Few companies know the effects of stress as well as Lifespan and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island – two large employers, each with a dual perspective on the issue: from their own experience, and from their expertise as leaders in the health care sector.
So, how do they deal with stress?
For starters, HR executives at both companies say, they recognize it. And they realize no one strategy can solve the problem, so they work on multiple levels, with everything from family-friendly policies to educational seminars and publications to fitness programs.
At Blue Cross, managing stress is seen as crucial to productivity, said Eric Gasbarro, vice president of human resources.
“I think ultimately a happy, healthy work force is a productive work force,” he said. So Blue Cross has comprehensive wellness programs “designed to motivate employees and hopefully drive their performance in the workplace and give them a comfortable environment to work in.”
For example, the company offers flexible work schedules when feasible, as well as the ability to work from home sometimes. Workers get help with day care, and a time-off policy that doesn’t distinguish between sick time and vacation.
The company also trains managers and entire units on leadership and how to work with people. But knowing that many stress-related issues are personal, Blue Cross sponsors programs to teach coping skills and provide opportunities to relieve stress.
The insurer has a “robust” employee-assistance program, Gasbarro noted, and its wellness programs include programming devoted to stress management.
Workers can take yoga, tai chi, stability-ball classes, and a six-week course called “Unwind.” They can undergo personality analyses that help them identify their strengths and vulnerabilities.
Which is not to say it’s always easy, Gasbarro acknowledged. What manager, with deadlines pressing, wants to see half her staff gone for two hours to take yoga or a seminar?
“It’s been a challenge here too, despite what we know,” he said.
Lifespan – the parent company of Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Newport Hospital and Bradley Hospital, among other units – faces its own challenges with stress.
For starters, hospital work can be inherently stressful – especially if you’re on the front lines, saving lives in the emergency room or the intensive-care unit.
“You’re dealing with people in distress,” said Sheila Jacobs, Lifespan’s wellness coordinator. And to a great extent, she said, “we really can’t reduce [workers’] stress. We can acknowledge it, and we can help people figure out how best to manage their stress, because it really is individual.”
Like Blue Cross, Lifespan has a comprehensive employee-assistance program. In addition, Lifespan has an extensive wellness initiative, “Working Healthy,” that addresses multiple health-risk factors, including stress. As part of that, Lifespan has joined the ShapeUp Rhode Island 2008 challenge, in which some 2,000 employees – out of about 11,000 – have become involved.
“It’s positive for the morale, it’s fun, and it builds camaraderie,” Jacobs said. And connecting workers to one another is itself a good strategy, she added: A few years ago, Lifespan asked the staff whether they had someone they could talk to at work, and 92 percent said yes. “That’s a positive social support,” she said.
But Lifespan also knows that stress needs very serious, direct attention. Brandon Melton, senior vice president for human resources, said mental-health issues are the single biggest health care cost for the company.
Lifespan sponsors “Stress Less” health fairs, for example, that include regular health screenings as well as massages, reflexology and other alternative-medicine techniques. It also includes many mental-health topics in its twice-a-month health and wellness lecture series.
One particularly popular topic last year, Jacobs said, was “Dealing With Difficult People.” In response, she said, a second course will be offered this year, “How To Deal With Difficult People In Real Life.”
And it runs training programs for managers to help them be better leaders and create positive work environments.
The company also has set up flexible scheduling policies that make a big impact, Melton said. Two-thirds of Lifespan’s nurses work part time, for example, Melton said, and in general, Lifespan encourages managers to allow flexible hours, job-sharing and other such options. •
