A Message From Peter
Hello and welcome to the inaugural issue of Performance Coaching's online newsletter! In response to several requests from clients, as well as feedback from our customer survey, we have put together a quarterly newsletter that will educate and intrigue through a mix of content. Articles by our team of experts, links to outside points of view we have found interesting, book reviews, and interesting web sites are just some of the information we will pass on in each issue. This quarter we are featuring an article written by Performance Coaching co-founder Sandra Stark on mental fitness, based on new research that links an organizational focus on mental fitness to some unexpected benefits. If the article twigs your interest, have a look at The Inside Edge, a program that teaches the skills of mental fitness based on our twenty years of sport and corporate experience.
This newsletter also marks the launch of the new and much improved www.performancecoaching.ca. It has been overhauled to deliver a better user experience, and easier access to information. We've added video clips, case studies, and a lot more to approximate the experience of our programs as closely as possible. Do please give it a look!
Hope you enjoy the article and the new site... keep in touch.
Your Head, Your Health, and Your Work - What's the link?
by Sandra Stark
As the cost of mental health claims steadily climb, the financial logic of a mentally healthy workplace is compelling. What is more difficult to see is how to get there. In a new article based on recent research, Performance Coaching co-founder Sandra Stark outlines the imperative for developing employees' mental fitness skills, and the unexpected benefits an organization can reap as a result.
The Importance of Mental Fitness
The mental dimension of performance has been receiving a lot of attention recently - for all the wrong reasons. Statistics Canada recently reported that stress-related absences cost employers $3.5-billion annually, and that health costs for employees reporting high levels of stress are 50% above average. In another study, the Business And Economic Roundtable on Mental Health called depression at work "the unheralded business crisis in Canada", and noted that "workplace stress is a factor in the onset of mental illness". Given that mental health issues comprise 75% of short-term and 79% of long-term disability claims, the cost of neglecting employees' mental well-being is staggeringly high.
Clearly, the mental well-being of employees directly impacts the bottom line. And herein lies the opportunity.
Focusing on the development of employees' mental fitness skills is an untapped lever for growing the bottom line that is completely within the control of the organization. And, it represents a tremendous opportunity that extends beyond reducing the negative impact of stress - an opportunity to improve performance under pressure, increase employee engagement, and create an environment of trust that fosters productivity.
Improved Performance Under Pressure
The skills of mental fitness originate in the field of Sport Psychology - a discipline dedicated to studying excellence under intense pressure. As the physical aspects of sport, such as training regimens, nutrition, etc., have become more standardized at the elite level, who wins and loses is increasingly determined by the mental fitness of the athlete. The situation in business is extremely similar. As the talent pool becomes increasingly skilled and better educated, the true competitive advantage comes from having people who can access their skills and knowledge when it matters most - when the pressure is on.
While it was once thought that mental fitness was something innate within an individual, out work with elite level sport has shown us that it can be taught, learned, practiced and mastered. It is a set of skills just like any other, that is an essential complement to the technical skills any job requires.
Increased Employee Engagement
A recent Towers Perrin study of over 35,000 employees found that more than 60% of employees are only 'moderately' engaged and could easily slide to the wrong end of the engagement scale. The study concludes that strengthening the engagement of this group, whom they term "the massive middle", may be "the most critical task virtually every employer faces today". The study also outlined the 10 major drivers of employee engagement, oh which the number one driver was "senior management's interest in employees' well-being."
With 1 in 3 employees reporting high levels of stress, one of the most effective ways senior management can demonstrate interest in their employees' well-being is to take visible action to recognize and address the pressures they face through mental fitness training.
An Environment of Trust
The bedrock of a mentally healthy work environment is trust. Distrust at work is a key predictor of absenteeism and disability rates, and an impediment to the open flow of information. The foundation of an environment of trust is 'walking the talk' when it comes to valuing your employees - backing up statements like 'people are our greatest asset' with action. Giving your employees the opportunity to develop the mental fitness skills they need to pro-actively manage the stressors in their lives is one of the most powerful ways to start building an environment of trust.
Mental Fitness: A Win-Win Proposition
Developing mental fitness drives employee engagement and builds trust. Mentally fit employees perform under pressure and take responsibility for managing their stress. The benefits of investing in mental fitness are substantial for both individuals and the organization. If you want to create an environment of trust where engaged employees consistently perform at their best, building mental capability needs to be a key component of your plan.
Performance Coaching's Inside Edge workshop and products teach the skills of mental fitness. They are based on Dr. Peter Jensen's 20 years of experience with Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 companies.
- Graham Lowe, Trust can Ease the Stress (The Globe and Mail, October 22, 2003)
- The Unheralded Business Crisis in Canada: Depression At Work (Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health, July 2000)
- Staying@Work 2005 (Watson Wyatt Canada, April 2005) Retrieved from http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=14547 on April 22, 2005
- Working Today: Understanding What Drives Employee Engagement (Towers Perrin Inc., 2003)