Health
Move it, move it to beat winter blues
By Katheren Leitner
Winter – some people love it, others loathe it. One thing is for sure, if you found every reason not to exercise in the summer then winter is the perfect accomplice. As the days get darker, the wind colder and the rain more frequent, staying indoors becomes less of an option and more of a necessity. Most of us tend to shut down and conserve energy, which is fine if it were not for the fact that life continues to throw demands, challenges and obstacles regardless of season.
You have heard the term winter blues, it is for very good reason. Exercise is quite simply movement. In summer, we move more, hence we often feel happier and less stressed. Movement gets the heart pumping, which releases feel good hormones (endorphins) into the body and boosts your immune system, overall giving us a greater sense of well-being.
When we are stressed the body releases chemicals into the system, which cause us to respond in fight or flight. This is a survival instinct built into the body and in a true emergency can be a lifesaver. The constant release of these chemicals when they are not needed however begins to wear you down and can result in illness and fatigue. So you may be wondering why this is more of a problem in winter than in summer, after all we get stressed in summer too. Sweating serves a number of purposes, one of which is to assist with the detoxifying of unwanted toxins. The increase in core body temperature that comes as a result of exercise also assists in the suppression of appetite, hence less of a need to raid the pantry as soon as you walk through the door.
Food plays a very big role in how we feel and has been proven to have a direct impact on our moods. In winter, we tend to eat heavier, heartier foods which is fine, providing that we continue to move. Weight gain, weight loss is a simple equation – energy in, energy out. Deposit more than you withdraw and the outcome is simple – savings in all the wrong places! All this said and done, the heavier you feel within yourself the more likely you are to feel tired and lethargic. Unfortunately, or fortunately whichever way you choose to look at it, you can fool some people some of the time, but fooling yourself is but a pointless endeavour.
So what should one do during the ensuing winter months? Simple. Move and watch portion sizes! Whilst we would love to ignore it, many of us have gotten into the habit of super-sizing our portions. Consider this, a sedentary male of medium height and weight needs approximately 1800 calories a day to fuel the body in idle status. To put this in perspective, a foot long Italian Subway sandwich is approximately 964 calories. A female of medium height and weight needs less, approximately 1200 calories. Food is the petrol we put in our bodies, the faster we drive the more fuel we use, thus requiring us to refuel more frequently.
So how does someone who is not in the habit of exercising or is time poor find ways to keep moving? There are numerous ways to keep moving, most of us just aren’t in the habit of taking these up when they come our way.
For readers who are parents, do you know that on average a parent spends six minutes a day quality time with their children, by quality time I mean dropping everything else and focusing fully on their children – no distractions. I know it is pretty challenging to drag children away from the tech world they have become attached to so… you know the saying about Mohammad and the mountain – challenge your children to a Wii sports challenge two or three times a week. If you have not yet tried ski jumping, tennis or boxing, you are in for a surprise. If you don’t have a Wii perhaps you may want to consider one as your gym membership.
For those who do not have children, you may want to consider joining a work social sports team, such as indoor netball, soccer or basketball. Or take up a gym membership package that includes a personal trainer. If this does not appeal, consider using the stairs every other time you need to move to another floor. If you do not have stairs, consider walking around the block twice a day for a sanity gap. If all else fails, challenge a mate to enter a sports event with you, put something on the table worth competing for and get moving.
Most of us do not appreciate our health until we don’t have it. What are you waiting for?
Katheren Leitner is a director at TrainingPlus. She works with New Zealand corporates and state sector agencies assisting them to grow potential, performance and profit. For further information: www.trainingplus.co.nz
Workplace bullying - what can you do?
By Fiona White
Ray was hired as the line manager of a family-run manufacturing business with 20 shop floor staff. He had a reputation for increasing productivity, getting the work done, and straight-talking. The first three months showed great results – faster assembly times, exceeding output targets, and a clear improvement in employee punctuality. Ray was given a considerable bonus and congratulated on his results.
Over the following few months, the effects seemed to plateau and little cracks began to appear. Most of the team had adapted to the change of manager without too many glitches, but the shop floor atmosphere had shifted slightly. The singing had stopped and the humour had taken on a more aggressive tone. A couple of the team members had started taking their breaks with their sandwiches in their cars instead of joining the others in the canteen; they seemed to be the butt of everyone’s jokes. Another member had run up quite a few sick days, and the notes from her doctor quoted ‘high blood pressure’. She rarely interacted with the others anymore and mumbled her responses to ‘Good morning’.
Don, the general manager, received a number of complaints from several members of Ray’s team about his management style, saying he was treating them like children, micro-managing them, and always putting them down in front of others. He decided to sit in on a weekly team meeting, and did not notice any of these behaviours, but did notice the lack of participation and creativity from the team, and was concerned.
Don called Ray into his office for a chat about the complaints he had received. Ray denied that there was a problem, “That’s not what happened” “They’re blowing it all out of proportion”, “I had to do it to get people moving – how else am I supposed to work with a bunch of incompetents?” and “You’ve never said anything about this before”. Don calmly stated that he was beginning to see a pattern of behaviour which was not acceptable, and that whatever happened or was said was causing a lot of complaints and distress. “You’re going to have to find another way to get people moving, and I’m here to help you with that. If you have employees who are not capable of doing the job, I expect you to deal with that without yelling at them. If they are incompetent, I expect you to find out why, and what they need in terms of training, resources, discipline, and direction.”1
Don took Ray through the behavioural guidelines, detailing:
- The specific behaviours which were inappropriate
- Reasons why they were inappropriate (in accordance with the company values)
- Expected behaviours within the organisation (targets to aim for, and support available)
- Date by which he expected to see these changes in behaviour (follow-up meeting to discuss progress)
- Consequences if changes not observed
Don fortunately had a very pragmatic approach to this issue, and realised that Ray was going to require some support in changing his behaviour. He called in a conflict management coach to work with Ray and his team to help them develop empathy, improve their communication skills, and become more adept at managing future conflicts.
Since then, there has been a marked improvement in team morale. Ray listens more, acknowledges others’ input (even if he disagrees with it), and becomes more aware of how his use of language and tone affects others. He notices that people talk to him more, that they tell him important information and are able to work together to resolve issues as soon as, or even before, they arise. Ray still gets triggered sometimes and slips back into old habits, but the team are quick to point this out and to request that he talks to them calmly and respectfully, or that he allows them to demonstrate their competence. The whole team feels more valued and empowered, which creates a more pleasant and enjoyable workplace. Consequently, blood pressure goes down and staff feel more positive about their work, which filters out into other aspects of their lives and reduces the need for coping mechanisms.
Employers have a responsibility to address bullying behaviour and if they are not addressing it they are, in fact, both condoning it and failing to provide a safe and healthy workplace as per The Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992: amended in 2003. The definition of ‘hazard’ now includes “a situation where a person’s behaviour may be an actual or potential cause or source of harm to the person or another person”.
Fiona White is a conflict coach and mediator at Mediation Matters.
For further information:
Visit: www.mediationmatters.co.nz
Email: info [at] mediationmatters [dot] co [dot] nz
1 Conversation adapted from Laura Crawshaw – Taming The Abrasive Manager: How to End Unnecessary Roughness in the Workplace (2007) Jossey Bass.
Don’t self-destruct when the stress button is pushed
By Darrin Segedin
Stress is considered the modern-day killer because of the insidious nature of the whole process; it largely happens below our level of consciousness. Studies have confirmed that an inability to adjust or deal with stressful situations raises the onset of anxiety and depression. In one study, two-thirds of subjects who experienced stressful situations had nearly six times the risk of developing depression.
The impact the stress makes depends upon the scale of it and one’s own in-built coping mechanisms. These will decide the duration and the total effect of the stress. Many stresses are not processed adequately and gradually and insidiously affect the person’s ability to cope in life. The most obvious sign that one has not processed a stressor is a lowering of positive traits, such as patience, understanding and determination, and an increase in negative expressions such as anger, frustration and impatience, at work or at home. This ultimately leads to a feeling of disempowerment.
Case study
A man called David was referred to me suffering from depression and feelings of exhaustion, bordering on chronic. I asked David to tell me about his life and work He said he was a competitive person, whose major focus in life was work and achievement. If something got in his way he displayed anger and frustration. When driving, he could not bear the person in the next lane being ahead of him and would drive aggressively, even dangerously, to outmanoeuvre them. When he worked, he worked fast, and would work at home to the point of collapse.
It is clear that his approach may be getting him achievement, but at what cost? This is the crux of solid stress prevention, a self-learning programme that enhances one’s ability to see how we create stress from such difficult mindsets.
Over three subsequent visits and discussions with David I revealed to him how his approach is actually impeding his success and increasing his susceptibility to illness. The end result was that he became more relaxed, less ill and developed more energy from his new relaxed state and approach to work and life.
Building mental resilience
How can this be done? There are things we can do to train our minds to deal with potentially stressful situations more effectively. For example, the following can help:
Enter any challenge as positively as possible
Engage and embrace challenges to increase your chances of the best outcome for your company and yourself
Own all negatives in your mind, but don’t feed them, especially in difficult times
Assume relaxation in your mind and body by visualising the most relaxing of feelings for you
Daily energy is created by positive thinking. Therefore, if you feel too tired or exhausted or unmotivated each day, look at your attitude to the task. Mental resilience means you can accomplish any task with minimum stress and maintain a highly positive frame of mind.
Darrin Segedin describes himself as a self-mastery expert. He has created a course in self mastery, with the aim of the course being to combat stress, create resilience and optimise potential at work and in life.
Incentivising workplace wellness
by Jessica Bell
Increasingly, organisations are turning towards workplace wellness programmes as a means of reducing risk and improving bottom line. An increased focus on wellness has been shown to significantly reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, while improving productivity, morale and staff retention. Of course, the success of such a programme depends upon its participants, so how can we encourage employees to uptake the opportunity, and more importantly to stick with it?
Create a realistic programme
Perhaps the first step to promoting workplace wellness strategies lies in the creation of the programme itself. The strategy chosen must reflect the needs of those who are expected to uptake it. Spend time talking to your staff, identifying their health and fitness goals and how a workplace wellness programme can help them to achieve this. Develop a program in conjunction with your employees, rather than creating a program at management level and throwing it at them.
Develop measurable outcomes
Clearly defined goals are essential for both the participants and the creators of the programme. Goals help to maintain motivation and provide a useful tool for evaluating the success of the programme. Run a goal setting session where participants can develop a few key targets they wish to achieve in the programme. These goals may be related to improving energy levels, increasing cardiovascular fitness or shedding a few pounds. Encourage employees to share these goals to create more of a team culture. Ensure you also spend time planning the expected outcomes for the business as a whole.
Keep it regular
A clear structure to your wellness programme with regular progress assessments and updates is essential. At a minimum, there must be a weekly event, seminar or assessment in order to maintain momentum and keep employees motivated. Left to struggle alone, many employees may become despondent and lose interest. Send email updates every few days, arrange weekly meetings or support groups and arrange a weekly wellness “event” such as a lunchtime exercise class, healthy lunch or evening sports game.
Lead by example
Implementation of successful long-term wellness programmes comes from the top-down. There is little point promoting workplace wellness to employees when senior management are not seen to take it seriously. As a manager, you need to be an active participant in and champion of your programme. Use the wellness programme as an opportunity to reassess your own health and fitness and establish new wellness goals. Participate in all events, regardless of how busy you are.
Look at the bigger picture
Demonstrate to employees the benefits of a focus on wellness for both the individual and the organisation. We tend to be impressed by facts and statistics, so consider running a short seminar on the financial and organisational benefits of improved employee wellness. Provide employees with case studies of organisations who have significantly improved their performance by focussing on health. It is easy to neglect our own health, but when we can see the effects of poor immunity and fitness on the company we work for, we may be more likely to commit to a healthier lifestyle.
Include the wider community. Consider ways you can include an employee’s whole family in your wellness programme. While this may seem like increased costs, remember that a large number of sick days, particularly for women, are spent caring for sick partners or children. Improving the health of the family unit can therefore significantly reduce absenteeism. Organise family sport days, investigate discounted gym memberships for partners or arrange for nutritionists or other health experts to come in to your office to speak about family health concerns.
Celebrate wins
Keep employees continually informed of successes achieved within the programme. If you have several months of significantly reduced sick leave, shout your employees a healthy morning tea. When a participant achieves a fitness or wellness goal, celebrate it. Let others know. Celebrating wins helps to maintain momentum and increase positivity. Seeing the success of their colleagues can also help encourage other employees to join the programme.
Make wellness fun
Think creatively. Making lifestyle changes can be daunting for many people so think about how you can make wellness fun. What events can you organise that will support the wellness programme while allowing employees to let off steam and have a good time? Consider dinners out at vegetarian or other healthy restaurants, weekly healthy food cook-offs, group sports games or exercise classes, office visits from massage therapists or healthy supermarket tours. Give prizes to those who have lost weight, quit smoking or increased their fitness.
Workplace wellness strategies can provide significant benefits for your business. However, their success rates can vary widely depending on the structure of the programme and the participation level. A bit of time spent with your employees planning your programme and demonstrating its benefits can mean the difference between a mediocre and outstanding result.
Jessica Bell is a nutritionist.