Positive start to the school year

Being our best in life and work can be thrilling, exciting and also at times incredibly challenging. Those of your people who have or care for children will have experienced a different side of the pandemic and witnessed the impact it had on kids and teenagers. An important part of any employee experience is how their organisation recognises and supports their family responsibilities outside of the workplace. We saw for the first-time large scale online learning in our schools, with many parents and carers adding a new role as teacher in the home.

Our clinical team, and more broadly mental health experts of all types, predict that we will be dealing with the mental health and wellbeing impacts on children and teenagers for years to come with anxiety as a leading issue impacting kids. It's important to state upfront that kid and teen mental health is best approached through a system or network of support. This includes clinicians, parents, schools and support organisations. Your organisation, and how you support your people, can play a positive role to support your people and their children's and teen's mental health. 

We've created new tools that address how leaders can better support those people in their teams and organisations with kids and teenagers and for those with kids and teens some tips on supporting their mental health and wellbeing. EAP is a great way to truly support your people to be their best in life and work, and help you bring your employee experience to life. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. Reach out to here at AccessEAP on 1800 818 728. As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work.

How Project Managers Can Prevent — or Cause — Employee Burnout

Published in The Uncommon League 19th January 2021

Burnout has often been associated with caring professions (such as nurses) and first responders (such as firefighters), says Marcela Slepica, clinical services director at employee assistance program AccessEAP. But it certainly isn't restricted to jobs that involve saving lives.

Any environment can become a burnout incubator. And often, managers play a role in creating the perfect setting for employee stress.

The G.L.A.D. Technique

One of our internal Wellbeing Initiatives is the G.L.A.D. challenge. An opportunity to do something for each other to actively recognise how much time we spend at work and with our colleagues. Using an adapted version of Donald Altman’s G.L.A.D. technique from The Mindfulness Toolbox, we ask everyone to participate and write a G.L.A.D message for their assigned colleague.

How does it work?

  • You will need a list of names for those that are participating. This can be an organisation wide initiative or just a team activity depending on the size of your organisation.
  • Allocate everyone a person; this can be random or just split into pairs.
  • Email everyone their designated person with instructions asking them to fill in the G.L.A.D. message. Whether they pick one letter or all of them.

Grateful- One thing you are grateful for

Learned- One thing the person has taught you

Appreciate-One thing that you appreciate about this person

Continue reading

Emotions at Work

Workplace culture has changed since the days where people started work, did what the manager told them to do and 'logged off". Today, workplaces need to engage and motivate their employees by understanding what employees need from their work. We know employees want to grow, want to be valued, involved, and to feel part of the organisation.

Each generation may have differing needs and not factoring in employees’ values, needs and expectations leads to strong emotions at work which can lead to decreased productivity. Engagement is key to a mentally healthy and productive workplace culture – organisations need emotionally intelligent leaders who know how to respond in a way that facilitates positive workplace behaviour.

What do we unwittingly do that creates negative/positive emotion?

Insight and awareness around the impact of behaviour on others is a skill that can be learned and developed – paying attention to body language and others’ reactions is key. It’s important that you choose your moment to seek feedback or deliver information.

Are negative emotions in the workplace bad?

Continue reading

Financial Check-Up

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had a wide-ranging impact on all of us. We know that one thing that Australians often worry about is their financial situation. Many of us may experience financial stress as a result of physical distancing requirements and the impact this has had on employers and jobs. It is perfectly normal to worry about our financial situation, even in the best of times, as we try and provide a good life for ourselves and our loved ones. With so much uncertainty across a number of industries and employers, and if our partners or loved ones have lost their jobs, financial related stress may be a key concern for many.

Employers can play a role in helping their employees cope with financial related stress by recognising the impact it can have on different groups in the workplace. It is important to recognise that there are many varied reasons for financial stress. For example, our aging workforce is facing many challenges, including their fear of entering retirement, paying for their children’s higher education and moving their parents into nursing homes. On the other hand, millennials are facing economic instability, crushing student debt, stagnant wages and looming uncertainty about the future.

How individual employees handle financial stress varies greatly. Employers should aim to reduce the impact that this type of stress can have at work in the form of presenteeism. Breaking down and understanding the underlying issues can be the key to helping employees become more resilient.

Here are some basic tips on reducing finance-related stress:

1) Learn to budget: If your financial situation is causing you stress, it’s vital to create a budget. Record all income and expenditure and know exactly what you spend on non-essential items. Be critical of what you are spending and cut down on any unessential items if necessary.

Continue reading

C19 28.01.21

PT

LT

Reflecting on 2020 - a message from Sally Kirkright, CEO AccessEAP

We endured 2020, and many of us learnt something about ourselves and the resilience of human nature. It had tough and challenging moments – as well as some really poignant times when we embraced a "we're in this together" mentality. While looking back at how hard it was, it is just as important to reflect on the learnings, the wins and the positives of 2020.

I am amazed and proud of my team's resilience and of all people in the organisations we work with, especially those in essential services, hospitals, health care, aged care, transport and retail, who continued to show up and provide support, care and services. For those of us who worked from home, spare rooms and dining tables became impromptu office spaces. New processes and new ways of working came along, and we changed our thinking about the way we do things, focusing on our safety, health and wellbeing. From looking out for each other and loved ones to time spent on walks or exercising instead of the daily commute, the one constant was uncertainty and change. Each of us were challenged to think about how do we thrive during these times. For leaders, we were challenged and experienced the responsibility of looking after our people's wellbeing whilst balancing the needs of our businesses.

Being at the helm of AccessEAP means being close to the emotional pulse of the country. I aim to look outwards on behalf of our organisations and their people and see what matters are relevant and important on many levels; local, national and international – and also to look inwards to see how my teams are managing and what they need to thrive. What transpired for us were record numbers of managers and employees reaching out for support. This highlighted and reinforced how mental health support and a focus on wellbeing is an integral part of running a business and is increasingly a priority in any organisation's strategy for the future.  

My role here has given me an amazing insight into how adaptable people can be. Change is a challenging concept for people and companies. The uncertainty can induce a lot of stress. In the face of the biggest changes that we have faced in generations, staff have shown flexibility, and managers have shown compassion and incredible kindness. AccessEAP will work with you as we face similar or new challenges in 2021 whether that includes a transition to the office or to a new normal (whatever that may look like) for your people, through individual support, coaching for managers and people leaders, and learning and development opportunities for teams.

We have seen ordinary Australians show what extraordinary things they can do when called upon. This gives me great hope about how quickly we will recover and move forward to thrive with whatever 2021 brings. We must acknowledge the individual losses of friends, family, work and mental health. But as a community, we will come back and support each other and those bonds will make the recovery faster.

Continue reading

AccessMyEAP - Wellbeing Tracker

 

Track your Wellbeing with AccessMyEAP

We’re making it easy for you to access your own EAP and wellbeing services with our intuitive and dynamic app. Download free via Google Play and the App Store

  • Put yourself in control of your mental health and wellbeing.
  • Make a booking to speak with one of our counsellors.
  • Read tips, strategies and new ways to support your mental health and wellbeing journey.
  • Choose your own wellbeing tools and resources based on your preferences, goals and interests.
  • Take your Wellbeing Check regularly. The questions are based on the positive psychology PERMAH model. 
  • Monitor your results with your personal Wellbeing Tracker.

This free service is provided to you by your employer as part of your EAP services. 

We’re here to help you be your best at life and work. Get started today. 

Continue reading

Realistic Resolutions

We've reached 2021 and with that, another year of expectations and resolutions for the year ahead. Chances are, at some time in your life, you've made New Year Resolutions and then broken them only to repeat the cycle the following year. It is common for people to get caught up in a pattern of resolving to make important changes across life and then not following through. This year, keeping these few simple tips in mind may help to increase your chances of success.

Pick Realistic Goals

The surest way to fall short of your new year’s resolution is to set your goals too high. Remember to keep your goals realistic, small and achievable.

Define Those Goals

A common pitfall for people is that they are too vague about what they want to achieve. Spending time developing a specific, concrete action plan with the details of each small step will help increase your chances of success.

Continue reading

6 easy steps to help you end feelings of isolation

Published in Kochie's Business Builders 20th December 2020

How to take care of yourself and harness positive psychology.

"When there is a shared sense of purpose in the workplace, people tend to feel more satisfied with what they are working towards. Business leaders should consistently communicate to their team about their role within the organisation and how it contributes to the vision and mission of the business, providing a sense of meaning to the work they do." Marcela Slepica, AccessEAP Director, Clinical Services. 

Read More

Become an AccessEAP Ambassador!

What is the AccessEAP Ambassador Program?

The AccessEAP Ambassador Program is a voluntary and complimentary program AccessEAP provides to all organisations as an additional way to both promote and de-stigmatise mental health concerns and seeking mental health support. This program provides training to employees outside of the HR arena on the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) as well as common mental health concerns and how to support those around them in seeking help.

How will this program benefit my organisation?

Peer support has been proven time and again to be most effective in normalising common mental health concerns and reducing the stigma around accessing counselling for such issues. Having employees outside of Human Resources take on such a role communicates that mental wellbeing is not just an HR initiative, but a company-wide initiative.

Who is an AccessEAP Ambassador?

Continue reading

2021 Wellbeing in Focus Calendar

Our 2021 Wellbeing in Focus Calendar has launched!

It's time to put Wellbeing In Focus with our 2021 Calendar of tools, training and resources. 

The AccessEAP Wellbeing in Focus Calendar is a great way to plan quarterly activity around the areas that may be of particular importance to your organisation while making sure you are aware of a wider range of topics. The Annual Planner gives a great overview while the quarterly themes help you to deliver information in manageable parts, highlighting importance and focusing attention. Over the course of the year, you will have access to new and updated resources! 

Our 2021 Wellbeing in Focus Calendar is available through the Employer Login Section and Employee Login Section of the AccessEAP website.

Support for the changing restrictions over the festive season

As we enter the holiday period, the countdown to Christmas day and the end of the year, we are experiencing another setback with the cluster on the northern beaches of NSW. This is significantly impacting many people and families, and their plans to reconnect with loved ones either with large gatherings or with travel to other states both into NSW or out of NSW. This can create understandable feelings of disappointment and sadness. There is also an amazing sense of care and positive action as record numbers turn out to be tested – a very open demonstration of the desire to look after each other and help NSW Health to contain the spread.

We have seen how resilient we all are, and have focused on hope and connecting with our loved ones virtually, and it looks like we need to draw on this for a while longer. We have also experienced how difficult this year has been and we can take strength and hope from Victoria who endured a prolonged lockdown. We encourage you to reach out to those you know are isolated and offer a quick check-in or words of support.

We wanted to remind you that our counselling services and onsite services continue to be available 24/7 – please reach out on 1800 818 728, connect with us via our App, AccessMyEAP or our website for additional resources.

We would also like to express our best wishes and gratitude to all those who are continuing to provide essential services.

Wrapping up 2020 with Self-Care

We’re coming to the end of a year that has changed the way we work, view the world and go about our lives. We wanted to firstly say thank you – we’re grateful for the opportunity to work with you and your people. We’re also grateful for you helping us continue to fulfil our social purpose and provide meaningful, life-changing support to vulnerable children and families, particularly at this time of the year.

We can all acknowledge it’s been a tough year. The holiday period has its own challenges for many people even in the best of times, let’s be even more mindful this year. This week we turn our spotlight to managing expectations during the festive season, as this is an important part of self-care. We've created two new tools for you, Self-care is for leaders too and Managing Festive Expectations. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website.

We would also like to share with you the power of giving, especially at this time of the year when people less fortunate than ourselves often do it tougher than usual. Our social purpose is to support programs to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families. Over the past year, the primary beneficiary of our charitable giving was the H.O.P.E. Foundation. Please watch these short videos to learn more about this amazing program through the stories of the young mums who have changed their lives and the lives of their children.

Watch the stories of brave new mums who have come through the H.O.P.E. Program.

Continue reading

C19 17.12.20

PT

LT

Why eliminating start and finish times is the next workplace revolution

Published in ABC News 15th December 2020

Clinical Services Director at AccessEAP Marcela Slepica says that COVID has shown that working remotely has been successful for many industries and types of businesses, although notable exceptions include essential and frontline workers.

"The transition into working from home has taught organisations about the possibilities and productivity of employees in roles which do not have fixed start and finish times," she says.

"These learnings can be adapted to accommodate employees with disabilities and chronic illness."

Read More

C19 - 10.12.20

PT

LT1

LT2

Clear Communication - a message from Sally Kirkright, CEO AccessEAP

In recent newsletters, I’ve highlighted a consistent theme – clear and kind communication. In 2020, being clear about what we require from those around us is what moved us forward in this year of uncertainty.

As 2020 gets ready to shuffle off into history, it’s time to cast a glance around at what has been important this year. Putting people first in terms of protecting their health, safety and ability to keep working has been front and centre for most organisations. Organisations who have staff working away from their offices tell us about prioritising team connections while being separated. Not just employee briefings but also birthday celebrations and family moments, and re-creating informal time where smaller groups log in with a cuppa and just talk. Like people used to do informally in the lunchroom.

Thank goodness Australia’s response – and particularly the bravery of Melbourne – has led to some sort of normality returning. Most of our offices have been welcoming staff back in – in staggered at-work and work-from-home rosters. It’s such a relief to hear laughter in the lunchroom again.

This feels like a time to reflect on how important kind, as well as clear communication, is. How you talk and write is as important as what you say or write. Emotion is transmitted as we communicate. Think how heated conversations about masks, protests, and overseas elections can become. So taking the time to pause and consider the emotional understory of our communications is paramount.

Caring communication is not just about what you say. It benefits people when you just listen. If someone is struggling, ask how they are, and just listen. A lot of us want to fix things – give people a solution to a problem that they still might not fully understand. Rather than give advice, just let them tell their story. Our clinical staff often say that their best work happens in the sessions where they talk the least. Letting someone talk though issues allows them to understand their situation. Understanding and relief follow.

Continue reading

Support through the Festive Season 2020

AccessEAP wishes you all the best for the Festive Season. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you and look forward to a brighter 2021. We would like to thank you for continuing your partnership with us. Through supporting your people through this challenging year, you have helped make the lives of more than just your people a little easier.

For more information about the H.O.P.E. Program, supporting vulnerable children & families, see here.

Please be assured our counselling and onsite services are available 24/7, 365 days a year however our other business functions observe the Australian public holidays and a short break from 25th December to 8th January 2021.

Harness Flexibility

COVID-19 continues to surprise us with how quickly things can change. Last week, our government leaders were talking about bringing down all interstate travel restrictions in time for Christmas. Now, as Melbourne emerges from their extended physical distancing, our thoughts are with those people in South Australia as they go into their own heightened physical distancing. The stand-out lesson for all of us throughout the year is a constant need to adapt quickly to what's going on around us. Our ability to cope with change, be resilient and deal with uncertainty and the unknown have been front and centre for everyone.

Appropriately, flexibility is a word with many meanings.  What flexibility means to you and your people is important to discover and define. Everyone can benefit from building their flexibility, as being be flexible helps us draw on our other strengths, such as resilience. As leaders, demonstrating that we are flexible and responsive to each of our people and teams, and drawing on this strength improves our people's work/life balance, levels of trust, creativity, productivity and ultimately retain and grow our people. We've created two new tools that highlight the benefits and challenges involved with strengthening flexibility across a number of personal and organisational areas. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

Earlier this month we turned our spotlight to highlighting the real issue of domestic and family violence, I would like to acknowledge the observance of White Ribbon Day this month and a very special announcement - AccessEAP has received White Ribbon Accreditation. To achieve accreditation, we successfully met 15 criteria under three standards and are now recognised as a workplace that is taking active steps to stop violence against women. Learn more here.

To say workspaces are evolving in response to the pandemic is probably an understatement. Flexibility is just one aspect which has been accelerated. Reach out to here at AccessEAP. As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work.

 

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
 
indig_flags.jpg

AccessEAP acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Peoples of the lands we live and work on throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community as we pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples who connect with this website.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have since passed away.

indig_flags.jpg

AccessEAP acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Peoples of the lands we live and work on throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community as we pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples who connect with this website.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have since passed away.