“America: the land of the free and the vacation-deprived”, this according to an article in Huffpost on 6.7.2019. For an immigrant from Finland who has called the USA my home for 21 years my fellow Americans’ willingness to work until they burn out continues to surprise me. Sometimes when I share about my mission to help people succeed without burning out, people say: But you are different. You grew up in Finland. You expect to take long vacations, work shorter days and live a more balanced life. We (born Americans) are different. It is different here. We can’t take lunch breaks. There is not time to go for a 10 minute walk in the middle of the day. I can’t take more than a week off from work. They need me.

?

This is a mindset matter. Thinking that your health, taking time off from work, and care for self and others, is a luxury, not a necessity. If you want a change, you need to create the change and also demand it.

Finns are not unique beings needing rest and nurture to thrive and survive. That is a human need.

As a leadership coach and trainer I do a lot of work supporting my clients (both organizations and individuals) in succeeding and being better at what they do.

Wellness has become a buzzword in management, leadership and staff development circles. Employers increasingly understand that exhausted and unhealthy staff cannot succeed, and if your staff is too exhausted motivation suffers as do performance, and the company will suffer too.

While a lot of good work is being done on the individual and at the team levels; companies offer yoga, meditation, book clubs, wine tasting clubs etc., still many struggle with low participation in wellness programs. For a company culture to change towards a culture of well-being, there must be a commitment from leadership and management to lead well. Policies might have been written and opportunities to take a wellness break might be offered, but staff in many places do not feel empowered to use the policies and activities. Why? Maybe obstacles have been built into the system making it harder to take a wellness break or use the flexible working arrangements? For example, having to ask your manager for permission to attend a yoga class, every time you wish to go, will discourage many to attend.

A change in the business and work culture needs champions from leadership, management and staff. Every study and anecdote tells us so. We can be the change. Together. According to a webinar recently presented by Ryan E. Rhodes, PhD at the the Behavioural Medicine Lab at the University of Victoria in Canada, there are three elements of successful organizational change:

1. Shifting organizational norms
2. Challenges and competitions
3. Building an active environment

Most of us tend to focus more on the second and third elements (we create incentives for staff to participate in weight loss competitions, we offer wellness classes) while we implement change. Why? Because shifting organizational norms is the most difficult aspect. It means leading and working according to the policies we have written. It entails changing perspective and mindset of what it means to be a successful organization. Culture change requires communication and action. It asks for an open and trusting culture where leadership models and communicates the new norms while listening to the people they lead and openly support the grassroots champions of change. Remove the obstacles that are preventing your staff from living the change.

Finally, there is also a lot of talk about a “burn-out epidemic” in the USA, among all generations, but perhaps surprisingly, among the younger.

Might this be the sign for us that it is time to change our culture towards one that allows for us to better integrate the different aspects of being human (work, love, fun and family). Because the need to contribute and create is as human as the need to care for oneself and others. Everyone needs a vacation sometimes.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paid-vacation-in-the-us-america_l_5cfa5c70e4b06af8b5073ae6

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236249/manager-role-employee.aspx

https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-to-design-a-corporate-wellness-plan-that-actually-works?referral=03759&cm_vc=rr_item_page.bottom

https://www.uvic.ca/research/labs/bmed/research/index.php

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/from-moms-to-medical-doctors-burnout-is-everywhere-these-days/2019/03/29/1cea7d92-401d-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html?noredirect=on

https://www.investmentnews.com/article/20190514/BLOG09/190519966/the-burnout-epidemic-and-what-advisers-can-do-to-combat-it

#change #healthyworkplace #wellness #wellbeing #wellbeingatwork # leadership #burnout #performance #business #organizationalculture #culture #culturechange #khdconsultinginternational