Five Simple Steps for a Stress Free Life

In the UK, November 7th is Stress Awareness Day.  So here are some useful tips to help you and your staff avoid rising stress levels.

1. Acceptance
There's a possibility that life might not always be plain sailing.  There are times when we need to push out of our comfort zone to grow and develop.  This can lead to feelings of anxiety or stress but will also usually result in some positive change or improvement in your life.  Embrace it, don't fight it.


2. Understanding
The stress response is a natural one designed to protect us.  Feeling stressed is a sign that we feel out of control and that we need to act.  Once you are in the habit of responding appropriately to feeling stressed, you will feel calmer, sooner.


3. Honesty
Stress has mental and physical implications.  You must be honest about your responses to stress and whether or not they will really help you feel better.  Faced with a super busy day ahead, loading up with caffeine and a sugary breakfast will only leave you feeling more stressed.

Alternative choices such as porridge or eggs with herbal tea or water will calm your system and help reduce stress levels.  Because stress arises when we feel things are beyond our control, find simple ways to take control wherever you can and return to a state of calm, clear thinking as quickly as possible.


4. True Stress Management
Managing stress does not necessarily mean eliminating stress.  The key to success is to know how far you are willing to move out of your comfort zone and how often you are willing to do this.  You can then manage how quickly you make progress through life without ever feeling overwhelmed.


5. Be a Team Player
Just as others may cause you stress, so you may cause stress for those around you.  Pause for a moment and think about what you do that could cause stress for others.  Then consider alternative approaches.  If everyone in any team or family asks themselves this question, overall levels of stress are greatly reduced.


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5 tips for increasing staff engagement with wellness

The buzzwords for this year's World Health Day are 'no action today, no cure for tomorrow'.

These words couldn't be more relevant when it comes to the health and wellness of every single individual, within every single organisation around the world.

At The Tonic we're all about instant action to improve the health, performance and energy of everyone we work with. So today, here are the top 5 ways in which any organisation can instantly improve staff engagement with wellness programmes.

Tomorrow we'll post the top 5 individual wellbeing behaviour changes that create the greatest instant impact and provide the longest lasting results.

Make sure you and your business are taking action today to develop a healthy and engaged workforce for tomorrow.

1. Get people excited

Communicate the value to individuals within your business of your wellness initiatives, not the value to the organisation. Explain clearly the personal benefits they will experience if they take part.

2. Create something for everyone

A range of flexible initiative that are well subscribed is much more successful than a limited number of expensive, under-utilised interventions. Be creative with your wellbeing solutions.

3. Cultivate the desire to opt in rather than the desire to opt out

Start small and make your initiatives effective. Word will spread and everyone will want to take part. Before you know it you'll be managing a waiting list rather than spending time persuading people to come along to events

4. Keep it fresh, keep it simple.

Timing is a big part of staff adopting wellness change so make sure you send regular, consistent messages but keep the initiatives simple. Ongoing, straightforward initiatives will have a greater cummulative effect than fancy interventions that no-one understands. Think about awareness raising events and practical, useful workshops rather than complicated competitions or online surveys.

5. Appeal to groups and individuals

Think about the people and the teams within your business and target them accordingly. Some staff will prefer group initiatives, others will opt for interventions targeted at the individual. If you're not sure what people would respond to best, ask them.

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What Good Wellbeing Feels Like

Following our blog on what good wellbeing looks like when successfully implemented in business, we thought it would be worth sharing our experiences on what good wellbeing feels like for those who benefit from the initiatives. It's a topic that seems particularly relevant given the busy week that many people have just experienced...

So, as a new Prime Minister arrives at Number 10, the question arises as to how you take care of your wellbeing as you take on one of the most demanding roles in the country? And does looking after your wellbeing really help you to perform better and cope with the challenges of a demanding job? We believe it does and many world leaders agree. David Cameron is a keen runner and cyclist, and President Obama loves basketball and the gym. And it's not just those in the top jobs that benefit from looking after themselves. So what results do people experience and how does wellbeing change their life? Read the two examples below of how far reaching the benefits of good wellbeing can be. They both came from people we've worked with and illustrate how straightforward getting great results with wellbeing can be if tackled in the right way. What Good Wellbeing Feels Like ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Good Wellbeing 1: Weight Loss, Stamina and a New Lease of Life I want to thank you indeed for your good suggestions about fitness, and I want to update you about my performance: When I started the programme my personal weight was 93 kilos and now after 10.5 month, my weight is 73 kilos. Last Saturday I ran my first marathon (previously for me to run 5 kilometers was a mirage...) and I'm starting training for NY2011. My work and personal life is totally different and I feel better, in particular for headache and stomachache: now only good food in correct quantities. Good Wellbeing 2: Confidence, Balance, Energy and Positivity Weight loss continues. I am very pleased to say I have dropped a dress size. I put an old suit on today and I couldn't wear the pants - they were too baggy. I have now lost 11kgs and have had to buy a new wardrobe!!! I feel great! Still wearing the pedometer and on average am doing 10,000 steps per day (yesterday I did 17,000 just in the course of work) . Am taking the stairs at work when I don't have heavy bags to carry and am now run/walking 4kms in 30 mins, three times a week and it's having a very good effect on my tennis game and at netball. I have bought a Pilates band and DVD and am doing a session at home a couple of times per week and am really watching what I am eating (and drinking!) I am receiving a lot of positive support from family and colleagues about the changes I have made and the changes they can see. I have more energy and am feeling really positive about work and life in general. Can I thank you sincerely for your encouragement to give new things a try. Do keep in touch - it's lovely to be able to give a positive account of how things are going. Success Strategies for Corporate Wellbeing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've recently added a new download to our website: 5 success strategies and 9 quick tips to boost engagement, motivation and energy in your business. Click here to download your copy Visit our website to read about organisations are already experiencing fantastic results with wellness programmes.

Helping Businesses Achieve Fantastic Results By Energising Their People The Tonic 020 8995 1302 info@the-tonic.com www.the-tonic.com Become a Fan of The Tonic on Facebook Follow Jeff's updates on Twitter

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Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 5

When it comes to spending money of the wellbeing of your staff during a recession, how do you make sure you're spending it in the right place? Just throwing money at this area rarely works well because you need to be strategic and work around the specific needs of your workforce. Here are some guidelines that should help you make the right decision with your budget.

How do I make the right decision about what to spend the money on?
Fancy initiatives that cost a fortune are no substitute for targeted initiatives that make a real difference. Bear in mind the following guidelines:

• Use initiatives that get people excited and get people involved
• Incentivise your programme by recognising and rewarding those who take part. This needn’t mean elaborate prizes but cost effective tokens of appreciation or even simply publicly acknowledged success stories that get staff engaged and create a brilliant buzz around your office.
• Think it through and talk it through. The Tonic can help you implement a programme either as part of your current training modules or as stand-alone initiatives.


Read Part 1
Read Part 2
Read Part 3

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Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 4

Money is too tight to mention.

So surely this is the worst time to be seen to be spending money on areas like health and wellbeing in the office isn't it? And how will you be able to justify it to colleagues within the business and if you're a public sector company, how do you justify it outside of the company?

How do we justify the extra spend internally and externally?
If you’re concerned that the money you’re planning to invest in wellbeing will come under scrutiny from your staff or from sources outside the business, particularly the media, make sure that everyone knows the full story. Be transparent about the positive intentions the company has for its culture and its people. Make it clear to staff that you’ve done your research and you’re responding to what you know will improve happiness, motivation and performance levels within your business. Explain to the media how every pound you’re planning to invest in this area is designed to generate many more pounds when it comes to increasing productivity and morale, and reducing absence, turnover and recruitment costs. Wellbeing initiatives create greater efficiency which ultimately benefits everyone. And there's no getting away from that.

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Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 3

Continuing our series on ways to get your organisation through the recession, one of the most difficult arguments to make when trying to motivate staff with new health benefits is justifying the spend. 'Why can't you just pay us the money you're spending on this scheme instead' is a question you may hear. So how do you reply to that?

Wouldn’t staff just prefer extra cash at the end of the month?
The reason most businesses don’t simply offer more money is that extra pay can be a very short lived incentive while the right wellbeing initiatives provide staff with resources that generate personal benefits way beyond a few extra pounds each month. This is money well spent on building engagement, retention and loyalty as well as providing added value for employees.

Think long term and you'll be rewarded for it. Short term fixes are just that - short term and very quickly taken for granted.

To read Part 1 of this series, click here.

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Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 1

During the downturn, many things that we had come to regard as standard get parked for a while. Bonuses, pay rises, office morale, and wellness schemes. They are all regarded as perks and not possible when the world is suffering a recession.

However, some of the things we lose are ironically the things that can help us get us through this recession intact and ready to face the stress and upheaval that gets thrown at us.

Hanging on to your wellbeing initiatives is so important to help you manage the new demands that are being put on staff and managers. But how do you justify it to those who make the decisions.

This is part one of a guide that has been compiled to help you do understand why Wellness is essential during a recession and it will run for the next few weeks. 

Would love to hear your views on this.

1. Surely Wellbeing isn’t a priority right now?

Make no mistake, there is no better time to look after your employees than when the pressure is on and demands on them are greatest. 

If you’re working with teams who’ve had their numbers cut, they need to be engaged and motivated to focus on the job and not on insecurities around them. If your initiatives are properly designed, they will have an immediate impact throughout the business and get great results. 

A downturn is when your people need support the most not a time to deny them an outlet for their worries and stresses.

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The secret to making your wellness scheme work

The desire to set up a health and wellness programme that will really help your employees and genuinely get your absenteeism figures down is a shared dream for many companies. Especially at a time like this when there is no room or time for tolerating staff who can't give 100%.

But some companies actually knuckle down and do it and reap the HUGE benefits. There's a great case study released this month about First ScotRail who did just that. It'll inspire you I'm sure to get out of the 'thinking about it stage' into the 'getting on and doing it stage' I'm sure.

When you have a staff base who come to you as school leavers and stay with you for their whole working lives, you get to know them and what makes them tick. More importantly, you get to understand what causes them to be absent from work and why and you know when it's time to tackle this.

This is exactly what happened to the Nicola Macpherson, occupational health advisor at First ScotRail.

Her approach was a smart one - tackle each obstacle by taking on the biggest problem first and working from there. She knew her staff were mostly shift workers so there was a work-life balance issue to be addressed and she knew that absenteeism was mostly caused by musculo skeletal problems and mental health problems and so again, she addressed these big issues above all else.

Read her brief case study - it really does make you want to get stuck into your own programme today and get the problems ironed out.

The best tip to be learned from Nicola Macpherson I think is that by tackling the biggest problem first, the rest will follow. Don't put off taking on the elephant in the room.

We help companies to solve their problems by supplying the expertise they need to address the health and wellness of their workforce. Why not contact us and tell us what your biggest issues are and we can give you free and friendly advice.

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