Kaitlin Luna: Welcome to Speaking of Psychology,
a bi-weekly podcast from the American Psychological
Association. I'm your host, Kaitlin Luna.
The topic for this episode is psychologically
healthy workplaces. We spend a significant
portion of our lives at work and feeling miserable
on the job can be detrimental to our mental
and physical health and productivity. A work
environment that is psychologically healthy
is one that focuses on employee�s health
and well-being, and the bottom line. To explain
more about what makes a workplace psychologically
healthy, our guests for this episode are Dr.
David Ballard, who leads APA�s Office of
Applied Psychology, and Bryce Veon, president
and CEO of Autosoft, one of the winners of
our 2019 Psychologically Healthy Workplace
awards. Autosoft, based in northwest Pennsylvania,
is an auto dealer management system provider.
Welcome, David Ballard and Mr. Veon.
David Ballard: Thanks, Katelyn.
Bryce Veon: Thanks. Good to be here.
Katelyn Luna: First off, Dr. Ballard, can
you explain what it means to be a psychologically
healthy workplace?
David Ballard: Sure. Being a psychologically
healthy workplace really just means paying
attention to employee wellbeing and organizational
performance and working toward the best outcomes
possible for all of the people involved. So,
that means employees, the organization, shareholders
or owners of the organization and even the
community that an organization is embedded
in. And there's not one single way of doing
this. There's not a one size fits all approach.
It really is about taking comprehensive steps
to create this kind of healthy and productive
environment, and the types of things we see
in organizations fall into some general categories
-- employee involvement, growth and development
opportunities, health and safety initiatives,
work-life balance and flexibility, employee
recognition and then good effective two-way
communication in an organization.
In an environment like that where a psychologically
healthy workplace is created, it helps employees
and the organization thrive.
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, how so?
David Ballard: Well, it creates a supportive
environment so that those benefits and perks
that come into play help employees be at their
best when they're on the job so that they
could manage the competing demands in their
lives. They feel recognized and rewarded for
their contributions to the organization and
really be engaged in the work that they're
contributing to the organization to move it
forward and advance its mission.
Kaitlin Luna: And do you think by and large
organizations understand what it means to
be psychologically healthy?
David Ballard: I think increasingly they do.
But, there's a lot of variability. Some organizations
are really far ahead, and they've been doing
this for years, and others are just starting
to get on board. Overall, we've seen employers
move from a really narrow focus on physical
health to more of a wellness approach and
now, increasingly a focus on well-being. So,
really looking at the whole person in the
work environment. So, they're not just focusing
on health risk reduction and cost savings
anymore. They're really looking at the full
value that that these efforts can contribute
to the organization and to the employees who
work there.
A lot of organizations know it's the right
thing to do. They want to take care of employees
and create a good environment. But, employers
also get that this is smart business. This
is their good business decisions, and therefore,
the more they understand the importance of
it. We have to do a better job of getting
out information about how you actually accomplished
this. So, more employers understand it, but
they don't necessarily know how to do it.
Kailin Luna: And this also helps employees
with employee retention. This helps productivity.
You know, I think that's one of those things
that may be an employer. Do you think they
think, okay, if I'm letting people use time
to exercise, are they being productive? But,
research shows that it does help. It does
boost productivity. And when people feel connected,
right too, you know, to make people feel like
they're supported, they feel more connected
to their work.
David Ballard: Even in that example that you
gave there's research that shows that even
when employees take time out of their work
day to exercise, they more than make up for
that time in the gain productivity throughout
the day when they do that. So yeah, overall
these kinds of efforts benefit employees.
They benefit the organization. You know, on
the employee front, it contributes to higher
levels of job satisfaction, better physical
and mental health. The morale is better in
a workplace. They're more motivated, and they're
better able to manage the stress that they
face day to day on the job.
But on the employer side, there are a lot
of benefits as well. So yes, it can help reduce
problematic things like absenteeism and turnover
presenteeism, where people are physically
on the job, but they're not performing up
to their full potential because they're burned
out or sick. But more importantly, it improves
performance and productivity. It can improve
product and service quality, customer service
and satisfaction. Ratings reduce accidents
and injuries. It can help an employer become
an employer of choice. And that's really critical,
because if you can attract and retain the
best quality workers, that gives you a competitive
advantage in the marketplace.
Kaitlin Luna: And you do interviews in the
media all the time about this very topic,
and you've said that company culture matters
the most. So, how did those perks in the center�s
fit in with the larger culture?
David Ballard: Yeah, that's a very important
point because it's not just about the perks
or the benefits or the policies or programs
that an employer puts in place. Those values
have to get instilled in the actual culture
of the organization. I mean, employees are
smart. They know when an organization doesn't
mean it, and they're putting something in
place to either squeeze more productivity
out of them. And they know when employees
don't really care about their well-being.
So, it has to get embedded in the culture,
and the organization has to walk the talk.
You can't just say that you care about it
and slap some programs in place. The psycho-social
work environment is really critical, and this
is why psychology is important in the workplace
-- because those organizational level factors,
the way work is designed and carried out in
organizations makes a huge difference.
Having supportive supervisors, the level of
trust that exists in an organization, whether
employees feel valued for their contributions,
whether they're positive interpersonal relationships
and civility and the interactions that occur
there, and whether employees are engaged in
meaningful work where they feel connected
to the mission of the organization. And they
understand their role in helping to advance
that.
Kaitlin Luna: Why do you think there's been
this shift? I mean, do you think all of these
wellness programs or and perks and things
like that? Why do you think it's so important
today? Do we see this in the workplace thirty,
forty years ago?
David Ballard: Well, a lot of these efforts
have existed for a long time, but they had
a much narrower focus. So, I think it's coming
from multiple angles. I think employers are
increasingly coming to understand that creating
a psychologically healthy workplace is good
for employees and is good for business, too.
I think there's a shift in expectation among
workers who are entering the workforce that
they expect to have more flexibility and to
juggle the competing things they have in life.
They expect to have a job where they feel
like they're contributing your something bigger
than themselves.
And then, even in public opinion, a lot more
of this has talked about openly. So, if an
employer is not taking these steps, employees
will go elsewhere. They�ll go seek out jobs
somewhere else that they see is a better work
environment.
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, what does APA look for
in award winners for the psychologically healthy
workplace awards?
David Ballard: Well, the process for our award
evaluation is actually quite rigorous. So,
it's not just a vanity workplace award where
you talk about how great you are in a short
essay. And if it sounds nice, we give you
an award. As a psychologist, we're held to
a different standard, so we really want to
bring our research to bear and our assessment
skills in psychology to evaluate these applicant
organizations.
So, there's a multi-step process that involves
collecting qualitative and quantitative information
from the organizations. We conduct online
employee surveys of the applicants. We hear
from employees themselves. One of the unique
things about the program is we actually go
out and do site visits. So, we tour the facility.
We meet with the organization's leaders and
do focus groups with employees and look for
a convergence of data and from all of those
sources to identify organizations that are
doing this well.
So, we look for organizations that understand
the importance of creating a psychologically
healthy workplace and how that connects to
employee well-being and the success and performance
of the organization. And we look for organizations
that are taking steps in all of those major
areas I mentioned earlier -- employee involvement
and growth and development, and so on. And
we also look for positive outcomes on the
employee-front and for the organization. So,
we want to see that this is actually accomplishing
something in the organizations.
And then finally, we look for an ongoing commitment
from organizations that creating a psychologically
healthy workplace, it isn't an in state. It's
an ongoing process that even companies that
are doing great can always work to improve
things, and the environment changes. So, it's
something you have to stay on top of and continue
to make strides to make it even better moving
forward.
Kaitlin Luna: Okay, let's turn over to Autosoft
for a few. Mr. Veon, congratulations, your
company's had good turnaround story that happened
the past few years. Can you talk about what
happened?
Bryce Veon: Sure, yeah, when I came to Autosoft,
full-time, it was a family business. But,
I stepped out for a while, and when I came
back, you know, I had a vision that I wanted
to take the company in a new direction because
we're building a new products and he needed
to move up market in our industry. And when
I came back, I saw a culture that was missing.
There wasn't a management style that really
fit with how I wanted to run things. And I
always had a value in, you know, the mixture
of, you know, feeling like there's a, a purpose
in the work and big goals, but also just having
some trust and some, really excitement about
the work that we do. And when I came back,
we didn't have that here. We had a lot of
people who, you know, didn't understand whether
they were doing a good job or not. We didn't
have, you know, reviews or one on ones.
So, actually, when I first came back, it took
a lot of time to build some trust. Because
when I started putting these new programs,
even though these were positive programs,
the first reaction was just skepticism. And
maybe it was something new and it was change.
So, that's where some of this started off,
and it took us years to get to where we are
today.
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, how did you get past that
-- those trust challenges you just mentioned?
Bryce Veon: Really just open communications,
laying out a plan that they never really understood
before. Didn't have a lot of his ability or
ownership to before, you know, they a lot
of employees, you know, didn't feel like they
had the autonomy or the power to make decisions
or help make, you know, plans or put new projects
in place or accomplished new things that would
help company so it really opened up a lot
of trust in two-way communication across the
company.
Kaitlin Luna: And can you now talk about how
your company's culture is like today and what
benefits you provide employees? I know that
wellness programs are popular with Autosoft.
Bryce Veon: Yeah, no, we probably have too
many programs in some ways. We would do a
lot. And, you know, I think it's just, you
know, as we saw some of the success out of
these programs as we put them in place, I
think we were always trying to, you know,
look ahead. You know, it's an ever-evolving
thing and the business is always changing,
and the needs of the people are always changing,
and the demographics are changing all the
time. So, we're always trying to make sure
we have the right fit to the right people,
the culture in the business needs in the,
you know and what we need out of the business
as far as performance goes. And so, it's a
balance all the time. But, we do all kinds
of programs, both physical and mental. And,
just even some of the way we interact here,
you know, has a lot to do with, you know,
having a healthy environment.
Kaitlin Luna: I want to talk about a couple
of specific things you have going on. What's
your �You've Been Caught� initiative?
Bryce Veon: Ah, the �You've Been Caught�
is, it's kind of a peer-based program where,
you know it really rewards people for, you
know, giving some recognition that people
for making the right choices in their life,
whether it be healthy choices. You know, maybe
they, you know, brought a healthy lunch. Or,
you know, we're doing well on sticking to,
you know, their diet or encouraging others
to adopt healthy ways, things like that.
So, it's almost, you know, you could walk
by and you could see somebody taking a piece
of candy or something and say, �ah, you've
been caught.� No, and it just kind of, you
know, it's like dropping do ten pushups and,
you know, there's a little bit of a, you know,
a little bit of a family feel of like, hey,
you know, hey, we're going to help each other
do better.
Kaitlin Luna: And how is that? How has that
caught on with your group?
Bryce Veon: It's caught on really well. We've
actually sort of evolved that program. Now
we've included. We call it the Token Award
program, so it now involves a little wider,
pure-based program that includes some monetary
and gift rewards for achieving goals, personal
goals and things like that.
Kaitlin Luna: And you also have something
called a �Take Ten Station,� which I found
interesting, where employees can take a break
from their work to de-stress. And they could
do fun things like put together a puzzle,
color or make a paper airplane. He talked
about how that's helped your employees during
the day.
Bryce Veon: Yeah, we have these stations throughout
the buildings and on the different floors.
And, you know, really, I'll see employees
that maybe they're waiting for a meeting to
get into a meeting, and they're kind of gathered
around one of the tables, and they're kind
of chit chatting and talking each other, get
to know each other. But, also at the same
time, you know, they're doing a puzzle together.
They're just doing a project together that's
kind of relaxing. And some time to think It
eases their mind a little bit before they
go into a meeting that might be a little stressful
or a little tense and helps get them, you
know, to relax and get to know each other
a little bit.
Kaitlin Luna: And how does that help with
employees -- just getting to know each other
a little bit more of a casual way, and not
just in a meeting environment or in the hallways,
like doing something kind of fun together
and definitely totally unrelated to their
work.
Bryce Veon: Yeah, there's just, there's I
mean, that camaraderie is important. I think
there's also the trust factor, you know, just
understanding each other and just understand
that we're all working towards the same things
as a team. And you know, that comes from interactions
that are both in the business and doing the
right things in the business together, in
treating each other fairly and helping each
other, but also outside, we have a lot of
programs or, you know, a lot of events that
we do outside, even like, you know, happy
hours and bowling and different things that
we get people together.
And they were diverse group. So, we don't
always get to work together directly. So,
when we get outside the office, this gives
us a chance to get to know each other in a
little bit about our families or what we like,
what we don't like and helps us work better
together so we can focus on some strengths
and weaknesses.
Kaitlin Luna: And when you were going through
the change when you took over, did you find
that the importance of being transparent and
sharing what was going on with your employees
was helpful because I often know that information
helps ease anxiety when people, you know,
when you have a real restructuring and you
have change, what was helpful for you?
Bryce Veon: I think it was helpful to lay
out the plan in the course and how we're going
to get to the destination we were headed for.
And I think is a privately-owned company,
smaller, you know, small to midsized company,
you know, we actually share probably more
than some of the public companies do with
their employees. As far as, you know, financial
information, financial goals, product goals,
departmental and personal goals.
You know, we go through a lot of, you know,
goal-setting exercises. And out of that, you
know, it comes a lot of the transparency of
what we're all trying to get done, and it
starts to make sure we're all working together
towards the same things and just builds out
a lot of transparency and trust in the company.
Kaitlin Luna: And when you mentioned, you
know, the previous days to now, you said that
there were no annual reviews, and now you
even go above and beyond that, and you have
monthly reviews. So how has that helped your
employees and what changes have you seen?
Bryce Veon: Yeah, it's part of that same very
open, transparent, you know, communication
and very direct. I mean, I'm personally very
direct with people, so I'm not afraid to hold
back or tell them what I really think. You're
telling the truth. And I think some of that
from the top down, you know, it starts to
become part of the culture, the expectation
that hey, if you feel a certain way or you
don't agree with something or you do like
being, you know, being transparent and open
is a good thing to have. It helps us, you
know, get things done faster and make decisions
faster. And I think that, you know, having
the, having the one on ones -- at one point
we actually had one on ones weekly, and some
departments would do, you know, just a just
a quick twenty minute one on one with each
of their employees and just to get a feel
for how they're doing and with how they're
feeling. And you know, is this a time that
maybe shift some of your work so that you
can, like, clear your mind a little bit or
maybe get a little refresh? You know, sometimes,
you know, change is good and then others would
do you no bi-weekly or monthly were actually
evolving that this year. Like I say, I think
it's important to constantly evolve things.
And I think we're moving to more of a, you
know, still a bi-weekly to monthly one on
ones. So, you get the real time feedback and
very direct. But we also are moving to maybe
once or twice a year, more thorough review
so that we really understand, you know, what
we need to work on and where we're doing well.
Kaitlin Luna: Right. Do your employees feel
empowered to manage up, meaning they feel
comfortable providing feedback to their managers
or the company leadership?
Bryce Veon: I � not in all cases to be honest,
I think that we have some room to improve
there. I think that we need to do better at
some of our 360 reviews and some of the open
this, you know, in both directions. I think
that there -- it just depends on the department
of the group of people, the individuals and
the relationship with their managers.
Kaitlin Luna: Right. And that is something
you, David, mentioned or Dr. Ballard mention
the beginning is the importance of always
evolving. So that's something Autosoft is
doing in that regard?
Bryce Veon: You know, all the time.
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, and so you're a smaller
company, and obviously we hear often about
all the amazing perks a company like Google
or Facebook can provide employees. So, but
with a smaller company like yours, what advice
do you have for other CEOs in that realm?
Because obviously, we can always look to these
big behemoth examples is like the pinnacle
of employee wellness and incentive programs.
But, obviously, we all can't provide those
same things for a smaller company like yours.
So, what do you what advice do you have?
Bryce Veon: I would say, start off small,
but some we started, and a lot of it's really
about the employees experience, and you'd
be amazed at, you know, things like the open
feedback and the little things like company
T shirts or branded T shirts or little prizes
for doing a good job and some rec -- a little
bit of recognition goes a long way. I'd say
just some of the small things to start out.
I mean, that's the easiest way to get started
and from there it builds and builds, and you'll
kind of figure out where things fit the best
and what gives you the most benefit from both
the company side in the employee's side, and
eventually you'd be like us and have lots
of programs.
Kaitlin Luna: So, I want to get both of your
opinions on the importance of two things.
The first is employee development and pipelines
to advancement, and the other is employee
recognition. Dr. Ballard, I�ll start with
you. Overall, how crucial are those two elements
to creating a psychologically healthy workplace?
David Ballard: Well, those air to areas that
in general, there's a lot of room for improvement.
We do surveys of the U.S. workforce every
year to look at issues that are top of mind
and employee attitudes and experiences on
the job. And one of the things we find is
only about half of U. S. workers say they're
satisfied with the growth and development
opportunities that they have available to
them on the job.
Lack of opportunity for advancement and growth
in an organization also year after year is
the number two top source of stress that U.S.
workers cites. So, it's something that's getting
in the way of their work performance, so there's
lots of opportunity to improve there.
Similarly, only 58 percent of U.S. workers
say they feel valued by their employer. And
that's a striking figure when I think just
over half of U.S. workers say they even feel
valued for what they're contributing on the
job.
From our research, we know that feeling valued
is linked to higher levels of job satisfaction,
higher levels of motivation and the likelihood
that people are actually going to participate
in wellness programs and training activities
and involvement initiatives. So, it's not
just isolated to reward recognition programs.
This spills over into employee performance
across the board. So, these are big deals
for employers.
Kaitlin Luna: And so, we're talking about
recognition. Do you think in some cases, recognition
is more important than pay?
David Ballard: Recognition in organizations
really consists of both monetary and non-monetary
forms -- can be formal or informal. So, it's
certainly pay. Pay is always an issue. You
know, in our surveys, we find that's the number
one source of stress is low pay that people
cite. But it's one of those issues that went
when it's insufficient or seen as unfair,
it's a huge problem, and all the other perks
and award programs and certificates and award
ceremonies aren't going to make up for that.
If people feel like they're unfairly compensated,
it's not enough. But once you reach a certain
point, it doesn't add value. Once, people
feel like it's sufficient.
So, those other things really come into play.
And it can be a simple thank you from a colleague
or a supervisor for a job well done and feeling
like your work was actually appreciated. And
there's something in the psychology research
that is called effort, reward and balance.
And so, if people feel like what they�re
putting into their job and their work is out
of whack with how they're being recognized
and compensated along the way, then that creates
additional problems in a workplace.
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, that's very fascinating
how it's not necessarily always be so tied.
And so, with employee development and pipelines,
that's something you're seeing more in the
workplace today, that the company is coming
up with these long-range plans for people?
David Ballard: People are thinking about it
a lot more. Certainly, you know, the rate
of change is increasing. The environment is
changing all the time. And so, if organizations
want to keep up and be competitive, in an
increasingly global marketplace, with more
rapid changes, then they have to prepare their
workforce to be able to cope with the stress
that they face, to be able to handle change
and be resilient.
So, I think a lot of organizations are thinking
ahead and understanding that they need to
do this, but there's a lot more work to be
done.
Kaitlin Luna: And Mr. Veon, turning over to
you. How have those two areas helped your
company -- that's employee development and
pipelines and recognition?
Bryce Veon: You know, I think the pipeline
is, things that we've done with developing
career pipeline and pathways has really helped
us separate those that have potential from
those who may be either aren�t a best fit
for the company or the future of the company
and make decisions on whether or not we can
help people maximize their potential in their
career here or beyond, or decide that you
know, maybe their career has a better path
outside Autosoft. So, those were some tough
decisions that, you know, some of our managers
have to make her help us make. But, that's
part of the reality of making sure we have
the right, the right culture, the right people.
And as far as the recognition goes, recognition
has -- I would stay out of the surveys we
do internally and in all the war programs
that we participate in. The recognition is
one of the top things that employees respond
to and appreciate. They feel valued. They
feel like a part of something big and like
they're really efforts are well received and
appreciated. And these, basically, seen by
all including, you know, upper management
and myself.
And I�d say one of the most difficult things
I'm seeing for us as we're evolving and hiring
more remote workers is how do you make the
remote workers more of a part of the integral
part of our culture and the rest of the people?
And how do you give them the recognition as
a remote employee and make them feel the same
as the people that are here?
Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, that's a great point you
make, Mr. Veon about remote employees. So,
turning over to Dr. Ballard, how do you engage
employees when they're not actually working
in an office space that they're working remotely?
David Ballard: Yeah, this this is an important
area, and one that there's not been a lot
of work done. And in fact, in most organizations,
managers are still working the same way they
did in the Industrial Revolution. Like people
are standing in an assembly line cranking
out widgets when that's not most of the work
that's getting done nowadays. But unfortunately,
most managers are never trained in how to
manage a remote workforce. That's an area
where there's a lot more room for development.
Now there is research being done, and there
is work happening. Unfortunately, is not translating
yet to a majority of workplaces. But, increasingly
we have access to the technology tools that
we need to be able to actually involve and
include people who may be working in remote
locations, teams who aren't necessarily even
in the same physical location at all. We have
tools that can facilitate that online through
video conferencing and chat functions. And
so, it's a matter of figuring out how to effectively
use those tools so that you don't lose the
types of interactions that you have in a face
to face work environment. So, there's a lot.
There's a lot of work happening in that area,
but it's a huge need for most employers and
to this point, most managers still haven't
even been trained in how to do that effectively.
Kaitlin Luna: And one other question for you,
Dr. Ballard. I'm sure many listeners out there
have worked someplace that was not psychologically
healthy. Can you talk about how damaging that
is for morale and what does that stress do
to our mental and physical health?
David Ballard: Yeah, we've all probably worked
an environment where you know we get up in
the morning and we dread going in. And you
know, no matter what job you're in, you know
everybody has bad days. But there are a lot
of environments, unfortunately, where it's
just unpleasant to be in your day to day experience
on the job is bad.
And stress is a normal part of life. It's
a natural reaction that it's designed to help
kick us in gear and deal with whatever challenge
or threats are in front of us. But the reality
is that as humans we�re not designed to
withstand that day after day after day. That's
supposed to be a ramp up, deal with the threat
and then get back to your baseline and go
about your business.
So, when that chronic stress persists, it
puts a lot of wear and tear on your body and
your brain, and it can start interfering with
your physical health, your mental health.
It can interfere with interpersonal relationships;
your job performance can suffer. And so, if
this kind of chronic stress persists from
a negative work environment, then it can actually
affect people's job performance so that they
not only they don't feel competent on the
job, but they're actually not doing their
best work.
So, it's really a shared responsibility between
employees and employers to create this environment
where people can bring their best to the job
and employers are creating an environment
that's conducive to them being engaged and
having a positive work experience.
Kaitlin Luna: And I imagine the signs of that
happening are probably high turnover or low
morale, productivity, that sort of thing?
David Ballard: You see on the organizational
side, you see higher levels of absenteeism
and turnover. You see performance and productivity
dropping. You may see more conflict, or incivility
in a workplace. People disengaging and not
really giving it their all.
On the business side of things, you might
see profitability sliding, output starting
to drop, customer service ratings dipping
-- things that all could be signs of something
bigger is going on under the surface.
Kaitlin Luna: Yes, you want to be, I guess,
short for company. They want to address it
before it gets to that point, because that's
already you're seeing the effects of people
not being happy -- not even is happy, but
just being miserable on the job.
David Ballard: Yes, creating this psychologically
healthy environment is an overall approach.
And if you strive to do that in a general
sense, then when things are tough, and the
recession was a great example of this, if
you've already been doing this, then you're
better equipped to handle that. Your employees
are, too. So even organizations that were
very psychologically healthy, who were doing
all the right things, the recession hit and
that was an example of these. Air Force is
bigger than the organization, so even good
organizations got hit pretty hard and sometimes
had to make cuts or layoffs or change things
that weren't necessarily positive. But those
who had paid attention to creating a psychologically
healthy environment up to that point handled
it better. So, it's not only what they're
doing, it's how they're going about it. So,
employees in those circumstances felt like
they were in it together. The employer was
being open and transparent with them, involving
them in problem solving about how they were
going to cope with it. And in fact, organizations
that were really forward thinking at the time
used it as an opportunity to position themselves
to be even more successful when the economy
turned around. So, that's a really concrete
example.
But you don't want to wait until there's a
crisis to start addressing some of these issues,
because once there, once trust is broken,
once there's negativity in the workplace,
that's hard to dig out from, and it lasts
a long time, and it takes a lot of consistency
in the future to make up for that. So, it's
much, much easier to create it to begin with
and then use that to help you weather the
storm.
Kaitlin Luna: But I guess it's not hopeless
civic, and a company or an organization is
having that experience where they're like,
you know, managers are looking at this well,
we've got to make some changes, but it takes
a long time.
David Ballard: Every organization goes through
tough times, and there's lots of change happening
in organizations. A survey we did a couple
years ago, about half the U. S. workforce
said they were currently going through major
organizational changes or had just gone through
them. And that's stressful.
Times are going to change. There will be ups
and downs but thinking bigger picture about
how do we create this healthy environment
that's going to support workers, support the
business is going to lead to environment where
everybody can win in the long run.
Kaitlin Luna: Do you think this is an exciting
time to be an employee? I guess it�s a funny
way to say that by the same. You mean like,
is it a time where employees feel empowered
about the kind of work they're choosing? And
they feel like their employers will create
better environments for them?
David Ballard: Yeah, I think this is one that
it depends a lot on the company, I think,
in really high performing organizations that
understand this psychologically healthy workplace
concept and are taking those kinds of steps.
You know, employees do feel like they have
a voice. They do feel like they're involved
in decisions that affect them on the job.
They have sufficient autonomy and control
and flexibility in their life that many people
didn't have in the past. And so those air
great things.
But overall, in the U.S. workforce, that's
not necessarily the case. You know, in our
surveys of U.S. workers, although about two-thirds
of working Americans said that their organization
is open with them and communicates with them
regularly, only just over half said the organization
actually asks them for feedback regularly,
and only about four out of ten say the organization
actually listens to their feedback and uses
it to make changes.
So, I think these successful organizations
are doing it better and better, but on average,
in the U.S. workforce, we have a lot of room
for growth.
Kaitlin Luna: And I want touch on another
survey that that your office did. So now we're
only a few months from summer, so that means
vacation time. So last year, APA issued a
work and wellbeing survey that found that
taking time off helped employees recharge.
But those benefits faded after only a few
days for most people. How can employers make
sure the vacation time is actually beneficial
and also what tips you have for employees
to make sure that recharging feeling lasts
beyond a couple days?
David Ballard: I'm sure. I'm sure most of
us have had the experience where we take some
time off and whether it's a staycation or
whether you go somewhere, somewhere exciting.
You come back to work, and there's the mountain
of things waiting for you that have piled
up while you were away. And so, all that relaxation
is out the window the second you go in and
you're actually more stressed than you were
before you left because you're behind and
everything is due, deadlines are waiting and
you know it's worse than it was before and
you hear people all the time say this is what
I get for taking time off.
And so unfortunately, we know from the research
that when that happens, when there's a backlog
and people come back to that kind of heavier
demand, the bigger that is, the faster those
benefits of taking time off fade away. So,
yeah, there's some things that employees and
employers can do. And again, this is one of
those shared responsibility issues to try
to make those last longer.
I mean, it's in the best interest of employees
and the company, to try to make the company
the most gains from people to having time
off. So, on the employee side of things, when
they're off, they need to make sure they're
getting the adequate stress recovery experiences
and from psychology research, we know to recover
from stress and prevent burnout, you need
to have time when you're not working. When
you're not thinking about work if you're not
at work, but you're getting pinged with messages
and you're constantly ruminating about your
deadlines coming up when you get back that
prevents you from actually recovering from
stress. You need to engage actively in some
relaxation activities. Whatever that is for
you, it may be laying on a beach. It may be
reading a book. It may be doing yoga or meditation.
Whatever it is that relaxes you, you need
to engage in that.
You also need to stay connected and involved
in some other interesting, challenging activities
that aren't work related. Something that stimulates
you beyond just work. And then finally need
to get enough good quality sleep, and that's
an issue. Sometimes you know, you pack so
much into a vacation that you're exhausted
when you come back. You said I need a vacation
from my vacation, right? So, those are things
that during the vacation experience employees
need to do in order to recharge and come back
at their best.
Now the shared responsibility piece, and this
requires some planning ahead, and some work
when you get back to the office and employees
need to do this with their teams and with
their employers. One is actually plan ahead.
So, when you know you're going to be out,
have a concrete plan. Who's going to handle
the things you normally do while you're out
of the office? Share your expectations about
your availability while you're off. Are you
going to check email if an emergency comes
up? Should people contact you? That way there's
not a misunderstanding with people feeling
like they don't want to bother you or knowing
that you are going to check it and not feeling
like you're on call twenty-four-seven, while
you're taking that time off.
That also helps encouraging teams to schedule
vacations in advance so that too many people
aren't out right when right deadline is looming
and that coordination across the work unit
is important.
Organizations need to develop supervisors
as well, so that they're tracking employees�
vacation time and use of that. They're encouraging
and supporting employees in taking that time
off so that employees feel like they can actually
take time off and that won't be viewed negatively.
And then training supervisors to better understand
work stress so that they can identify it if
they're seeing it in their employees and direct
them toward resources or strategies to help
manage that stress effectively. Cross training
workers on your team is another great one.
So, if you have somebody out, there's somebody
else who actually has the skill set to be
able to pick up that work temporarily while
the other person's out.
On the back end of vacations, easing back
in is really important, and I mentioned coming
back to that mountain. If you can ease yourself
back into work. So, maybe the first day that
someone is back, they're doing � they�re
working remotely or telecommuting. Or maybe
they're, they�re blocking out time on their
schedule to catch up on the hundreds of e-mails
that are piled up. So, they don't walk in
the door and have ten people at their office
waiting for them and the expectation that
they do it all immediately. So, try to ease
it back in and dig out rather than getting
overwhelmed immediately.
And then I think the final -- the big picture
issue is looking at the culture in an organization.
So, in most companies, you're not going to
have somebody actually saying well, you shouldn't
take time off and then I'm going to penalize
you or look badly on you if you're, if you're
actually using your vacation time, that doesn't
usually happen.
But, what does happen a lot of times is, you
know, what's being communicated indirectly
in an organization? Are you holding up as
an example of the perfect employee, the worker
who never takes time off or who responds to
e-mails, you know, at midnight on Saturdays?
And if you're saying this is the gold star
employee, then indirectly, you're communicating
to your work force that it's bad to take time
off and that you should be on call twenty-four-seven.
So, even if those are not explicit expectations
that are laid out, look at how things are
being modeled by leaders. Look at what's being
reinforced, and if it's reinforcing things
that are negative or not what you intend,
clarify those expectations and adjust that.
So, I think those bigger cultural issues a
really important, too.
Kaitlin Luna: So, one final question. Where
can people go to learn about the psychologically
healthy workplace awards and also about the
office of applied psychology?
David Ballard: People can go online to apa.org/applied/psychology
and there's information about the psychologically
healthy workplace awards available there.
Kaitlin Luna: Wonderful. Well, thank you so
much for joining us. Dr Ballard and Mr. Veon.
It�s been a really fascinating conversation.
David Ballard: Thank you.
Bryce Veon: Thank you.
Kaitlin Luna: If you've been a long-time listener
or are new to our podcast, please consider
giving us a rating in iTunes, and if you have
time, write a review. We'd really appreciate
it. Also, we'd like to hear from you directly,
so if you have any questions, comments or
ideas to share, you can email me at kluna@apa.org.
That's kluna@apa.org.
Speaking of Psychology is part of the APA
podcast network, which includes the podcast,
APA Journals Dialogue about new psychological
research and Progress Notes about the practice
of psychology. You can find all our podcast
on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your
podcasts. You can also visit speakingofpsychology.org
to listen to more episodes and to see resources
on the topics we discuss. I'm Kaitlin Luna
with the American Psychological Association.
