream, pop, and fast foods). His lifestyle choice after work was dominated by watching TV at night and snacking. He has no structured pro-health habit (e.g., exercise, hobbies or outlets). This unhealthy coping between age 34 and 39 put 60 pounds on his 5 8 body frame over a period of 30 months. At 42 he became a Type 1 diabetic (late onset). The Case of Sam 23

24 Understanding Sam s ERC pathway Internal & external stimuli Mental Experience Beliefs Expectations Values Environment E R C Emotions Pleasure Pain Resources Coping skills Decisions skills Healthy coping choices Unhealthy coping choices Interpretation Process Action Sam s ERC Pathway 24

25 Current coping crisis risk continuum: Where Sam started his journey to creating At-risk coping Avoidancecoping Processcoping Effective coping Creating reality A person s sole purpose is to move away from pain A person makes no choices to avoid anxiety and instead may provoke people, places and things as a strategy Process a person goes through to cope Healthy coping that enables a person to react to life in a healthy and safe manner The ultimate coping style the person is not focusing on coping with life but creating it Risk Continuum 25

26 Nine developmental coping micro skills 1 Locus of Control 2 Self-efficacy 3 Cognitive behavioural insights 4 Emotional intelligence 5 A-B-C insights 6 Resiliency 7 Grit 8 Psychological hardiness 9 Decision making & problem solving Coping Micro Skills 26

27 Internal Taking charge: Locus of control I control my destiny They control my destiny External Locus of control Environment controls me The desired outcome: I affect/control what happens to me. Learning how to take charge of what is within your control Locus of Control 27

28 Leadership micro-skill By Dr. BillHowatt Sustainability Coping Micro Skills for Employees Such as: How to clean out your negative thoughts Learn to calm your stressed mind with visualization How to boost your confidence at work with good thoughts Micro Skills for Employees 28

29 Leadership micro-skill By Dr. BillHowatt Micro Skills for Leaders Such as: How to foster a coaching culture at your workplace Do you have patience, or are you stressing out your staff? How to reduce the stigma of mental health issues at work Micro Skills for Leaders 29

30 Different triggers that indicate when coping skills training can be helpful Attendance issues Performance managing intrapersonal skills THI Coping skills score less than 65% WCB (e.g. PTSD, chronic pain) STD/LTD (e.g. mental health Discipline issues around self management (e.g. anger, acting out when under pressure Self evaluation of need and motivated to develop intrapersonal skills (coping skills is a cognitive based developmental skill) Triggers 30

31 Coping skills: The ROI/VOI impact Improved discretionary effort Decrease in preseenteeism Faster return to work Increase return to work experience and coping Improved productivity (e.g. problem solving) Improved employee coping skills Improved mental health Improved job readiness Lower risk for accidents Improved organizational ROI ROI/VOI Impact 31

32 Pathway to Coping online course Benefits of the course to employers: Provides a supportive social environment encouraging employees to seek help Creates an engaged workforce that is motivated to succeed Reduces absenteeism and turnover rates Builds positive employee/employer relationships where employees want to come to work Enhances both the psychological and physical health of your employees, which will lead to higher employee job satisfaction and increased productivity Benefits of the course to individuals: Develop new, more adaptive ways of coping Find peace Get ahead personally and professionally Improve relationships Online Course 32

33 Optimal resiliency requires daily focus; there are no shortcuts Resiliency Stress Size = coping capacity Optimal Resiliency 33

34 You ve worked hard to build a healthy workplace. Leadership Get recognized for it! micro-skill By Dr. BillHowatt Created by Morneau Shepell and The Globe and Mail Gives organizations a unique perspective on the total health of their workplace: physical, mental, work and life and their impact on engagement and productivity When you participate, you will receive: Survey for your employees: each employee receives an individual report An aggregated report for your organization Actionable insights into improving the total health of your employees Opportunity to win an Employee Recommended Workplace Award To pre-register for 2018, visit Employee Recommended Workplace Award 34

35 Thank you, and please let us know if we can help Dr. Bill Howatt Chief Research & Development Officer, Workforce Productivity 35