Preventing Faculty & Staff Burnout : Helping Employees Recognize & Minimize Stress

1. Preventing Faculty & Staff Burnout: Helping Employees Recognize & Minimize Stress Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D. Senior Vice President for Professional Development Programs National Center For Higher Education Risk Management

2. My special thanks to Beth Hudnall Stamm, Ph.D. for allowing us the use of the PRO-QOL for this presentation. • For more information: • www.proqol.org & www.isu.edu/irh Pro-QOL

3. Signs and Symptoms of Stress • Signs and Symptoms of Burnout • Costs of Stress and Burnout • Addressing/Managing/Preventing • Life in Balance • Develop Self-Awareness • Redefine Failure • Positive Psychology • Understand Flow • Engage in Prevention

4. Many staff and faculty become overwhelmed when under stress. We become less effective and struggle to meet even the bare minimum expectations. • While feeling stressed at certain times of the semester is normal (busy lines, grading papers, customer service pressure), cumulative feelings of stress can lead to a larger problem: burnout.

10. Stress Reactions You may be stressed if you…. • no longer look for ways to improve your interactions with students or update your presentations • want to just “get through” the day rather than seeing an opportunity to connect with students • are described as sarcastic and inflexible by others • have trouble delegating tasks

11. Stress Reactions You may be stressed if you…. • have a compelling need to always check email right as it comes in • have feelings of dread at the thought of a new day • think about work constantly during your personal time • fall behind in keeping up with notes, cancel appointments and avoid answering the phone

12. “Brain, body, and mind are inextricably linked... Alterations in any one of these three will intimately affect the other two." —Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. Traumatic Stress

14. We typically experience a reduction in stress symptoms once removed from the environment that is causing the stress. • If we allow stress reactions to build, they accumulate and their impact spreads beyond our work life into home and relationships.

16. Burnout occurs when stress reactions reach a crisis point. • Physical symptoms include: • fatigue, low energy • poor sleep and headaches • irritability • Emotional symptoms include: • anxiety and depression • hopelessness • aggression and cynicism • substance abuse

22. Cost of Stress & Burnout • Job performance decreases • Mistakes increase • Office morale drops • Work relationships suffer • Personal life suffers • Increased risk for substance abuse • Increase risk for problems with physical and mental health • Isolation from others • Decreased sense of self esteem and confidence • High staff turnover ($) • Increase use of sick leave ($) • Lack of collaboration with other offices • Decrease in creativity and connection with students (retention)

23. Create a Life in Balance William Glasser’s Reality Therapy

24. Develop Self-Awareness • Be aware of what you can and cannot do • Identify areas you can let go and let others step in • Trust your intuition • Does work function as an addiction to keep the “feelings of emptiness from manifesting?” • Patterns of over functioning and under functioning should be addressed

25. Develop Self-Awareness From Dr. Grosch and Dr. Olsen’s work in A Perilous Calling; consider some family of origin work. There may be parallels between work and early family. • Was open conflict permitted? Arguing? • What were the “rules of engagement”? • Did you always have to be “calm and reasonable”? • Was overwork encouraged and rewarded? • Was it an “all work and no play household”? • Were there messages about perfectionism?

27. Redefine Failure • Understand failure as part of life. Perfection isn’t something that should be a goal. • Too often, we see failure as asign of weakness, rather than an opportunity for growth. • Assess where your energy is going. Focus on the successes and build from those. • J.K. Rowling professed at a Harvard 2008 commencement address "it is impossible to live without failing at something.”

29. Positive Psychology “The law of floatation was not discovered by contemplating the sinking of things, but by contemplating the floating of things which floated naturally, and then intelligently asking why they did so.” ~ Thomas Troward

30. Positive Psychology • Positive Psychology is the study of what goes right in life, from birth to death and at all stops in between. • Psychology should be concerned with building strength as well as repairing damage. “I think the skills of being a happy person…are not related to the skills of getting rid of unhappiness.”

31. Things we’ve learned from Positive Psychology Wealth is only weakly related to happiness both within and across nations, particularly when income is above the poverty level (Diener & Diener, 1996).

32. Activities that make people happy in small doses – such as shopping, good food and making money – do not lead to fulfillment in the long term, indicating that these have quickly diminishing returns (Myers, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

33. People who express gratitude on a regular basis have better physical health, optimism, progress toward goals, well-being, and help others more (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000).

34. People who witness others performing good deeds experience an emotion called ‘elevation’ and this motivates them to perform their own good deeds (Haidt, 2000).

36. Understand Flow • Coined by Mihály (Mike) Csíkszentmihályi (pronounced Chick-sent-me-high-ee) • When in the “flow” we feel a sense of inner clarity, focus, concentration, outside of ordinary reality

37. When athletes and artists experience the flow--- • they aren’t focused on hunger, injury or discomfort

38. Understand Flow • Flow requires being able to concentrate on one particular task or a related group of tasks for a substantial period of time without having to switch gears. • It takes some time to master the basics before obtaining mastery in flow. Learn to enjoy the process of learning. • Set goals that can be achieved (checking off a list, finishing 5 errands in an hour).

39. When Challenge is greater than our ability, it creates anxiety. When Ability is greater than the Challenge, it creates boredom. Maintaining the dynamic balance is the key.

40. Understand Flow • What activities can be in flow? It can be achieved by filing papers, walking the dog, teaching a class or folding the laundry. • These are the activities that: • you are able to focus on • have a clear objective • are challenging but within your abilities • you have the knowledge to complete • provide feedback on how you are doing

41. Engage in Prevention • Schedule “re-charge” times in your day where you cannot be reached (no cell phone or email) • To avoid isolation, get involved in professional organizations where you can meet and discuss events and mutual problems • Take time for relaxation and for lunch, and take at least two consecutive weeks for vacation • Set boundaries between home and work

42. Engage in Prevention • Create a ‘no-stress zone’ or ‘safe space’ in the office such as an outdoor courtyard for breaks. • Identify healing activities and attend to spiritual needs. • Boredom is extremely stressful and enhances feelings of burnout. Change up the office routine, move furniture, do more interesting tasks at ‘low’ points and get the tedious tasks done first.

44. How to Move Forward Admittedly, it is not easy to take the first step toward any lasting change. When beginning any change, remember the following: • Take small, consistent, measurable steps • See obstacles as part of the process, not unique • Don’t over think; focus on behavior and change • See failure as an opportunity to move forward • Use the support of those around you • See change as a process; not a destination

45. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory

46. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory • Pre‐contemplation: At this stage, the person is unaware that there is a problem and hasn’t thought much about change. • Example: Staff or faculty may be struggling, feeling overwhelmed. Friends and peers may be concerned, but there is no confrontation. The staff or faculty have not thought about trying to adjust their behavior.

47. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory • Contemplation: The person has thought about change and is thinking about doing something different in the near future. They realize their current behavior is not in their best interest, but they are not yet ready to begin their plan to change. • Example: The staff or faculty is aware their behavior is getting in the way of their performance. They are actively thinking about change. They may have been confronted by others about their behavior.

48. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory • Preparation for Action: In this stage, the person is aware of a problem and is ready to actively create goals to change their behavior. • Example: Staff or faculty may be willing to get help or try to adjust their performance. They have thought about ways to change their behavior and may have set future goals to reduce stress.

49. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory • Action: This stage of change is where the person puts their plans into action in order to change behavior. • Example: Staff or faculty have reduced their stress and are working on change. They have either been successful or not at this stage. Friends and peers are likely to notice active changes in behavior.

50. Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory • Maintenance and Relapse Prevention: Here the goal is to continue successful plans and repeat those action steps that work, while adjusting things that don’t. • Example: The plan to cut back has worked and is either being maintained or slipping. The staff and faculty is likely getting positive (and negative) feedback from others.