Traumatic Events Affect Children

Our nation has experienced many tragedies in recent months, including the Boston Marathon bombings and the disastrous fire and explosions in Waco, Texas.  Even if not personally affected, we as adults struggle with feelings of sadness, anger and fear.  Children experience these feelings too, but without the ability to put the events in perspective as an adult can.

Employees and students who are parents, or have younger siblings, must help the children deal with these feelings in the aftermath of a tragedy.  Here are some guidelines:

Take Care of Yourself First 

Regain your composure first, and then act to reassure your child.  The children will follow your lead.  Seek out help for yourself such as EAP services if necessary.

Control the Messages Your Child Receives

Your child will receive information from friends, teachers, TV and other media.  Your job will be to make sure they know the facts.

One of the first things to do is turn off the TV.  Children can’t discern that news videos are repeated over and over, and will imagine the events are continuing.  They will fear that the same thing will happen to them.  Limit your child’s exposure to TV, newspapers and other media.  Avoid discussing the situation with other adults when children are present.

Have Honest Conversations and Address Their Concerns

In the wake of a tragedy, ask what the children have heard.  Then take the opportunity to discuss the situation calmly in age-appropriate terms.  Give minimal but honest information, and be sure to ask if the child has any questions.  No matter who may be to blame for the event, try not to allow prejudice influence your conversations.

Ask specifically what they are worried about, for example waiting for the school bus at the corner.  Explain how you and others ensure their safety and will do everything possible to keep them safe.

Don’t worry if the child is reluctant to share information or ask questions.  Allow for some processing time, and always be there for when they want to open up.

Emphasize the Positive

Always discuss how those who were hurt received the help they needed, through courageous police, firefighters, doctors and nurses.  Relate stories of bystanders helping those in need as they provided temporary clothing or shelter.

Stick to Your Routine

Children need routine in their lives to reassure them that all is well.  Keeping your normal schedule for school, homework, after-school activities, meals and bedtime will calm and reassure children.

Take Positive Action

Do something constructive with your child in the wake of a tragedy.  Donate pennies or the child’s allowance to a legitimate charity.  Volunteering services together can be a wonderful way to show empathy, both for those affected and for your feelings.  Be sure to ask your child for his or her ideas when planning activities.

Consider Counseling if No Improvement

Children may display normal stress reactions, such as nightmares, tantrums and being clingy.  These should work themselves out over time.  Be sure to take action and reach out for counseling if the symptoms last more than a few weeks.

Recognize When Employees and Students Need Help

Employees and students who are parents deal with these very same issues.  If you or a manager suspects that an employee is struggling with children who are dealing with traumatic events, be sure to make an EAP referral.  An EAP counselor will give guidance as specifically needed.

Working Parents – Managing Workplace and Parenting Stress

Every morning you scurry around your home preparing your family for the day.  Walk the dog, pack lunches, zipper up the kids’ coats, grab backpacks and run out the door just in time to meet the school bus.  You’re halfway to the office, mentally preparing for your work day, when you realize that you’ve forgotten critical presentation notes at home.

Welcome to the stressful life of a typical working parent.  Being a parent is not easy and can be frustrating and stressful.  But working parents face a double whammy when job stresses intensify parental pressures.

Parenting Stress Affects Work Performance

All jobs have some degree of stress.  Being a parent comes with its own stressors.  Combine the two and you have a recipe for too much stress that can affect job performance.

Parents worry at work even when children are well cared for in school, day care and babysitting arrangements.  In addition to job issues, parents can be preoccupied with concerns such as:

• Separation anxiety and guilt
• Illness
• Child care arrangements and transportation
• Unexpected schedule changes such as school weather-related early dismissal
• Communication disruptions
• Babysitting plans for upcoming school holidays and vacations
• Latchkey children for those old enough to be home alone

The pressure of these stressors can result in distractions and reduced productivity on the job.

Work Stresses Affect Parenting Wellness

You may leave work at the end of the day, but your brain doesn’t.  It’s difficult not to let job stress spill over into your family life.

Children pick up on their parent’s stress which can cause feelings of shame and guilt.  An inability to manage stress can affect all personal relationships.  Compounding workplace stress with typical personal stressors such as financial, marital difficulties, troubled child or illness can add to existing family tensions.

How Your EAP Can Help

Workplace stress may cause an employee’s performance to suffer.  He or she may be unable to focus on tasks, and demonstrates poor time management.  Work relationships may deteriorate, particularly team situations.  Health issues may also be present.

If you’ve identified an employee whose work performance is suffering due to parental issues, counsel the manager or supervisor to make an EAP referral.  An EAP professional can:

• Help identify workplace and parenting stressors
• Suggest techniques to manage workplace stress
• Work with the employee to develop a plan to handle family stress, including
  • Daily, short-term and long-term planning
  • Morning routines
  • Day time communications
  • End of day and returning home issues
  • Time management
  • Activities to connect family members

It’s probably impossible to eliminate all stress from our lives, but it should be feasible to manage it.  An EAP professional can assist employees in working through both workplace and parenting stress to help the employee better cope with both.

April Celebrations

April is here, and spring too, although it doesn’t feel like it yet here in the Northeast.  And, although each month has many daily, weekly and monthly observances, the celebrations really blossom during this April.

Of course, we all know that April 1^st is April Fool’s Day.  Celebrated in many countries in addition to the U.S., it’s a day to play harmless jokes and pranks on unsuspecting friends and family.  The exact origins of this day are unknown.  The first English written record of tricks on this date is Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written in 1392.  A word of advice:  plan your jokes early in the day before your victim remembers the date.

A more sobering day is April 15^th – Income Tax Day, when Uncle Sam expects his full share of our hard-earned wages.  Why April 15^th?  When the 16^th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing income tax to be collected, was ratified on February 3, 1913, the first tax returns were due a year later, on March 1, 1914. Later that date shifted to March 15^th and then to April 15^th in 1955, allegedly to give the IRS more time for their workload.  This year, those affected by Massachusetts’s and Maine’s Patriot’s Day holidays, which also fall on April 15^th, get an extra day to file Federal tax returns.

Emancipation Day is celebrated on April 22^nd in Washington D.C.  In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, freeing more than 3,000 slaves in the D.C. area nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation.  Several other states also celebrate Emancipation Day holidays on different days.  Fittingly, Jackie Robinson Day, usually celebrated on April 15^th, recognizes the April 11, 1947 landmark occasion of the first time that an African American played in a major league baseball game.

On March 21, 1970 (that year’s vernal equinox), the first Earth Day was celebrated in the U.S.  Events in thousands of universities, schools and communities brought more than 20 million Americans to “teach-ins” devoted to raising awareness of environmental issues.  This year, on April 22^nd, show your appreciation for our planet by planting a tree, donating time to a local environmental effort, or teaching a child the importance of recycling.

Unusual April Observances

Some April celebrations are both absurd and obscure.  How many of these are familiar?

• Walk Around Things Day on April 4^th, quickly followed by
• Jump Over Things Day on April 6^th
• Visit a zoo on Zoo Lover’s Day (April 8^th)
• Indulge in your favorite treats on National Eggs Benedict Day, April 16^th, and National Pineapple Upside-Down Day, April 20^th
• Be sure to tell the truth on National Honesty Day, as this was our first president’s inauguration in 1789

You can find a comprehensive list of all that April has to offer here.

Month-Long Observances on Children’s Issues

Two month-long observances center on serious child-related issues.  April has been designated as Autism Awareness Month since 1970.  It’s an opportunity to highlight this developmental disability to build awareness and education.

April is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  First established in 1983, the goal of this observance is to build awareness of child abuse conditions through information and updated national statistics of abuse and neglect.

Autism and situations of child abuse are serious issues that many of your students or employees face every day.  Keep in mind the value of an EAP referral to anyone who you believe may need help with these concerns.  An EAP professional is only a phone call away.

Managing the Generation Gap

In today’s workplaces, you’ll find workers from three distinct generations:

• Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964, this is the post-World War II baby boom generation.  Boomers tend to favor working forward toward one goal.  They want to advance vertically, up the reporting chain, and are interested in job security with one employer.
• Generation Xers – this group, generally born between 1965 and 1980, enjoys keeping multiple balls in the air at one time.  They average three to five years in a job, have a lot of technical knowledge, and are competent and independent with a distrust of large organizations.  Xers pick up knowledge as they go, and value family life and work/life balance.
• Generation Y/Millennials – born generally between 1981 and 2000, they need work that is meaningful and challenging; if not, they quickly become impatient.  They may seem disloyal because they follow the work rather than the employer.  To best manage this group, let them figure things out for themselves, and don’t over train.  Millennials welcome feedback as valuable coaching.

Managers must learn to work with members from each generation singly as well as on project teams.  Since each group finds job and career fulfillment in different ways, it’s important to understand how they differ to successfully manage the team.  A basic understanding of the differing goals, work habits and work styles of the generations can help managers bring out the best in each team member and team results.

When bringing diverse team members together, it’s vital to establish ground rules clearly for all to understand.  Be sure to cover the following basics:

Project goals and deliverables – all team members must have clear project responsibilities and timetables established up front.  The generations may prefer different types of managerial feedback (direct supervision vs. mentoring vs. coaching), but that doesn’t change the team’s ultimate goals or deliverables due dates.

Team meetings and working hours – Boomers understand rigid work schedules, and participating in formal team meetings at any time.  However, Xers prefer that work responsibilities are limited to normal business hours, while work time and place for Millennials are fluid.  Communicate work place expectations clearly to all team members.

Team communications – Millennials thrive on emails and texts; Boomers prefer face-to-face meetings; Xers fall in the middle.  The team must choose the best ways to communicate project issues and results, and stick to them.

Members of the different generations may not understand each other, but it’s the team manager’s job to make sure that they work together effectively.  Each brings different strengths to the table and can learn from each other to the betterment of the group.  Boomers should make themselves open to new technology, including IMs, texting, social media and smartphone apps.  The younger generations can learn from the wide experience of the Boomers, and welcome the opportunity to take over their more senior responsibilities.

It can happen, however, that a manager becomes frustrated and needs help in understanding differences to reconcile team difficulties and move forward on projects.  At this point, be sure to remind the manager of the resources available with your EAP.  Counseling can help with manager difficulties as well as team member frustrations and work issues.

All organizations will benefit from today’s diverse and globally-connected generations.  Diverse teams that mirror a business’s constituents can best work toward common goals to benefit their customer base.

Has Your Organization Tried Telecommuting?

After a large increase in the 1990’s, the number of businesses instituting telecommuting as a workplace option has largely remained level.

Telecommuting isn’t for everyone.  The ideal candidate must be mature within the organization, reliable and an independent worker.  He or she must be well-organized and self-motivated.  Managers of telecommuters must be able to trust their employees, be good communicators in a variety of media, and value results rather than being just a timekeeper.

To be successful, a telecommuting policy must be well planned.  If your organization is considering a telecommuting option, ask yourselves these key questions:

• Does telecommuting fit in our business strategy?  Above all, instituting a work option like telecommuting has to make sense for your business.
• Are there tasks, and therefore positions, that could be accomplished outside of the workplace?  Be sure to look at job responsibilities first, not the individual.  Many office jobs with high reliance on computers, and little need for face-to-face customer contact, can be well-suited for telecommuting.
• Could our organization benefit from extended customer service hours?  Some remote workers may enjoy working earlier or later than standard hours, and this could translate into greater service coverage for your clients.
• Could telecommuting save us money in terms of reducing or redesigning office space?  Keep in mind that some of the cost savings would be negated by added costs in providing workers with equipment such as high-speed internet connection, phones, desktop or laptop computers and printers with fax/scanner capabilities.
• Would a telecommuting option increase employee retention, and even serve as a recruiting tool?  There is evidence that employees who telecommute reduce their commuting hours and enjoy more time with their families.

Once you’ve decided to institute some sort of telecommuting option, it’s essential to lay the groundwork by having clear, firm policies and procedures.  These documents should spell out the parameters around the positions eligible for telecommuting, as well as any company-specific requirements.  Be sure they include information on:

• How an employee or manager can request a telecommuting position
• Employee eligibility standards (time in company, performance conditions)
• Any hardware requirements
• Home office requirements including security, privacy and having a dedicated work area
• What the company will pay for, including phone expenses and supplies
• Time recordkeeping, especially for non-exempt employees
• Communication requirements such as emails, calls, periodic meetings, project log
• Any core business hours requirement
• Formal Telecommuting Work Agreement, to be signed by the employee, manager and Human Resources
• Trial period expectations
• Detailed job descriptions

It’s a good idea to survey periodically your telecommuting population in terms of job effectiveness and viability.  Take some time to canvas both employees who telecommute and their managers.  These individuals can provide real-life examples of how their situations are working for them, as well as suggest improvements.  It’s also a good idea to revisit the policies and procedures governing these arrangements to keep them current and workable.

Telecommuting can be a win-win situation for both employer and employee, but it takes a lot of careful planning and communications.  You can benefit from both increased job effectiveness and employee satisfaction if it’s the right fit for your organization.  If you haven’t yet explored it, consider how telecommuting can enhance your business as well as increase employee retention and recruiting.

Creating a Retirement Planning Seminar

Retirement can be an exhilarating and freeing experience, but it can also be full of uncertainty.  With medical advances, people are living longer, and this means a longer retirement period.

Employees approaching retirement have serious questions and concerns:  Will I have enough money for my retirement years?  Should I downsize my home or relocate to another area?  When will I be able to collect Social Security Retirement Benefits, and how much will the payment be?  Will my company health benefits continue into retirement?  And the really big one:  What will I do with the rest of my life?!?

Hosting a retirement planning seminar for employees approaching retirement is a great way to get important information into their hands.  With a minimal investment in time and money, you’ll ensure that the right employees get consistent and accurate messages about their retirement years.  Here are some ideas for planning your event:

By Invitation Only – Invite employees by age and/or service, or if they are a member of a downsized group.  Be sure to plan separate events for different categories; for example, invite salaried employees on a different day from hourly workers if their company benefits are different.  As a courtesy, allow attendees to bring along a spouse or significant other.

Plan Time and Place – Reserve one full day for the seminar.  If budget allows, consider holding your event in a location different from your workplace, to prevent employees from work distractions.  It’s a nice touch to offer continental breakfast and lunch for your attendees, and be sure to include brief morning and afternoon breaks.

Create an Appealing Agenda – and include these segments:

• Retirement Lifestyle – cover topics such as interpersonal relationships, maintaining health, staying active with exercise, cultivating friendships, travel, relocation and downsizing, new career, consulting, part-time work, hobbies, volunteerism and board memberships, returning to school, teaching and mentoring.
• Company Benefits – pension plan, 401(k), medical, dental, vision care, life insurance.  Don’t forget other employee programs such as Credit Union and health club memberships.
• Financial Considerations – Social Security, Medicare, estate and tax planning, IRA rollovers, Roth vs. traditional IRAs, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, capital gains on home sale, long term care insurance, investing for retirement, creating a budget.
• EAP Issues – stress management, elder and child care, adjusting to retirement, loss of power, loss of prestige.

Choose Your Presenters – Human Resources can host the event and cover the Company Benefits section.  But be sure to reach out for other topic experts to present the remaining segments.  Take advantage of your organization’s existing relationships with trainers, consultants, investment consultants, benefit plan providers and record keepers to recruit presenters.  They may be willing to come in for no fee because of their business relationships with you.  For the Financial Considerations segment, be sure the information expert does not also sell investment vehicles, so the information will be unbiased.

Hosting a retirement seminar for eligible employees is well worth your investment in time and money.  You’ll impart valuable information to your constituents and create a lot of goodwill at the same time.

Special Considerations for Employees Reentering the Workforce

Employees reentering the workforce require special considerations during the hiring process and once onboard with an organization.  The challenge for Human Resources is to look beyond a job gap in a resume in order to find qualified and talented individuals.

When screening resumes, don’t pass over an individual with good experience and skills just because of a resume gap.  There are many reasons why an individual leaves the workforce for a period of time:

• Military service
• Child care duties
• Pursuing an advanced degree
• Switching careers
• Self-employment
• Caregiving for a family member
• Illness or other personal need
• Unemployment

An applicant should be able not only to explain a break in their job experience, but also to explain how that break actually enhances his or her resume.  A candidate with military experience may have gained management, procurement, logistics and technology skills.  Someone returning to work after rearing a family can bring communication, organization and marketing experiences.  Charitable work can encompass financial management, budgeting, public relations and fundraising.  All of these are transferable and can benefit your organization.

Interview Considerations

Don’t dismiss individuals with gaps in their resumes.  Remember, you’re searching for applicants with the right skills and experience for the job.  Use the interview process to probe further and ask about any resume gaps.  It’s perfectly acceptable to ask about any missing periods of time.

Don’t assume applicant is overqualified.  A person reentering the workforce who has new or changed family obligations may be looking for a more flexible job at a lower pay level and with less responsibility.  Don’t dismiss this person as overqualified for your position, as long as he or she is willing to accept the job’s pay rate and level.

Consider the whole person.  Look at all activities, paid and unpaid.  While out of work, the individual may have done some volunteer activities with a charity, local government or school administration.  Use the interview to explore and uncover skills that may transfer to the position in your organization.

A small gap in technology skills can be accommodated.  If the required job skills include technology skills, ask if the applicant has kept current with technology even out of the workplace.  A quick brush-up may be is all that is needed using your organization’s in-house or external training arrangements.

Retirees come with successful track records.  They have demonstrated that they are experienced, reliable and dedicated employees with a good work ethic.  Employees who retired from another organization experience short learning curves, lower absenteeism and positive attitudes in new positions.

If your organization offers flexible employment options, such as part-time employment, flex hours and job sharing, this may be ideal for individuals reentering the workforce.  These arrangements can help workers deal with the transition to the workplace and accommodate their personal obligations at the same time.

Assigning a mentor to an employee reentering the workforce can help ease the transition, especially if the mentor has had similar experience.  Also, be sure to explain your organization’s Employee Assistance Plan to the new hire.  Because of their special circumstances, it will be comforting for these individuals to know about the many benefits and easy access to your EAP during their employment transition period.

Hiring employees who are reentering the workforce creates a win-win situation, so that the best candidates gain meaningful employment and successfully fill your positions.