TM - March 2008 - (Page 39)

Give ’Em a Break or Pay the Emotional Cost Kellye Whitney Frazzled nerves, frayed tempers and missed deadlines are not unfamiliar to the talent manager, but the reason why employees suffer these ill effects may not be that they have too much work. It may be these symptomatic employees are working too much without a break. Downtime is as important to employee productivity as the right job tools and information. “Employees that don’t decompress tend to get stressed out, overwhelmed and they underperform,” said Corrin Scavo, Psy.D., psychologist at Chicago’s Center for Personal Development. “There needs to be a balance. We have to allow people an opportunity to relieve stress and pressure, and the best way to do that is in the moment. There are some people whose creativity only flows under certain circumstances. Like, they need a quiet atmosphere or they work better with music, and they will underperform if you set restrictions that prevent them from being able to utilize the coping skills they use in order to perform at their best.” Interesting. That means when you catch someone surfing the Web or grooving ecstatically while plugged into their music, they may not be slacking. They may be decompressing, which is necessary if they are to continue working happily and productively. Scavo said, even before the Web gained prominence, people frequently destressed by talking with co-workers, taking smoke breaks and the like to temporarily get their minds on something else. Then they could go back to work, re-engage and produce often at greater levels than before. Further, she said, without ways to relieve stress, pressure tends to build, people get frustrated, and if things don’t improve, they may look for a new job. Aside from the obvious — lack of productivity, degrading work quality and missed deadlines — there are numerous symptoms talent managers may observe if employees are not allowed adequate downtime. These include an increase in complaints, often to the wrong people, and depression. “They become unhappy because they’re stressed out and don’t want to be there anymore,” Scavo said. “They tend to move slower, so they may be there longer trying to get the same kind of work done, and emotionally that takes a toll. There may also be an increase in depression kinds of symptoms: change in appetite, depressed mood, feeling down, hopeless, irritable, angry.” If a talent manager observes these kinds of changes in what used to be a productive employee, the first step in fixing the situation is to ask the person what’s going on and if they need help. “Second, if the company has any kind of EAP program, try to get them some outside counseling or other services to help them decompress and maybe learn some new techniques to handle stress at the workplace,” Scavo said. “There are different things employees can learn how to do to learn how to relax even in stressful situations. “ EAP services might teach breathing techniques employees can do at work when stress levels are high. But this requires employees to be aware of triggers that can elevate or create stress. “The key is recognizing when it’s happening,” Scavo explained. “The sooner you can learn the symptoms, the sooner you can engage in some techniques that would be beneficial to handle things before an employee gets to the point where they may need medication or want to quit. Employers need to be flexible and recognize that even before the days of the Web, people were using time to relax and get themselves back to a frame of mind where they can be productive. There needs to be a balance so that everyone is happy, and the company and the individual can be productive in the long run.” talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com 39 http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - March 2008

TM - March 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance - The Paradoxically Gifted Leading Edge - Reverse Engineering: Shifting Focus to HR's Cause Learning Connection - Sharing Talent On the Hunt for Talent Unlock Employee Motivation Through Personality Testing HR Crucial to Executive Compensation Process Downtown Management: Surfing May Not Be Slacking Think Tanks Aid Government in Talent Management Creating Consistency: Enterprise-Wide Succession Plans Battle Retention Deficits With On-Boarding Sunbelt Rentals: A Mid-Level View of HR From the Trenches Butterball: No Chicken When It Comes to Talent Management Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential - Choosing Change

TM - March 2008

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