All I Want For The Holidays Is A Cure For The Workplace Blues!

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 24 Dec 2007 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Are the holidays bumming you out?

Ceridian LifeWorks, a leading provider of employee assistance programs (EAP) and health and productivity solutions, examined inbound call volume to its service centers and found that calls related to depression, stress management, family relationships, suicide and personal finance spike in January, following the holiday season.

"As we navigate the holiday season, the thermometer drops and the blues-o-meter climbs," said Ceridian LifeWorks product manager Catherine Macpherson. "On the home front, people are confronted with more family and financial issues than any other time of the year, putting them at higher risk for the blues. At work, the problem can be exacerbated by pressure-packed work environments as many scramble to finish up tasks before the holidays."

Macpherson encourages employees to consider the following practical tips to combat holiday stressors, a major contributor to holiday blues.

- Laugh. Humor is a powerful release.
- Shout. Shout to yourself or out loud when alone.
- Exercise. Sweat it out.
- Play. Spend time with your kids, play a board or video game.
- Cry. This is a natural release. Let it happen.
- Work. Do physical work. Chop wood, shovel or clean the house.
- Turn off. Shut down your email indicator and the phone.
- Stretch. Relieve the tension in your muscles.
- Sleep. Take a nap or go to bed early. Being overtired can amplify stress.
- Call. Phone a friend or family member.
- Seek Help. Don't be afraid to seek professional counseling when things get overwhelming.

"Problems related to holiday blues take a serious toll on employee productivity - an issue that we know costs employers millions of dollars every year," said LifeWorks senior vice president Zachary Meyer. "The good news is that there are effective ways for employers to control the negative impact of the holiday blues."

Meyer shares the following tips to help reduce stress and depression in the workplace during the holiday season.

- Reflect on the state of your business in prior holiday seasons. Review the numbers, your notes and employee absence data to determine if your business has suffered. Ask yourself the following questions: Were there resource issues due to an increase in employee absence up to the holidays? Does absence data from prior years show a higher incidence of employees being late or leaving early?

- Create a Plan. Mitigate the risk that these issues will reoccur. If you see a seasonal increase in attendance issues, consider putting attendance incentives in place. One example, offer a bonus for perfect attendance.

- Focus employee resources. People are more productive when they have fewer projects. Examine business priorities and projects. Are there certain activities that have higher priority and others that can be put off?

- Find a healthy balance between holiday work and play. Manage the frequency of holiday celebrations in the workplace. Allowing employees to acknowledge the holidays is a wonderful way to boost coworker camaraderie and employee morale. Too many parties, however, can distract employees from their work and exacerbate holiday burnout.

Ceridian was the nation's first provider of fully integrated EAP, work-life and wellness services. Today, Ceridian's EAP, work-life and health and productivity solutions are used by more than 37,000 organizations of all sizes in virtually every industry.

About Ceridian

Ceridian is a business services company that helps its customers maximize the power of their people, lower their costs and focus on what they do best. The company's suite of innovative managed human resource solutions includes payroll and compensation, staffing, compliance, HR administration and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), work-life and health and productivity solutions. Ceridian serves businesses and employees in the United States, Canada and Europe.

http://www.myceridian.com