During this unprecedented time, it is important to check-in on those around you. But what does that actually mean and what does it look like when we do “check-in?” Here are some strategies to help you to have these all-important conversations:

A quick message - A simple approach to this is if someone has crossed your mind and there has not been any interaction in some way recently, send them a text (or ring) and say I am thinking about you and I hope you are going well. Also, take an hour out of your week (on a designated evening every week) and check that you have contacted friends and go through all personal communication platforms ensure that you haven’t forgotten to get back to people who have taken the time to reach out to you. Phone calls tend to take more time but some people who dislike texts are better on the phone.

Listening - when ringing someone or meeting for coffee, sometimes they need to vent or just talk through what is going on. Sometimes we really just need to name and verbalize how we are feeling or what we are experiencing. They might not be asking for anything but for you to listen. They may not want advice. If you feel time-pressured, just be honest that you have a little time and you can listen if that is helpful. It’s also ok to say upfront “I have to get back to work soon/pick up the kids/errands to do but I have ten minutes free if you just need me to listen and want to get it off your chest.” Sometimes acknowledging something positive or saying thank you for something they have done, can have an impact on their wellbeing. 

Giving advice - it’s best to ask directly them if they want advice, and then to be clear about why you feel qualified or not qualified to give it and what your limits are. Almost no one wants unsolicited advice, and almost no one wants someone else to act like they can “fix” or “solve” us easily. Don’t give advice without ) knowing if they want it, ii) knowing the limits of your ability to advise, and iii) being prepared and accepting for them to say they’ve already tried that, it isn’t appropriate/relevant to their need, or there are reasons they just aren’t going to do what you are suggesting. Don’t argue. Trust them that they know what is useful for them.

Practical support - if you know they have limited access to things they need or they are unable to do tasks (and you are both willing and able to do those things) offer it. Something like “Hey, I’m going to go and walk/ride/run and just sit by the lake later and wondered if you’d like to come? It’s ok if you do or don’t want to talk, bring a book if you prefer” might take more effort, so only offer them anything that you reasonably can.

Checking in and having important conversations with those around you.

Check-in and stay connected. We hear this so often in social media posts, news reports and written articles around keeping up our connections. But what does that actually mean and what does it look like when we do “check-in?”

This is incredibly personal and in fact, reflecting on what you have done in the past will be useful in building your approach to this. This doesn’t mean that you run down your entire contact list weekly and check-in with everyone with a stock standard message. It also doesn’t mean you are without boundaries around how much you can give and what you are able to offer.

My own approach to this is if someone crosses my mind and we haven’t interacted recently, I contact them and enquire about their wellbeing. I also take an hour out of my week and check that I go through my personal emails/messenger and texts to ensure that I haven’t forgotten to get back to people who have taken the time to reach out to me.

For most of us (if we are very lucky) we have a small group of people whom we trust and know we can contact. Being able to ask for help is probably the most vulnerable thing that we can do and although it feels counterintuitive – it helps to build our connections.

At AccessEAP, we hear that people feel disconnected and would like to have more human interactions, especially during this time of working remotely where there are fewer incidental interactions. There are those of us who feel that we give all of our energy away and there is not a lot given back. Perhaps we don’t give because we fear rejection or that we may be judged or we don’t think it’s worth reaching out to the people we work with, live with and love. Our challenge to you is to show up for these people – because in a pandemic we need you (and everyone else) more than ever.

It's Men's Health Week from the 15th-21st of June. The focus is on Men and Families - Working Together for Men's Health, find out more on the official website.

At AccessEAP, we often hear from men that they feel pressure to be seen as invulnerable, stoic, and fearless. This can lead to unrealistic expectations that as a man you should be able to cope no matter what, and "get on with it". Emotions become synonymous with weakness and powerlessness. Men may also dismiss their feelings as unimportant and worry about burdening other people with their concerns.

Men experience emotions just as much as women do, however, the pressure not to show emotion or vulnerability means that emotions will build-up and result in what appear to be random and unexpected behaviour. Reluctance to talk about or acknowledge emotion can manifest in all sorts of unhelpful ways including:

• Excessive alcohol use
• Addiction to gambling or betting
• Ending relationships prematurely
• Resigning suddenly from their job
• Stopping activities of interest e.g. sports
• Neglecting friends and family
• Working longer hours
• Communication only via emails or text messages
• Aggression or violence
• Excessive time watching fantasy films, or gaming

What can AccessEAP do to help?

Friday, June 26th is this year's Take Your Dog to Work Day. With many people still working from home, this June we encourage you to bring your dog and any other pets to your online meetings! At AccessEAP, we have set up a few wellbeing sessions throughout June so that everyone can connect with each other but most importantly, introduce their pets. If you would like to get involved in this initiative, make sure to set up an approved online session and make sure to take some happy snaps of your furry friends.

If you are still able to bring your dogs into your office on the day, make sure you check out the RSPCA Website for tips to make the experience run smoothly. 

Published in Human Resources Director 7th May 2020

Marcela Slepica, Clinical Services Director, AccessEAP, said in the current climate, it’s important to manage the demands of COVID-19, such as social isolation, caring for our families and home-schooling children while juggling work.

“It’s vital to remember that we are not born resilient. We can develop coping strategies, including practised traits and learned behaviours that will help us remain positive and deal with new challenges,” she said.

Workplaces play a part in maintaining a semblance of normality, by providing employees with structure, some social connection and purpose.

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• Help make a genuine difference every day
• Freedom to apply your creative spirit
• Strong team environment

Your role will be to take the lead in the design of learning experiences and materials that deliver the best possible outcomes. Working as part of a team you will be the subject matter expert in advising and guiding the creation and ongoing development of digital and traditional learning materials.

Combining your L&D and technical design skills you will focus on translating customer needs into best in class materials and experiences that truly enhance the learning experience.

With a strong background in L&D design, your key attributes will include your analytical and creative capabilities. Your flexibility and adaptability allow you to prosper and thrive in a rapidly changing and growing environment. Most importantly you will have a passion for mental health and wellbeing and enjoy working in a team that is driven by respect, collaboration and accomplishment.

AccessEAP takes the health of employees seriously and you will be working in an environment that genuinely cares about the wellbeing of all employees.

For more information call David Williams on 0414551795 or to apply send your resume to dwilliams@kurtispaige.com.au.

Our Clinical and Organisational Development teams are creating a growing resource bank of tools for you and your people, including COVID-19 webinars.

We have released a new webinar for you on Coping with COVID-19. This webinar has been uploaded and is available for you to view right now. Click the below link and register your name and work email address to view the webinar.  You can also access the video and more resources under COVID-19 SUPPORT in our Employee Login Area.

AccessEAP COVID-19 Resources

To access our COVID-19 specific resources on Mental Health Awareness, Self-care, Domestic Violence support, Working from home and more, login to our Employee and Employer Areas of our website.

Make sure connection is more than a COVID-19 buzz word

Change is inevitable. Expected changes are situations we adjust to, but it becomes harder when it is unexpected. During the pandemic, we have seen the impact across all aspects of our lives. One of the hardest challenges for myself personally, and for everyone at AccessEAP, has been creating a sense of connection through technology.

In the face of COVID-19, we are already seeing how we rapidly adapt to change when required. At AccessEAP, we strengthened our connection to our customers and their people, by transitioning to a new remote telephone system. In two weeks, I witnessed how people embraced the new system and worked to meet this changeover. For many of us, there was an adjustment, learning the skills of working from home, the usual technology challenges as well as missing that in-person support from colleagues and teammates. Having the shared purpose of supporting our customers helped us to achieve an amazing feat in a short amount of time.

Internally, the importance of ensuring that teams are connecting so they can continue to work well and productively is the current focus.  At AccessEAP, many of our teams have scheduled online video team meetings to start the day, which includes planning the day but also the important opportunity to interact with colleagues. Professor Martin Seligman, one of the founders of the positive psychology movement, notes that happy people have high levels of social connection. We are social beings, and if our work is shaped around the ways we interact with each other in our organisations, then maintaining peer connections electronically becomes a vital form of stability and motivation.

Given this, a high-performing team working virtually is more important than ever for productivity, for job satisfaction and a sense of balance outside of the workplace. How does one achieve that? The factors that hold high-performing teams together, particularly as they negotiate crises, include communication, working with a common purpose and shared goals through effective teamwork and creativity.  Team-members who bond share similar personality characteristics, including hope, curiosity, perseverance and gratitude.[1] [2]

This is not to say that group-thinking and high optimism make for great teams. Some conflict and manageable pressure can be creative and energising. Good leaders in a virtual world ensure that staff feel psychologically safe to share, to challenge and to work through issues. By inspiring their teams with their own sense of hope, energy and clear communication, and by pulling colleagues into their shared vision of purpose, it helps to work towards a stable and productive future [3]. Trusted leaders encourage a sense of control and of achievement and value. Leaders need to notice if people are not sharing or are lacking in energy and try to understand what is happening. Asking questions is a great place to start. 

Our work environments have changed drastically over the past few months. For many, that means working from home and having to navigate team dynamics from a distance.

Whether your team dynamics have changed or not, see our tips for an effective teamwork refresher below: 

1. Review Objectives and Goals

Successful teams have clear objectives that all team members are aware of and working toward. There is a clear vision and shared values. Team members are committed to the goal and live the values.

2. Participation

This month I’m writing about managing stress and building resilience. It’s been a stressful summer as the drought led to the worst bushfire season in memory. Then the rains that should have been so soothing caused floods in many areas. And no sooner did we accommodate that development, COVID-19 appeared.

Being resilient is the ability to bounce back after challenges. If you fail your driving test, you can lick your wounds and never get your license – or do more practise and try the test again. However, when one challenge after another appears, it’s harder to catch your breath and keep bouncing back. During this unprecedented time, we all find ourselves in, building resilience and trying to manage our stress levels can seem even more difficult than usual. As a manager or leader, you will be experiencing your own emotions as well as feeling responsible for your people or teams. As leaders, we are used to being in control and providing guidance and support to others, but we are also human. Remember that feeling anxious, fearful, stressed, angry and irritable are common and normal feelings during uncertain times.

Managing stress goes alongside resilience, and this is certainly a stressful time for many people. Stress can emerge in small, sneaky increments. When a challenge arises, you feel a rush as adrenalin hits your system: It increases blood pressure and heart rate as part of our fight-or-flight mechanism. Sometimes our day has so many challenges that we load up on adrenalin before we have the time to work the last dose from our body. When we stay at that elevated level, our body is working above capacity. Short term, that’s OK. If it goes on without reprieve, we get worn out, making it harder for that resilience ‘bounce back’ to arrive.

We feel stress, physically and emotionally. Knowing where your body holds it – tight neck, sinking feeling in your gut, heartburn, a sensation of pounding blood in your hear or chest – allows you to stop and see what’s happening. You or those around you might notice behavioural changes, like being snappy in a conversation that you would not normally worry about, or being abrupt towards someone you care for. Sleep disturbances, needing a drink after work, difficulty concentrating (or obsessing on bushfires, floods or viruses!) all indicate that we are stressed.

Use a STOP technique at a moment like that:

With the Easter Long Weekend (Friday 10th until Monday 13th) coming up, followed by Anzac Day on Saturday the 25th, there are a lot of April Public Holidays.

Please be assured our counselling and support services are available 24/7, 365 days a year however our other business functions observe the Australian National public holidays.

See our 10 Tips for Building Resilience below.

For assistance or more information on our Stress Awareness and Building Resilience Webinars & Training, speak with your Relationship Manager today.

Published in Yahoo Lifestyle 2nd April 2020

With many people all around the country now working from home due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Marcela Slepica AccessEAP Director Clinical Services, believes there’s definitely an increased risk of workplace exhaustion.

“For example, working parents who have young children at home, have to to juggle teaching, supervising and keeping children busy while also trying to work and meet deadlines. In addition to this, there are fears of not wanting to risk losing their job, which means they may be working late at night and doing overtime,” Marcela said.

“The pressures and demands can be significant. Those working alone who are isolated may struggle with loneliness, motivation, and feel disconnected from their colleagues. This may impact their feelings of anxiety, may affect sleep, and could also cause them to work longer hours as they fear losing their jobs.”

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Published in mybusiness 1st April 2020

Communicate often, according to Marcela Slepica, AccessEAP Director, Clinical Services.

It’s important for employers to check in with their team members. Regular check-ins help people to feel connected, and managers should try to provide structure for employees. The situation is constantly changing and evolving, so reassuring people we are in this together is vital. 

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AccessEAP has continued to monitor the ongoing advice from the Commonwealth Department of Health and World Health Organisation to plan and manage responses to Covid-19. We are now experiencing the impact of infection here in Australia. We’ve had a number of people, our own included, ask for advice and support on how to manage individual, team and organisations in the current situation. As a result of these requests, we wanted to share examples of how we have approached this with our own people as it is an evolving situation we are all experiencing together, the scale of which we have not previously encountered. We believe it is important that we have a conversation and learn from each other.

AccessEAP has a Business Continuity Plan to ensure our ongoing operations and ability to support customers and their people during times of crisis. In addition to our Business Continuity Plan (BCP), AccessEAP has a Multiple Customer Support Plan. We have extended our BCP and created a specific Covid-19 plan based on the Commonwealth Government advice and risk levels. As a leadership team and organisation, these plans allow us to have clear, thoughtful discussions to manage how we can continue to provide support to our people and our customers. We’ve incorporated official WHO and Commonwealth Government advisory notes around general and personal hygiene strategies in our communication to our people. What we have learned in providing support to our own people is they need calm leaders focused on supporting them during what is an anxious time. We know from our experience that they can feel reassured when we communicate with them about how we are proactively managing risks to them and their wellbeing. We are putting their safety first.

We believe it is critical to remain abreast of current events, which we do by monitoring official government advisory releases and reputable news sources. We know from experience exposure to sensationalised, highly emotive media sources can directly impact the psychological health of individuals, and therefore their teams and organisations. This can be further compounded by exposure to social media, which does not always distribute correct information which can further exacerbate heightened feelings of anxiety and confusion. How have we addressed this with our own people? Our CEO Sally Kirkright has shared her own self-care strategy in an internal newsletter - selectively curate and choose what information to let in, reduce exposure to mainstream news coverage and focus efforts on supporting her own emotional resilience. We have encouraged conversations at work for our people to discuss how they are feeling and to reflect on and share their own strategies for managing their individual resilience, and through this to provide support to each other. We encourage you to have these discussions with your people.

If you have any further questions or would like to discuss specific requirements on how AccessEAP can assist your organisation and your people please contact your Relationship Manager or the Manager Support Hotline. As always, as your EAP we are here to support your people whatever the nature of their concerns, please contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728.

There is a plethora of information available on sleep, it's in the media, dispensed by family and friends and of course at the touch of a link via “Dr Google”! It can be overwhelming sifting through numerous and sometimes conflicting articles. What sleep routine should we follow? How many hours constitutes enough sleep and how much is too much? Here at AccessEAP, our clinical team have put on their myth-busting gear and provided simple, actionable information on getting some important shut-eye.

We all need sleep and it is often the thing that when we are busy we cut down on, however sleep is essential to our wellbeing and to our coping. It enables us to physically and cognitively recover and integrate things that have happened during the day. It helps us recover from daily stress and restore energy, without our recommended 7 to 9 hours sleep (for adults aged 18-64 [1]) over time this can lead to an increase of physical pain, anxiety and depression as well as compromising our immune system and general energy level [2].

A normal sleep cycle is 90 minutes and during this time our body temperature drops, muscles relax and heart rate and breathing slows. The cycle includes dreaming REM (rapid eye movement) that enhances learning, memory and enhances positive emotional health, which are all vital to us functioning to the best of our ability during the workday.

Research by Sleep Health Foundation [3] found that 33-45% of Australian adults are sleep deprived most nights, causing irritability, fatigue and undermines our productivity and relationships. The study found women are more likely than men to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, while men are more likely to be diagnosed with sleep apnoea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts, causing sleep disturbance. A sleepy fatigued person is accident prone, judgement impaired and more likely to make mistakes and poor decisions [4] whether that’s at home or in the workplace.

Serotonin is released during sleep (not stored in the body) and is a mood regulator for general wellbeing. Also, weight gain can be exacerbated by not getting enough sleep because insulin is produced in the middle of the night which assists in food digestion. If we are tired we tend to overeat to gain energy. Another health implication supporting the benefit of sleep is the release of the hormone melatonin that suppresses the development of tumours and assisting the nervous system against degenerative diseases [5].

- Awareness and education is the key for developing a good understanding of mental health and how to support employees who are at risk. Develop and implement policies that raise awareness of mental health and work towards reducing stigma in the workplace. Leaders and managers talking about mental health openly and honestly goes a long way towards acceptance of mental health in the workplace. This in turn helps to build empathy for co-workers and an acknowledgement that there may be high stress levels in the workplace that impacts on individuals and their wellbeing.

 - A culture of trust and support is a great place to start. It is critical we all work towards reducing the stigma so employees can feel safe to talk about their mental health without fear of consequences and trusting that there will be help and support. The Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance is a national initiative to encourage workplaces to become mentally healthy and is a great source of information for helping employers determine how they can improve workplace mental health.

- Develop a long term mental health strategy, addressing policy and providing mental health resources in order to address areas of bullying, poor decision making, long working hours, inadequate communication and job insecurity.

- Protective factors can be developed and implemented, such as training that is related to leadership, positive morale, collaborate decision making, good communication and team collaboration. The evidence shows that acceptance and good working relationships, especially with managers, are a strong protective factor.

- An integrated approach to wellbeing. There is no one way to improve mental health in the workplace, but an action plan that develops and implements supportive measures to help improve wellbeing, both physical and mental, has been shown to help improve employee productivity, lower absenteeism and promote a positive workplace culture.

International Women's Day is held each year on the 8th of March. This year's theme is #EachforEqual.

An equal world is an enabled world.

Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women's achievements.

Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender equal world.