Benefits Agenda

Turning Stress into Strength

Training employees to be more resilient can have
measurable personal and professional results.
Employee Benefits survey report, only
10 percent of employers currently ofïer
stress management. That number is
down from 19 percent in 2006.
Though not yet a noticeable trend,
resilience training may be a contender to
replace stress management. This model
focuses on teaching employees how to
become "steeled" to stressful situations
before they manifest as stress, and to
learn from stressful experiences.
In other words, resilience training is
not a strategy to help employees reduce
stress. Rather, it is designed to help
employees become stronger as a result
of experiencing stress. As each event
that leads to stress occurs, resilience
training helps employees learn from the
event, adjust and become stronger—
enabling them to face even more stress
in the future with less negative impact,
experts say. Ideally, during stressful
times resilient employees maintain their
productivity levels and their health.

Different Perspectives
Resilience training may be growing in
By William Atkinson popularity: Resüience trainer George S.
Everly, an associate professor of psychia-

I
n an American Psychological Association survey conducted last summer, nearly try at Johns Hopkins University, says
75 percent of respondents said they were stressed to unhealthy levels. More than the discipline is winning over decision-
3,000 adults and young people were polled by Harris Interactive for the associa- makers in industries where employees
tion's 2010 Stress in America survey Respondents' top concerns were money, work experience daily stress, such as health
and the economy. care, finance, law enforcement, firefight-
In another survey of workplaces, conducted in November 2009, researchers reported ing, emergency medical services and the
that stressed-out workers call in sick more often and use more health insurance benefits. military.
Employers generally don't like to publicly admit that their workplaces cause stress for Much of the popularity seems to be
employees. Yet 78 percent of 282 employers in the latter survey, which was conducted by driven by the work of Jim Loehr and
Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health, admitted that Tony Schwartz, authors of The Power of
excessive work hours were a leading cause of worker stress. Full Engagement (FKC Press, 2003), who
Many stress management programs are available for employers to offer to employ-
ees. Most of these programs attempt to help employees reduce stress and develop ways
The author is a business writer based in CartervilU,
to "decompress" after experiencing stress. Hi He specializes in safety, health and workers '
However, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2010 compensation issues.

January 2011 • HR Magazine 49

introduced the concept of personal resil-
ience in the 1990s.
Not everyone is convinced that
employers always roll out resilience
training properly, however. Gerald
Lewis, president of Gerald Lewis
Associates in Framingham,
Mass., is among those who
voice concern. According
to the resilience para-
digm, "If you take the
example of employees
being required to work
overtime, then all you
have to do is have the
individual gradually work
more and more overtime
and eventually he wül get used
to it—be more resilient," he notes.
If "the employee is worried about his job,
then as there are more layoffs, he will get
used to it—build up some resilience. The
premise does not make sense."
Lewis' resilience seminars focus
instead on training managers to encour-
age employees to take more breaks
during the workday—to eat lunch away
from their desks, exercise and participate
in health-related seminars, for instance.
How to Train
Experts cite several steps
to get the most from
resilience training for
employees:
Set goals. Why
do you want to offer
resilience training?
To help employees
work more hours
without burning out?
To help employees
grow stronger following
periods of corporate stress? To
help employees who regularly experi-
ence stress—such as firefighters—survive
and thrive? To help employees improve
their health to reduce health care costs?
The 6,000 U.S. employees of Fre-
escale Semiconductor Inc. in Austin,
Texas, began participating in resilience
training about 15 years ago. HR profes-
sionals first considered whether such
training would support key company
initiatives. "For example, in the semi-
conductor business, it is important that
teams are working across departmental
boundaries," says Sandi Aitken, global
benefits manager. "When there are
problems, it is easy to 'blame or shame'
people from other departments." As a
result of resilience training provided by
Mary Steinhardt, a professor at the Uni-
versity of Texas in Austin, managers say
Freescale employees have become more
accountable and responsible for solving
problems.
Part of Steinhardt's training focuses
on "problem-focused coping" to attempt
to resolve stressful situations. She out-
lines five strategies in a teaching manual:
active coping, planning, positive refi"am-
ing, acceptance and using social support.
Northrop Grumman Electronic
Systems in Baltimore offers Everly's

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50 HR Magazine • January 2011

training to its management team, to
specific workgroups and as "brown-bag"
seminars that are open to all employ-
ees. "It is important for employees and
managers to be best prepared for the
events that may be outside their control,"
explains James O'Hair, coordinator of
Northrop Grumman's Employee and
Family Assistance Program. "Knowing
what traits and behaviors best prepare us
will enable us to deal with situations that
challenge our physical and emotional
stress levels. Establishing and enhancing
resiliency helps us through some of the
most demanding situations."
In one of Everly's activities, par-
ticipants consider previous stressful
situations in their lives that they have
overcome and identify factors that made
the situations manageable.
Consider cost. Get estimates from a
variety of sources. None of the trainers
interviewed for this article would provide
examples of their fees.
Know the diSference between resil-
ience training and stress management
training. True resilience training teaches
employees to survive in stressftil situa-
tions, then recover, then place themselves
in slightly more stressftil situations to
grow and thrive. Some trainers may pro-
vide basic stress management training—
how to prevent stress and recover from
stress—but call it resüience training.
Unfortunately, there is no master list
of resüience trainers. However, you can
search online for "resüience training" or
"resüience consultants" to find providers
who claim to offer the training.
Identify an appropriate training
SOUTHEASTERN
Online Resources i > W V r V LI N I V E R s ITY
For a sidebar describing resilience train-
Shepard Broad Law Center
ing at one company, see the online
version of this articie at www.shrm.org/
hrmaaazine/0111 BenefitsAaenda. Earn your »
model. Programs differ among provid-
ers. Steinhardt, for example, teaches
Master of
employees how to use stress in a
positive way by realizing "I am stressed Science in
now. Good! What an opportunity to
grow!" She uses a weightlifting meta-
phor: "If I overtrain, my muscles will
Employment
get injured. If I undertrain, they will
atrophy." She teaches employees to
become aware of what "lifting weights"
Law (M.S.)
looks like mentally.
Everly's program features the "Three Online
R" model:
• Resistance (developing immunity and
protective factors).
• Resilience (rebounding from adver-
Do you want to advance
sity). your career?
• Recovery (treatment and rehabüita- Do you want to earn your
tion).
master's degree online
Jim Homickel, director of training
and development for Bold New Direc-
while working and raising
tions in Hartford, Conn., has developed your family?
programs based on what he calls the
SUPPORT model: You can do it,
• Stress hardiness.
• Understand self, others and your orga-
and we can help!
nization.
• Purpose (life purpose, career purpose, Visit
job purpose and values clarification). www. nsulaw. nova. edu/HRmag
• Perseverctnce (tools to use to stay fo- for more information on earning
your M.S. in Employment Law
cused and on track).
through NSU's Shepard Broad
• Optimism (exercises to move toward
Law Center.

Resilience: The Concep

According to information on the Mayo Clinic's website, resilience is an Individual's ability to
adapt well and recover quickly after enduring stressful, life-changing situations, including
adversity, trauma or tragedy.

People who have a resilient disposition are better able to maintain poise and a healthy
level of physical and psychological Wellness in the face of challenges.

Individuals who are less resilient are more likely to dwell on problems, feel overwhelmed,
use unhealthy coping tactics to handle stress, and develop anxiety and depression.

A resilient approach leads to addressing problems rather than avoiding them, a positive
and optimistic outlook, and a flexible and adaptive disposition.
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January 2011 • HR Magazine 51

optimism, as well as understand the differ- the negative impact Others train manag-
ence between reacting and responding). of stress," explains ers. Everly explains:
• Resourceñikiess in physical, mental, founder Dr. Henry "When supervisors
emotional and spiritual areas; the physical Emmons. Such prac- become more resilient,
element includes diet, exercise and sleep. tices include lifesfyle they can create a more
• Team relationships and using col- changes and exercises. conducive working
leagues as support. Decide how to environment and transfer
Partners in Resilience of Northfield, roll out training. Train- some of their skills to the
Minn., offers a "way of helping people ing can be offered through employees."
renew and recover their natural resil- off-site and on-site seminars and Promote the training as a ben-
ience, and then engage in practices that online; the format will depend on the efit. If employees perceive it primarily
help them become less susceptible to trainer. Some train employees while as a way to get them to work harder or
longer, it will not be well-received. Obvi-
ously, employers will benefit from resil-
ience strategies. Yet employees benefit
personally, too.
Measure results. Trainers should be
able to point to concrete results that they
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52 HR Magazine • January 2011

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