Be Healthy at Work

March 7, 2012

APA Announces 2012 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award Winners and Workplace Survey Results

Half of all employees who say they do not feel valued at work report that they intend to look for a new job in the next year, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Conducted online among 1,714 adults between January 12 and 19, 2012 on behalf of the APA by Harris Interactive, the survey found that employees who feel valued are more likely to report better physical and mental health, as well as higher levels of engagement, satisfaction and motivation, compared to those who do not feel valued by their employers.
Almost all employees (93 percent) who reported feeling valued said that they are motivated to do their best at work and 88 percent reported feeling engaged. This compares to just 33 percent and 38 percent, respectively, of those who said they do not feel valued. Among employees who feel valued, just one in five (21 percent) said they intend to look for a new job in the next year (vs. 50 percent of those who said that they do not feel valued).
A variety of factors were linked to feeling undervalued at work, including having fewer opportunities for involvement in decision making (24 percent vs. 84 percent), being less satisfied with the potential for growth and advancement (9 percent vs. 70 percent), having fewer opportunities to use flexible work arrangements (20 percent vs. 59 percent) and being less likely to say they are receiving adequate monetary compensation (18 percent vs. 69 percent) and non-monetary rewards (16 percent vs. 65 percent). Overall, more than one in five (21 percent) working Americans said they do not feel valued by their employers.

Stress at Work

Many Americans continue to report chronic work stress, with two out of five employees (41 percent) reporting that they typically feel tense or stressed out during the workday. Commonly cited causes of work stress include low salaries (46 percent), lack of opportunities for growth or advancement (41 percent), too heavy a workload (41 percent), long hours (37 percent) and unclear job expectations (35 percent).

Psychologically Healthy Workplaces

Despite ongoing business challenges and employment issues that are clearly ripe for improvement, according to the American Psychological Association some employers have seized the opportunity to create a healthy culture where employees and the organization can thrive. In recognition of those employers who understand the link between employee well-being and organizational performance, the American Psychological Association will recognize 11 organizations at its seventh annual Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards ceremony in Washington, DC on Saturday March 10.
The employers who will receive the American Psychological Association’s 2012 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award are:

• Noble-Davis Consulting (Ohio)
• ReMed Recovery Care Centers (Pennsylvania)
• Certified Angus Beef (Ohio)
• College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
• Coconino County (Arizona)

These employers reported an average turnover rate of just 11 percent in 2011 – significantly less than the national average of 36 percent, as estimated by the U.S. Department of Labor. Surveys completed by the winning organizations show that only 24 percent of employees reported experiencing chronic work stress compared to 41 percent nationally, and 80 percent of employees reported being satisfied with their job vs. 70 percent in the general population. Additionally, 78 percent of employees said they would recommend their organization to others as a good place to work compared to 63 percent, and only 14 percent said they intend to seek employment elsewhere within the next year, compared to 28 percent nationally.
“The business world is in the midst of a sea change,” says David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, head of APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. “Successful organizations have learned that high performance and sustainable results require attention to the relationships among employee, organization, customer and community. Forward-thinking employers such as our 2012 award winners are taking steps to create a positive organizational culture where employees feel valued and, in turn, help drive bottom-line results.”
The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards are designed to recognize organizations for their efforts to foster employee well-being while enhancing organizational performance. The program has both local- and national-level components. APA’s PHWA spans North America and is designed to showcase the very best from among the winners recognized by APA’s affiliated state, provincial and territorial psychological associations.
Nominees are selected from a pool of previous local winners and evaluated on their workplace practices in the areas of employee involvement, health and safety, employee growth and development, work-life balance and employee recognition. Additional factors that are considered include employee attitudes and opinions; the role of communication in the organization; and the benefits realized in terms of both employee health and organizational performance. Awards are given to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations as well as government, military and educational institutions.

Read more about APA’s 2012 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award winners here.

In addition to the PHWA winners, nine organizations will receive Best Practices Honors for a single program or policy that contributes to a psychologically healthy work environment and meets the unique needs of the organization and its employees. The honorees are:

• Certified Angus Beef (Ohio)
• Chimes Delaware, Newark Vocational Facility
• College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
• Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus (Arkansas)
• Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Northwest (Oregon)
• Koinonia Homes (Ohio)
• Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, LSS Financial Counseling Service
• Orion Associates (Minnesota)
• ReMed Recovery Care Centers (Pennsylvania)

Read more about APA’s 2012 Best Practices honorees here.

“The 2012 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award winners have implemented programs and policies that enhance functioning for both employee and employer,” says Norman B. Anderson, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association. “Their efforts demonstrate the power of a healthy work environment and prove that any type of organization can create a psychologically healthy workplace.”

Download a copy of the complete 2012 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards and Best Practices Honors magazine here.

About the Survey

The Stress in the Workplace survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Psychological Association between January 12 and January 19, 2012 among 1,714 adults aged 18-plus who reside in the U.S. and are employed full-time or part-time or are self-employed. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
A full methodology and more information about the 2012 PHWA winners and Best Practices honorees is available here. Organizations interested in learning more about creating a psychologically healthy workplace or applying for an award in their state, province or territory can visit www.phwa.org.

Enjoy the Spring Showers

Spring is here & I hope everyone is enjoying the unusual Spring and even Summer like weather we are having. I have been seeing more people outside lately - running, walking, cycling, and even pulling weeds. it is a great time to get outside, dust off the winter blahs and begin to see the sunshine. But, don't forget to hydrate.

What?

Yes, hydration is very important even this time of year.  You need to drink plenty of water during all of your physical activities despite the weather not being as high as those intense summer months. Here is why water works - a recent Nurses' Health Study shows an increased in hypertension among those who drink sweetened beverages - diet or regular. In a similar study, the French research institute INSERM reports that people who DON’T drink at least 2 cups of water a day are more likely to have high blood sugar - which is a risk for pre-diabetes. So, just because we are getting into warmer temperatures doesn't mean you can forget to refresh yourself with water.

 Leave the soda on the shelf in the super market, try picking up some H20. And to naturally sweeten your water try freezing fruit (grapes, berries, etc.) and then chuck those frozen blocks of fruit into your water.

And please - as you are trying to stay hydrated - consider the environment.  Please try to use reusable water bottles if you can. It saves you money, as well as, the environment. If you can't - then please recycle your plastic water bottles! Keep them out of our landfills and oceans!

According to National Geographic: 

In 1976 Americans drank an average of 1.6 gallons of bottled water every year. Roughly 30 years later consumption increased to 30 gallons per person, according to the Earth Policy Institute --- despite the fact that bottled water can cost anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water, which is brought right to your home for pennies a gallon. Bottled water also creates its own share of pollution --- the production of plastic bottles requires millions of barrels of oil per year and the transportation of bottled water from its source to stores releases thousands of tons of carbon dioxide.

Americans drink more bottled water than any other nation, purchasing an impressive 29 billion bottles every year. Making all the plastic for those bottles uses 17 million barrels of crude oil annually. That is equivalent to the fuel needed to keep 1 million vehicles on the road for 12 months. If you were to fill one quarter of a plastic water bottle with oil, you would be looking at roughly the amount used to produce that bottle.

Recycling

The recycling rate for those 29 billion bottles of water is low; only about 13 percent end up in the recycling stream where they are turned into products like fleece clothing, carpeting, decking, playground equipment and new containers and bottles. In 2005, that meant approximately 2 million tons of water bottles ended up in U.S. landfills, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Plastic bottles take centuries to decompose and if they are incinerated, toxic byproducts, such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals, are released into the atmosphere.

 

Employees want more recognition, growth opportunities

Monitor Magazine - May 2011, Vol 42, No. 5, pg. 12

Although 69 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs overall, fewer are satisfied with the recognition practices of their employer (46 percent) or opportunities for growth (44 percent), according to new data from APA’s Stress in America survey.

to see the survey in better detail go to: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/05/employees.aspx

How does your boss measure your character?

Monitor Magazine – In Brief

May 2011, Vol 42, No. 5, pg. 15

Bosses look more favorably upon humble, honest employees, according to Baylor University researchers. The psychologists examined supervisors’ employee ratings of 269 people working in the health-care industry at 25 different companies and surveyed the employees on a variety of personal traits. The researchers found that employees who self-reported higher levels of honesty and humility — defined in the study as showing fairness, avoiding greed and being sincere and modest — had the highest employee ratings from their supervisors. This suggests that companies should put a lot of emphasis on these traits when hiring employees, the researchers say. (Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 50, No. 6)