August 09 National Newsletter   Is Your Workplace a Healthy Place to Work?     Written by Fiona Cosgrove, Masters of Exercise Science, Masters of Counselling Wellness Coaching Australia

Meet Fiona Cosgrove

 

 

Is Your Workplace a Healthy Place to Work?

 

Health encompasses more than just physical health

There has been a great deal of recent publicity on the need for Australians to improve their physical health. The country is not measuring up in our nutritional habits or our daily activity level - according to the guidelines - and there are many lifestyle related illnesses that are contributing to the economic crisis as much as stock market slides are. But optimal health includes both a physical and mental component.

 

There is an equally disturbing prevalence of mental illness in the community – varying from severe depression to a sense of discontent with life. The current financial climate obviously contributes to the hardships that people face, with unemployment on the rise and uncertainty in the workplace, but for many, life has continued along as normal. Yet the legal professional still features highly as one of the “unhappiest” professions of all. (Seligman, 2007.) Lawyers are in good company along with unhappy Doctors, Dentists and Air Traffic Controllers but what can we do to combat this? Do we really want to work under high levels of daily stress at work? How can we help to change this situation? Let’s step back and look at the notion of work and what it represents to us.

 

Why do we go to work?

Many people would respond, “ To sustain our lifestyle”. Yet that is just part of the picture. In occupational health and safety terms when people are sick or debilitated, we help people get well to go to work. The reality is that people go to work to get well. Research has shown that our main reasons for choosing work are for status and relationships and the main reason we leave is due to poor relationships in the workplace. (Murray and Fortinbery, 2009.)

 

Let’s take a closer look at the reason for this. Human beings seek good relationships. We evolved genetically to belong to a tribe or band. If the quality of relationships is poor in an organisation, the people in that organisation will be unhappy and unhappiness is contagious.

 

How do we breed a happy environment?

Like most things in life, a leader has to lead the way. If your workplace focuses on cut-throat competitiveness, you may well have a problem.

If a company starts to realise that job satisfaction, commitment and fulfilment, as well as innovation, flexibility and performance, depend mainly on the quality of workplace relationships, more focus would be placed on keeping employees happy as well as providing client satisfaction.

 

So how do we improve relationships at work?

First assess your business:

• Does your firm encourage a “flat dialogue” where people speak to each other in a way that moves outside the boss/employee relationship?
• Is focus placed solely on billable hours or is importance placed on work/life balance and mutual support?
• Do leaders “coach” people or do they just hand out expert advice?
• Is feedback constructive and with an eye to the future or is it critical and focused on past mistakes?

Chances are these questions may reveal a less than ideal environment for good and effective communication. Change needs to start from the top with leaders creating a culture that supports teamwork and growth and wellbeing of the individuals within the firm. In an ideal world, our leaders would be re-trained to make this happen and start the shift to a happier workplace. Workshops would be held to encourage the sharing of ideas and concerns. But an ideal world does not always exist. So what can you do as an individual to create a relationshp environment around you that supports your growth and can act as a catalyst for the development of others?

 

Creating your own supportive environment

“We can’t change others but we can change ourselves” is a common piece of wisdom dispersed by many. However, we can have an effect on others by learning a few simple communication skills that will seek to include, rather than exclude others, and lead the way for a better interaction between co-workers. These may seem like simple principles, but they are all too often forgotten in our busy lives. Next time you are having a conversation with either a new or existing colleague try and focus on the following:

 

Establish trust – look for commonality in others. Sharing common experiences is a great way to gain someone’s interest and trust. Commonality “bonds” us.

Show curiosity – ask questions rather than telling and really listen to the responses. Avoid making assumptions and never prepare your next statement before really listening to what the person is saying right now. Many conversations consist of two people talking “at” each other rather than engaging in a discovery of what is really happening in their lives.

Be specific in all communication – generalisations can be misunderstood easily. Explain exactly what you mean rather than using jargon or clichés. Statements such as “run with it”, or “let it go” are typical messages we send and we do it even more with people we know as we presume they will know what we mean. They rarely do.

Give praise – although Australians do not do this well, praise that is justified and well delivered can energise us. Similar to dealing with children, we need to word our praise correctly to avoid “trait praise”. Look for specifics such as “what” someone did, “how” they did it, and occasionally, just “who” they are.

Learn to express your needs – this is another area that has been frequently ignored by co-workers as there is a suggestion that if we need something, we are “needy”. Far from it. Individuals work in different ways. Some may need to be left alone to complete a job, some may need regular check-ins and support. There could be boundary issues that, if expressed early, may prevent awkward situations (or potential law suits) from arising.

 

Knowledge is not enough to guarantee our success in relationships

Many professions are based on a thorough understanding of a broad set of facts or precedents. The academic world, the medical world and the law are founded upon knowledge. When we enter these professions we learn as much as we can so that we can serve up what the public want from us. It is easy to see how people working in the world of facts can become detached from the grey areas that exist in the world. The unbending rules that are taught to help us become experts in our field, can often be the bars of a prison when it comes to understanding what makes relationships work and the complexity of human interaction. We believe on some level that if we simply tell someone what to do, based on the information we possess, then we have helped them either resolve their problem or become more proficient or successful at what it is they want to do. Human behaviour does not work in that way.

 

People will always prefer the solutions they have come up with themselves over those that have been given to them by someone else

This is one of the first things we learn in the world of coaching. What does coaching have to do with working in law you may wonder? If we think of coaching as being a way of communicating with the world that has a better chance of success in helping people change, grow and learn, then it has everything to do with life, not just law. There will be times when our relationships at work have an element of inequality of power and our role is to mentor or assist someone to do their job better. Even in this seemingly unequal position, we can make our relationship better by putting it in a coaching framework. The principles of coaching include:

 

• Create trust
• Avoid telling
• Help the coachee find their own answer
• Help the coachee discover their own strengths
• Act as a supportive partner rather than a superior

 

Do these sound similar to the basis of creating good relationships at work? They are. In all our dealings with other people, showing respect and belief in their capabilities and really listening to what they say as well as hearing what they need are the keys to success. Relationships at work are equally as important as relationships at home. We know what it costs to find, hire and train new staff. Keeping existing staff happy is a more cost effective way of running a law firm.
Small groups of happy people can create a ripple effect that spreads. Perhaps by slowly changing the culture in our law firms, we can push the profession higher up the happiness scale!