6/13/01 special libraries association 92nd annual conference, san antonio, texas keeping the team...

6/13/01Special Libraries Association 92nd Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas

Keeping the Team Motivated

Ensuring Success Understanding and Beating

Stress and Burnout


Christine De Bow KleinDirector, Knowledge and Information Services

[email protected]



Motivation

MOTIVATION comes with success

You must be empowered to succeed

You must empower your staff to succeed

MOTIVATION disappears when you feel out of control, you have no influence over your work, your working conditions or the future of your career.

MOTIVATION REQUIRES CONFIDENCE

CONFIDENCE comes from

The past – what you know

Today and the future are what you learn



Stress

Longer hours. Higher production quotas or expectations.

Constant changes in strategy or management.

Demanding bosses.

Mergers. Layoffs. Downsizing.

Scramble to handle to kids' activities.

Adult care issues.

Financial problems.

Beepers. Cell phone. E-mail. 24/7

Harassment. Bullying.

Family illness or grief, separation or divorce.

Illness. Loneliness. Pain.

Perfectionism, drive to excel.

“You’ve got to serve somebody...” Bob Dylan



How are we effected?

We have become so knowledge dependent that 90 percent of the workforce already holds white-collar jobs. And these jobs have become so demanding that employee burnout is rampant - especially in the senior management positions integral to the health and growth of a company.

Tom Peters, Pursuit of WOW

“I don't suffer from stress. I

am a carrier.” Dilbert



Harvard Business Review, November-December 1992

“If we hire you, you’re not going to experience stress on the job, are you?”



Stress considered a worldwide crisis

“In the US 1 in 10 workers suffers from clinical depression, with 200m lost working days a year and a bill for treatment and lost earnings/working time of pounds 30bn”

In a landmark survey examining stress in the workplace in five countries, the United Nations' International Labor Organization found that levels of anxiety, burnout and depression are

spiraling out of control.

Workplace blues leave employers in the red: A dramatic increase in stress levels has led to spiralling anxiety, burnout and depression across the globe,

the UN's labour arm warns: Taking its tollANDREW OSBORN IN BRUSSELS

10/12/2000The Guardian



5/16/2001 Business Wire --(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2001--

TOPIC: In a study released Wednesday by the New York-based non-profit Families and Work Institute, 46 percent of those polled reportedly said their job made them feel overworked. The study suggests that U.S. workers may be neglecting their health, personal relationships and quality of work because of longer work hours and more stress on the job, according to a story by CNN. According to the survey, 24 percent of U.S. workers said they spend 50 or more hours on the job each week with 22 percent claiming they work six to seven days a week. The study said that about a quarter of surveyed workers said they do not use all their vacation time, according to the CNN story.

Americans Feel Overworked, William M. Mercer Study Says



Less does more?

Many experts are forecasting that the “war for talent” will continue throughout 2001. A report by the Employment Policy Foundation (Washington, D.C.; 202-789-8685) predicts that employers can continue to expect a tight labor market in 2001, with approximately 500,000 jobs going unfilled.

But there is no doubt that our profession will be effected by the economic downturn and jobs will not be as plentiful.



Stress – basic facts

26% of people in one study said they were driven to eat chocolate due to stress

72% of American workers are struggling with job stress in the 90's

34% are so burned-out they fear they'll have to quit their jobs in the next year or two.

The proportion of workers who reported "feeling highly stressed" more than doubled from 1985 to 1990

Women are even more susceptible to burnout: a 1994 survey of 250,000 women states that 60% of women who hold professional and management jobs listed job stress as their greatest problem.

Stress costs our society $100,000,000,000 (100 billion) per year



Stress Costs

Workers' compensation awards for job stress, rare two decades ago, have skyrocketed and threaten to bankrupt the system in some states. California employers shelled out almost $1 billion for medical and legal fees alone. Nine out of ten job stress suits are successful, with an average payout more than four times that for regular injury claims

Burnout-related absenteeism, tardiness, low productivity, and job turnover cost American companies $75 to $160 billion annually. And burnout has been related to escalating levels of violence in the workplace: more than 1,000 Americans were murdered at work last year; 10% of those killings were by disgruntled employees.

40% of worker turnover is due to job stress. The Xerox Corporation estimates that it costs approximately $1-$1.5 million to replace a top executive, and average employee turnover costs between $2,000 to $13,000 per individual

An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stress-related complaints



Top two causes of stress

Lack of sleep

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round...

I just love to see them turn.

No longer on the merry-go-round…

I just had to let it go”John Lennon • Repetitive tasks



The most effective means of relieving stress

Exercise

Increase sleep

Healthy diet

Humor



Burnout

Fatigue that lasts more than two weeks is called burn-out

What is job burnout?

“Burnout is a state of physical and/or emotional exhaustion that results from a long period of unrelenting stress. Employees experience burnout when they find themselves in “no-win” situations that dissolve their feelings or competency and motivation.” LCC 1.2



Causes of Burnout

A critical boss

Consistent “no-win” situations

Lack of recognition

Lack of information and goals, no clear objectives

Value conflicts

Overwork

Lack of flexibility – employer doesn’t allow for serious personal needs

“I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day.

Tomorrow is not looking good either.” Dilbert



Avoiding Burnout

Engender trust within your team and among your colleagues

Share values and vision

Practice detached concern

Not being able to change or solve is a stress inducer

View problems as challenges and opportunities to be creative and apply your skills and knowledge and ingenuity

Listen actively

“Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it .”Dilbert

Learn patience

“You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.” Dilbert



Change Burnout into Satisfaction

Simplify - Reduce stressors

Take large projects or challenges and put them into small, achievable steps – success begets success

Change the job to fit your talents, skills and work style and recognize the styles and skills of your staff

Work on problems you can solve

Lead – don’t manage

No one wants to be managed

Coach staff

Build Support Networks

Let others help you

Find a mentor

Encourage your staff to find mentors




Build Skills

Be ready for change

Understand, promote and create opportunities to develop more transferable skills – repetitive activities can create stress and burnout

Try something new

Change jobs

Be realistic

Coach you staff

“On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.” Dilbert




Promote workplace flexibility

Work to find the schedule that fits you and your staff

Find ways to vary the work setting – perhaps working from home one day a week

30 to 40 percent of savvy companies seem ready and able to reframe their workload. The remaining companies have yet to realize that an organization with individuals who are focused on work that matters and, therefore, enjoy their work and stay longer - enhances financial performance.

R-evolutionizing work patterns: Preventing CFO burnout, Chris Hagler; Joan Burge, 10/01/2000, AFP Exchange 138-142




Learn to take risks

Failing to take a risk is far more dangerous than

taking one.



Leverage the Opportunities

Know yourself

Do you get up every morning eager to go to work?

Are enthusiastic about what you do?

Can you identify what causes you stress?

Have you identified ways to prevent stress?

Have realistic expectations “I love deadlines. I especially

like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by “ Dilbert



You can’t motivate unless you

Understand what motivates you

Are proud of what you do

Like where you work

Enjoy your co-workers

Continue to:

Learn

Grow

Change or be an agent of change

Be challenged

We can not prevent stress but we can avoid burnout



Take the sting out of change, prevent stress and burnout and motivate

The rapid change in technology and its application and in other aspects of society in general make ongoing training,

education and retraining an integral part of the economy and imperative for personal and professional growth.

Confidence depends on your awareness of your competencies, your willingness to try something new and an

awareness of where you add value.

Develop confidence in yourself and in your team

6/13/01 special libraries association 92nd annual conference, san antonio, texas keeping the team...

Documents