• 68% of workers, age 35-44 say they feel stressed or extremely stressed
• 42% of workers have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety
• 89% of workers think their employer should offer mental health benefits

This is how stressed our employees feel according to the Headspace for Work 2020 Mental Health Trends Report.

Just like a sailboat needs its crew to give it their all to make it through a storm, companies can only make it through these challenging times when everyone is performing at their best. With the ongoing uncertainty, the financial pressure, and the fear installed by the media, it’s no wonder that so many employees say they feel stressed. This is hurting your company. Stress has a negative impact on their performance and functioning, resulting in loss of productivity.

Their fear and anxiety about what may happen next are affecting them physically, emotionally, and mentally. They are worried they or someone they love might get sick. Will they be able to pay their bills? Feed their children? Will they be the one fired next? All these concerns make it difficult to concentrate and focus on their job. Others may show up for work, but don’t really want to be there and so don’t care about how they’re doing their job.

What can you do to support your staff and help them perform better, so your company can make it through the storm and come out stronger?

Here are 5 practical ways to reduce fear and anxiety for yourself and your team:

1. SMILE

Smile for no reason at all and see the world around you transform. Take on the challenge of smiling for 7 days non-stop. Wake up a with a smile, brush your teeth and see yourself smile in the mirror, smile at your kids, your spouse, your coworker, smile at anyone who crosses your path.

It’s very difficult to be angry or upset with a smile on your face. And even though in the beginning it can feel very natural, keep smiling and before you know, you’ll notice how the magic of your smile not only changes your life but every person you touch.

2. Love and Laugh Lots

Did you know that laughter is healing? It strengthens your immune system, reduces feelings of stress, and brightens your mood. Laughter increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, which improves resistance to illness as found in a WebMD study.

After a good laugh, you get a fresh perspective on life. The good news is, it’s fun, easy, and free Watch a funny movie this weekend, and laugh until your belly hurts. Tell jokes and ask others to tell you their best jokes.

3. Reach Out to Others & Share Good News

Relationships are the MOST IMPORTANT thing in life. They define your happiness, health, longevity, and wealth. When we feel anxious and down, the tendency is to withdraw and be consumed with our problems. The best way to shift and instantly feel better is by reaching out to others and share joy and light.

Call your mom, your sister, your friends – find out how they are doing? Send nice messages to your high school friends, FB friends, coworkers. Let them know you’re thinking about them. Send them a smile, a hug, or a word of encouragement. If you’re Christian, reach out to your friends from the church and send them a scripture. The more you shine your light, the happier you’ll be.

4. Go on a ‘Bad News Diet’

Most people believe that the media is giving reliable information about what’s happening in the world. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, journalists don’t give an unbiased report of world events. They have their own agenda and are making big money spreading fear, panic, and hype, after all that’s what sells.

Give yourself a break and watch what happens when you go on a ‘bad news diet’ for 7 days. Don’t watch the news, listen to the radio, read the newspaper or pay attention to any YouTube or videos that don’t share good news. If someone starts talking to you about how bad the situation is, kindly tell them you’re on a diet – a bad news diet. And ask them, “please can you tell me something that is good in your life?” Don’t take my word for it, test it for yourself and see if you feel better.

5. Go Outdoors!

From a walk to the park or on the beach, hiking in the mountains, or cycling in the forest, spending time outside in nature is a great way to improve your mood and well-being. Especially as we spend so much time behind our screens and on our cell phones, it’s important to go out and enjoy nature.

There are a bunch of studies that show how beneficial it is to spend time outdoors, but really, we don’t researchers to tell us that. You know how good being in nature makes you feel, the beauty of spring leaves changing color, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, or even looking at a starry sky. It’s just a matter of taking time and making it a priority to get outdoors to recharge and refresh.

Knowing what to do is the first step, then it’s the matter of applying and validating the improvements. The more you validate your improvements, the more successful you’ll be. When you’d love to have “your crew” be at their best, so they are motivated and equipped to carry your company through any storm, let us provide them with the training and tools they need. We love to help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Email Results@CompassEfficiency.com.

Employees not showing up for work, can feel like someone throwing a bucket of ice water in your face – If this happens too many times for too long… It can knock your business out!

Poor health, costs US employers $530 billion per year and 1.4 billion workdays of absence and impaired performance, according to Integrated Benefits Institute.

To put this in perspective, $530 billion is more than the combined revenue of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, EBAY, and Adobe!! 1.4 billion days of absence is more than every nurse in the US missing a whole year of work.

Those are the numbers on a big scale, but how does it translate to everyday life in your company?

Whether employees call in sick or show up for work ill, in both cases it is very destabilizing and negatively impacts productivity. It’s crippling your company, as the same work has to get done, only with fewer people. As a result, balls get dropped, work not done and more strain is put on the remaining employees who often end up having to take over the workload of missing coworkers, working over hours, or getting behind on their own job…

Productive and healthy employees are the heart of your organization – and just like with the physical heart, most people take it for granted, until it starts failing and it’s too late…

Investing in a healthy workforce is an investment in your greatest asset. Statistics clearly show that the investment pays itself back many times over – and has a profound impact on your bottom line. Fatigue, lethargy, tiredness, irritability, mental issues, lack of concentration, relationship problems, high blood pressure, etc., are “symptoms” that, if not handled, will lead to your company crumbling from the inside.

One out of five of your employees will get cancer, one out of six will get a heart attack, one out of seven will develop high blood pressure, eight out of every ten already has digestive problems, depression, or anxiety that is reducing their productivity – even though they do show up for work…

So, what can be done to improve overall health and reduce sick leave?

• Getting Skinny Eating Dessert Wellness Program

Desserts are FUN! Don’t you love doing things that are fun? When you’re having fun, there are no limitations. If you’re at a party with great dance music, and you love dancing, you forget about time. If an amazing opportunity comes up, your headache suddenly is gone, and your worries take a back seat.

Many people are stuck in their habits. They do things on automatic pilot without giving it much thought – from the food they eat, the restaurants they visit, the friends they hang out with, how they spend their time and how they do their job.

As the saying goes, you can take a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink. You can’t force your employees to make healthier choices, but what if you’d make it super fun? What if you could help them see how they benefit from being more productive and how making changes will improve every aspect of their life? They will take control of their health on their own self-determinism, rather than do it because they have to.

Often it helps to talk with the opinion leaders first and ask them to help you get the rest of the team involved. They often have good ideas as they know their colleagues very well and others are more likely to want to participate when it’s recommended by their peers than ‘enforced’ from management.

• Learn To Love Bacteria

The reality is that most people don’t really know how what to do to stay healthy. Without understanding the effect of what they eat on their health, and what causes diseases your employees can easily fall victim to the commercial industry.

After Louis Pasteur came up with the germ theory in 1860 as the explanation for getting sick, and Sir Alexander Fleming made the “magic bullet” penicillin to kill bacteria in 1928, the world declared war against germs. The medical and the food industry took advantage of the general belief that germs were the feared invisible enemy that had to be eliminated. Is it a coincidence that the use of antibiotics, vaccines, pasteurized food, anti-bacterial soaps, and hand sanitizers are at the highest ever just like chronic diseases are at an all-time high and employees are suffering health issues at a younger age than ever before in history?

Your employees need to be educated that be healthy and ward off illness, it is crucial to strengthen the immune system and microbiome. The microbiome is a collection of trillions of microscopic organisms living in and on the body – in the mouth, gut, vagina, and skin. These thousands of different bacterial species play an important role in the immune system. The trillions of germs in the body do a lot of important work – they help with digestion, defense, vitamin manufacturing, nutrient activation, fermentation, detoxing, and other crucial functions. They protect the body against bad, life-threatening pathogens – bacteria, viruses, or other micro-organisms that can cause disease. The problem is not too many germs, the problem is too few germs.

When employees strengthen their immune system by applying some key principles, it will not only prevent occasional flu or cold, it will improve their overall well-being and productivity as well as their emotional well-being – their body will function better, they will perform better without aches and pains, they can prevent chronic disease and have more energy, clarity and focus in everyday life.

• Reward High Performers

In some socialistic countries, people get money from the government for not having a job, while those who work hard have to hand over a percentage of their salary, and those who work the hardest (smartest) and make a lot of money are penalized even harder as they are in the highest tax brackets. The problem with a system where the productive people are being “punished” and the unproductive people are rewarded, is that you get more and more unproductive people. Which is also one of the big issues with disengaged employees is that they are getting rewarded for doing little. Their paycheck arrives as long as they come to the office and show their face regardless of their level of productivity.

Create a game with awesome prizes or rewards. By doing that, you focus and reward the top performers, and as a result, you’ll get more performers. A score or leadership board works great to track the most productive people in your organization. To decide what prizes or rewards to give, ask your employees. Survey what they would love to win for stepping up their game by taking care of their body and increasing their productivity. It has to be something they get excited about.

Sick leave is costing your company more than you realize, which is why investing in your employee’s health and productivity is a smart decision. It will be less expensive, and what’s more, you’ll create a culture of high performers who thrive and are having fun growing your company. If you’d like to find out more about the Getting Skinny Eating Dessert Wellness program, email us at Results@CompassEfficiency.com.