By Kellie Walters, Ease@Work Wellness Intern

The Problem…

 How is wellness affecting your employees?

 Think about it.

 Do you see people slouching over their desks, only to be out sick for back pain later?

• Is one of your employees eating junk food every day and ends up having to leave early because of stomach pains?
• Do employees sit at their desk all day and steadily increase in weight?
• Does an employee end up on disability because of a work related injury that may have been prevented if they were in better shape?
• Has an employee missed work because of a heart attack or other serious condition?

Now think about how that affects your profits.

For many employers, 20% of the workforce accounts for 80% of the health care claims. Heart disease, asthma, mental health disorders, cancer, and hypertension are the major drivers of health care costs. Besides requiring doctor visits, these conditions often require a great deal of daily medication. Karin Palmer, R.D., and co-creator of the EASEy Weigh program explains, “Some of the highest costs in healthcare claims come from prescription medications – your blood-pressure meds and cholesterol reducing meds like Lipitor and other designer medications.  What makes this even more expensive is that you are often refilling them on a monthly basis, unlike periodic visits to the doctor.” 

The Solution…

Many of the above conditions (and their costs) could be prevented with behavioral and environmental changes. By eating better, exercising, quitting smoking, reducing stress, and stopping substance abuse you can help reduce the incidence of these conditions and, in turn, help reduce health care claims. As an employer, you can help your employees turn things around and get back into health.

Employers can make a few workplace changes to create a healthy workplace culture. The process of eliminating unhealthy triggers and surrounding employees with healthy choices will help facilitate change. A wellness program should be centered on prevention, have a definite focus, and involve some sort of system to measure success. The following are some components to consider including:

Make healthy the only option…or at the very least, an option.

            Too often, employers promote “workplace wellness sabotage” where donuts are strategically placed in the most visible office areas and where staff meeting refreshments consist of sodas and chips. Vending machines are stocked with sugary and fatty snacks. Instead, start serving fruit and stocking up on healthy snacks. If better food is accessible, people are more likely to eat it.    

Make the office a place for fitness.

            How convenient would it be to get in a workout on your lunch break or right before you leave for the day? Giving employees a place to work out will help them do it more. 

Get up and go!

            Get your employees up and moving. Encourage employees to take those few steps over to another office to ask a question instead of sending someone an email. Create a lunchtime walking group. To really get employees up and moving, hand out pedometers and offer a prize to the biggest stepper.

Promote a smoke-free environment.

            Policies on tobacco in and around the workplace vary, but one thing about tobacco use is universal – it does affect health and health care costs. If you are looking to do something in this area, consider offering tobacco cessation coaching to your employees. Create policies that prohibit smoking on the property or taking smoke breaks.  A health insurance premium discount on non-tobacco using employees is very effective, but sometimes controversial.  Be careful not to call it a penalty for smokers, which is a violation of ERISA.

Counseling Services

            Stress, poor mental health, and substance abuse can have a negative impact on employee health. Not only is mental health crucial to well being, it is also important for good physical health.

 Wellness Committee

           When instituting a wellness program, you should create a wellness committee to champion these changes. Ideally, this committee will have 3-5 people who represent the goals of the program and drive it forward.  Try to get representation from as many departments as possible, so that they can have a positive effect on participation and input can be obtained from throughout the company.

 On site weight management programs

            Consider bringing in an on site weight management program. Chances are many of your employees already want to do something like this but don’t think they have the time. By bringing it into the workplace, employees are more likely to stick with it.

Some final tips…

• Don’t expect to see changes overnight. Studies have shown that it takes three- to five-years for wellness programs to take effect.
• Recognize that there are resources out there for you. Consider community resources that can help you implement some of these programs.

Sources:

Wellness Council of America. “Creating a Culture of Wellness: A WELCOA Quick Inventory.” 2009.

Sibson Consulting. “Results from Sibson’s Heath Enterprise Study.” 2011.

By Thomas Gigliotti, LISW

Ease@Work Network Counselor

Guest Blogger

For many clients the deep experience of emotion has been blocked or repressed. Hypnotherapy has proven to be a valuable experiential technique to get those repressed emotions flowing. In other words, to help people to get back into their bodies so the negative physical energy can get moving out. Activating the energy in the body helps release any “shock” so the emotional energy can flow out. This may also release the body memories or cellular memories, that the individual may be holding onto.

Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, believed in a “collective unconscious”, referring to the information stored in an individual’s subconscious. Jung believed that the collective unconscious contained all the experiences of long term memory including the person’s emotions, behaviors and cognition, as well as the unconscious material of the parents, grandparents and the human species itself. These are referred to as archetypes. Once an individual is in a deeply relaxed state as is often produced in hypnosis, they can access the “unconscious material” that may keep them stuck in fears, phobias, self-defeating patterns and numbing of feelings.

Researchers, such as Rossi, Janov and Candace Pert have concluded that a person who learns a task or creates a memory while under a particular emotional state will repeat the task or recall the memory while under the influence of the same emotional state. In other words, if when I was seven years old, I was comforted by being given something to eat when I was sad or tired, I may have concluded in that child state that the best way to comfort myself is to eat when sad and tired. Obviously, this can have many negative consequences on my overall health and well-being. Using hypnotherapy, we can help a person to go back to the memory where that behavior was created and change the belief in the ego state in which it was created. By doing this a person can use the wise adult part of themselves to create new and healthier behaviors of comfort that are unrelated to food or other unwanted behaviors in the present. You can see by this example, the many practical possibilities for improving our coping skills and living more effectively through the use of hypnotherapy. For more information, contact Tom Gigliotti, LISW, certified hypnotherapist.

Family Behavioral Health is a counseling practice near Cleveland that Ease@Work has utilized for many years.  This entry was reproduced from an entry by Tom Gigliotti on February 2, 2011 at blog.fbhsllc.com

Stop by the Ease@Work booth on “Wellness Way” and find out!

By Valerie Nosek

We hope you will visit us at the 2011 Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference at the IX-Center on March 11. Ease@Work is happy to be a sponsor on “Wellness Way” at this year’s event.

Would you like to know more about how our philosophy of wellness in the workplace has driven Ease@Work to expand our services beyond traditional employee assistance services (EAP)? Would you like to better understand how your EAP should be your strategic partner in the workplace? Do you think you should be getting more from your current EAP, or do you have an interest in what sets Ease@Work apart from other EAPs?

Stop by and talk with Patrick Gaul, Sales Manager, and Stephanie Patek, Account Manager and Certified Fitness Coach, about how employee wellness includes not only mental health, but a myriad of other services, including nutritional and fitness coaching, management consultations and referrals.

And, if you stop by and say “Hi” to Patrick and Stephanie, they’ll have a delicious (and healthy!) gift for the first 10 people who mention this Interact@Ease blog. Yes, chocolate! But not just any chocolate…you’ll receive a cocoa-rich, antioxidant-laden, dark chocolate bar created by Joel Fink, chocolateer and owner of Fantasy Candies.

Finally, if you’re attending the conference sessions, Ease is pleased to say there are a number of our contracted speakers featured at this year’s event – Susan Aldrich, Tameka Taylor, Ruth Ramos and Jim Smith are all available through the Ease program. If you would like to bring one of their programs to your organization, we can do that!

Ease@Work is connected to these top notch speakers, along with a number of other subject matter experts to meet your training and wellness-related needs. (In fact, Ease@Work can even arrange to have Joel come to your site and present a seminar on the health benefits of chocolate!)

We hope we’ll see you there!

Janet recently spoke with Ease’s good friend Kathy Dawson about ways in which issues at home can impact work and vice versa.  It aired on Monday, February 21 but if you missed it, click on the image above to watch her.  

Nice job Janet!

By Patrick Gaul

Set your DVR.  On Monday, February 21, Ease@Work Director Janet Schiavoni will be a guest on “Can You Relate? With Kathy Dawson”, a 30-minute talk show which airs after the noon news on WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland. 

“Can you Relate?” is relatively new to the 12:30 p.m. Monday afternoon slot on WKYC.  She was given the opportunity to host this television show because of the excellent reputation she has developed as a relationship expert throughout NE Ohio. 

For many years Kathy has been a popular trainer for Ease@Work and she always receives rave reviews.  “Her style is dynamic and interactive. Attendees always leave with tools they can use to improve relationships both at work and at home,” said Valerie Nosek, Ease@Work Training Coordinator.  Kathy has presented trainings on conflict resolution, team building and communication in the workplace.

We encourage you to watch the show…and if you’d like to have Kathy Dawson present a seminar for your organization, just contact us at 216.241.3273.

By: Samantha Oliver

Intern, EASE@Work

No, a one hour TV special will not accompany this post, but it may provide some insight into why my generation (the Generation Y’s or Millenials), leave Northeast Ohio for better and brighter cities – like Miami. Northeast Ohio boasts some of the United States’ top universities, an eco-friendly brewery, a few sports teams (albeit, unimpressive teams), tons of lake effect snow (great if you’re into winter sports), and a “world class” hospital system. So what’s not to love? 

I’ve been the sales and marketing intern at Ease@Work for the past three months. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and learn about, many companies in the area – specifically in terms of benefits and options offered to employees. Furthermore, as a soon-to-be M.B.A. graduate, I believe I can offer a fresh perspective of what those from my generation are looking for when entering the work force.

I write this as someone who has lived in Ohio most of my life. But, as I anticipate graduation and begin my career search, I find myself stuck. Should I stay or should I go?

Jobs are hard to come by, but more importantly, companies who value innovation, creativity, and flexibility are even harder to find. Northeast Ohio has so many things to offer, but not to young professionals. Employers need to realize my generation grew up amidst the electronic age. We understand social media, YouTube, and internet startups. We created them.

If companies in the NEO region want to attract top talent and keep great talent from leaving the area, you’ve got to offer us something different. No, I understand NEO is not a Silicon Valley, but we are part of the huge green revolution. I would also add that philanthropy is at the heart of so many businesses in this area, which is great because my generation is looking for employers who offer us something more!

As an example of innovative organizations, just take a look at the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list; it includes Google, DreamWorks, and Edward Jones. Why are they topping the list? Comprehensive benefits, a family culture, and employee understanding. For example, J. M. Smucker’s, number 47, is headquartered here in Ohio, and offers employees softball games and bowling nights.

My generation has options regardless of the current economic environment. We can be entrepreneurs with little to no capital required; we can move, travel, explore different careers; and we have the education and knowledge to support exploration of non-traditional career options.

So, if you’re not Google, and your employees can’t bring their dogs to work, what can you do to attract talent? My suggestion is be creative. Inspire innovation, new ideas, and team work. Offer your employees benefits, and I’m not talking just monetary, but intrinsic as well.

Let them compete in a fitness challenge. Promote wellness in the workplace – it’s important to us. Offer ways in which your employees can give back to the community – perhaps allow staff time to volunteer. Provide us with education and challenging opportunities that allow us to continue to grow as individuals and into our careers.

Understand that my generation cares a lot deeper about the environment, social causes, and economic change. We stand up for what we believe in and will continue to choose companies who do the same. So I challenge you, Northeast Ohio, to inspire young professionals and offer us opportunities worth staying for.

By Valerie S. Nosek

What Role Does Your EAP Play?

As a human resource professional, a manager/supervisor, CEO or other leader, how do you view your employee assistance program (EAP)? What role does it play in the success of your organization?

Is your EAP there to help address substance abuse in the work place, or as a required referral source for employees who test positive? Do you use the EAP for management referrals to help address job performance issues? Does the EAP exist as a benefit for employees who have problems that exist outside of work and need professional assistance? Do you use your EAP as a resource for consultation – whether seeking assistance for employee behaviors, training issues, change management or organizational development?

Ask different people within an organization what role the EAP serves and you will probably receive different answers, depending on how that individual uses the EAP. An employee may say the EAP helps with personal problems. A risk officer may say the EAP is used for drug and alcohol referrals. A manager may say the main reason for having an EAP is for performance issues and management referrals. Someone in HR might cite several reasons for using the EAP, including training or that it’s an employee benefit. And, while all of those answers are valid, any comprehensive EAP should provide all of those services and more.

Using Your EAP to Support Organization Goals

We encourage those of you in HR, management and other leadership positions to rethink your view of the EAP in the workplace. Go beyond the limited role many EAPs are relegated to and start asking, “What additional value can the EAP bring to our company?”

In fact, we challenge you to begin thinking of your EAP as a strategic partner in the success of your organization.

Of course, your EAP should assist your employees in the traditional sense of an EAP. However, as a leader in your company, expand your vision of the EAP…How can it help you to be a better manager? Meet departmental performance objectives? Assist with change initiatives? Or act as a consultant in organizational development?

What Else Can the EAP Do?

In addition to counseling and substance abuse referrals, an EAP should be able to offer the following:

• Education for Managers/Supervisors about how to use the EAP for both better employee management and “soft” referrals.
• Training and education programs developed and facilitated by proven, quality subject matter experts.
• Leadership development, mentoring and individual coaching programs.
• Conflict resolution and mediation.
• Assistance with policy writing and review.
• Consultation on organizational development projects, such as performance management and needs analysis.
• Management consultations.
• Change management support.
• Critical incident stress debriefings.
• Health fair planning and coordination.
• Assistance with workplace wellness programs and initiatives.

The ability to offer the comprehensive services listed above allows an EAP to be more than a referral source…more than an employee benefit.

Your EAP should strive to understand your business and culture; understand your managers and employees; and seek to understand your organization’s strengths and vulnerabilities, so they can better serve your needs.

At Ease@Work we consider these aspects of understanding to be an advantage in preparing a meaningful approach in how we assist our client organizations, their managers and leadership. We are well-prepared and ready to be an integrated part of your organization’s strategic plan. Is your EAP ready?

By Stephanie Patek

For most of us, the holiday season is filled with family…and food. Unfortunately, the edibles aren’t always the healthiest, as we munch on cookies and pies, and we sip eggnog, cocktails and other high calorie and high fat options. The key word is options – and you do have them. You can choose to make, purchase and eat healthier treats.

Here are a few suggestions:

When mixing your favorite beverage, use low-calorie mixers, seltzer, and low-fat milk or evaporated milk versus cream or half-and-half.

When baking cookies or other desserts, use lower-calorie, more natural substitutes such as low-fat plain yogurt in place of oil, and brown rice syrup instead of sugar. Use neufchatel cheese (light cream cheese) versus the full fat type. Cinnamon also gives a sweeter taste, so you can reduce sugar and use this for added flavor in many dishes.

Swap out higher-calorie choices for similar goodies. For example, instead of a slice of pumpkin pie, try this extremely quick and easy pudding:

Pumpkin Pudding

Combine 1 cup canned pumpkin with 1 sugar free or fat free vanilla pudding pack. Add pumpkin pie spice (or sprinkle on cinnamon and clove) to taste. This recipe is so easy, you can make as little or as much as you need, without difficult calculations.

Visit www.cookinglight.com or www.epicurious.com for other healthy holiday recipes and tips.

You are capable of getting through the season without guilt! Be sure to compare labels and look for the lower sugar and lower fat choices.

To view the “naughty list” of holiday foods, visit www.webmd.com/food-recipes/slideshow-naughty-list-of-holiday-foods.  If you do choose to splurge, find out how many calories you are actually consuming (and how long you’d have to walk to work them off). Visit http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blholidaycalories.htm.

Ease@Work offers nutritional coaching for employees with access to our EAP or wellness services as a benefit through their employer.  For more information, go to www.easeatwork.com.

By Valerie S. Nosek

“Workplace safety” is an all-encompassing term that includes many different factors, all of which impact the safety and health of employees. Addressing workplace safety includes how organizations manage environmental hazards inherent to the job, working conditions, work practices and processes, drug and alcohol issues, and potential for violence.

Employers should routinely be assessing safety records and revising safety goals – not only because of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, but also because safety directly affects a company’s bottom line. How an organization approaches workplace safety ultimately impacts profits through employee morale and retention, productivity, worker’s compensation claims, insurance rates and legal costs.

To exemplify this point as related to substance abuse and workplace safety, consider the following:

• Over 14 million Americans use illegal drugs.
• 9.4 million illicit drug-users are employed full-time.
• Over 10.1 million heavy alcohol users are employed full-time.
• As workers, they are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an accident at work.
• They are 5 times more likely to file for worker’s compensation benefits than non-users.
• 40 percent of the time a substance user causes an accident, a co-worker is injured.
• 47 percent of industrial injuries and 40 percent of industrial deaths are directly linked to alcohol consumption – a legal drug.

Sources: W. Atkinson “EAP’s: Investments, Not Costs,” Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Performance and Behavior Issues Associated with Substance Abuse
• Inconsistent work quality
• Poor concentration
• Lowered productivity
• Increased absenteeism
• Carelessness and mistakes
• Errors in judgment
• Needless risk-taking and disregard for safety
• Extended lunch periods/early departures
• Unexplained disappearances from the job
• Theft (The Ohio BWC estimates approximately 50-80 percent of all pilferage, theft and loss is due to substance-abusing employees.)

Any one of these issues will negatively affect job performance, overall company productivity and profits – more so if problems are widespread, prolonged or not addressed by management. In the worst-case scenario, situations such as the ones mentioned above can result in liability and legal issues for the employer.

Getting Your EAP Involved in Safety

Clearly, your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) should be an integral part of any workplace safety process.

Early interventions with employee performance issues generally result in an improved prognosis for the employee, but it also makes business sense for the organization. Intervention is extremely important in regards to minimizing safety and litigation concerns, while expediting a return to normal levels of productivity.

Your EAP can help with developing Drug Free Safety Program policy and implementation. An EAP also provides convenience and confidentiality for employees who voluntarily seek help for drug/alcohol abuse, along with providing mandated counseling for management referral cases.

Of course, your EAP should be able to assist with a myriad of other work-life issues, which may also be affecting safety in the workplace. For example, if an employee is distracted due to job, home, or financial stressors, this can result in increased safety risks while on the job. Your EAP can help this employee manage the stressors, so that he/she can return to normal attention patterns, therefore reducing the safety risks associated with a lack of focus while at work.

Don’t Wait for a Crisis

Unfortunately, too often managers relegate their EAP to only addressing difficult employee issues once they have become full blown problems. And while any good EAP should be able to address critical issues, waiting negates the powerful prevention aspect of the EAP.

Activities like making suggested EAP referrals, calling to schedule a management consultation with an EAP professional and scheduling various trainings for your staff are all good proactive examples of the prevention potential of your EAP.

Need help addressing issues that are affecting workplace safety? Contact Ease@Work  find out how we might be able to help!

By Patrick Gaul

On November 13, 2010, The Center for Families and Children (CFC) will be THE CAUSE… and CFC is a great cause indeed!  

Besides giving rise to Ease@Work in 1979, CFC’s team of nearly 300 dedicated professionals work with more than 1200 people in our community every year - people who have made the choice to change their lives and have come to CFC for help.  CFC’s high-quality, highly acclaimed services focus on early learning, youth development, behavioral health and providing access to options and opportunities for some of the most at risk members of our community.

If you want to learn more about CFC, visit on the web or on Facebook. If you want to help, the best way in my opinion (and the opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CFC), is to utilize Ease@Work for your business needs as related to an employee assistance program, wellness or work/life services. 

Of course, as an option that is more fun, you can purchase tickets to the Cavaliers game vs. the Indiana Pacers on November 13th.  The Cavs will generously donate $5 from every ticket sold to CFC. 

See you at the Q!