# data[].attributes.body
These are workshops designed to have leaders or professional coaches meet with stakeholders and take the "stress pulse" of the organization. They can then design tailored programs for groups or individuals to channel stress, reduce anxiety, or focus on fitness goals.

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Our staff is allowed to have a free PTO day after a drill weekend. A drill weeknd is one weekend a month and our staff is allowed a day of free PTO after the drill weekend to allow them to reset and get away from work.

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Sometimes there is no time to exercise and the guilt of not taking care of oneself can be stressful. Using an under desk treadmill may alleviate stress on those days where the couldn't exercise.

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Breath2Relax and other similar apps encourage taking small bits of time throughout the day to engage in some deep breathing for few moments to rest, regather and continue on.

I've seen a university bring in dogs to the library to help students lower their stress levels during finals.

A program I saw had parents with young kids bring their children to nursing homes which seemed to be very enjoyable for the kids, the elderly and the parents.

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During the pandemic, units Army-wide designated one day a month where platoon and company leadership had a day to plan a hike, or special physical activity (surfing was popular in Hawaii) off their military installation, and take a day to focus on their people. This worked on two fronts, allowing Soldiers a breather from the seemingly nonstop workload, and allowing leadership some space in their schedule to sit down with Soldiers individually to see what was working and where we needed improvement meeting Soldiers' needs. It was good to have protected time to show our Soldiers we care, and the practice has stuck thus far. I think providing managers and leaders protected time to focus on their team's personal needs is a solid starting point to understand and manage the stress within an organization.

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Time off: employees should take vacation time from work to rest and recharge.

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Time off: employees should take vacation time from work to rest and recharge.

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Team outings: connecting with your peers on a social level can build relationships that help make the long hours and stress associated with work tasks more manageable.  

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Team outings: connecting with your peers on a social level can build relationships that help make the long hours and stress associated with work tasks more manageable.  

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During the summer, our offices are closed on Fridays. A few years ago, we had transitioned to half days in the summer. Management noticed that it increased our overall morale and productivity during the rest of the week (while decreasing productivity on Friday mornings), that we now do not have scheduled work on Fridays unless there is an emergency or international manufacturing meeting.

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Early release on Fridays. Nothing really gets done from 3-5pm on Friday anyway, right?

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My company started a standard 4 day workweek, providing three day weekends to rest and recharge as well as remote opportunities. This has helped people feel more connected at home and many have also been able to start side businesses to reduce financial stress.

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As a manager of large team , I have personally taken upon a task to provide mandatory time off for the employees who i felt worked more than 40 hours or during the weekend( production support). The work life balance is very important but scenario like production issues , teams have always jumped and helped with issues require to put in long hours. As a manager its important to recognize this , find out rootcause and them make sure appropriate measures are take like identifying offshore counterpart support to handle this in future. Its important for any manager to keep track on time on their employees engage them in destress programs, seminars , offer a paid vacation etc

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My organization offers various wellness program incentives for the employees to keep them healthy. It includes discounts on Gym memberships, wellness points for keeping track on walking , Yoga, meditation and sleep schedules .can connect your well program app which calculates and keep track of this activities automatically. These points can be reimbursed through the wellness app in terms of cash rewards or gifts. There is also a monthly raffle purchase that offer high worth prizes. I feel this is really motivating , have used them personally and benefitted. There is also reward like time off /vacation which is very popular among the employees

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Encourage employees to disconnect from email and messaging when not at work to ensure they have intentional time away from work.  My company has methods to have Outlook and Teams on our phones but my department has recently started to encourage people avoid using them or at least turn off notifications (at no point was it required).

I recently changed to turn off notifications on my phone for anything work related and it has been a major relief. I am not longer interrupted by work and resent getting messages from people. We also encourage people to schedule messages to avoid sending messages at odd hours that interrupt each other.

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Stress amongst resident physicians is extremely high. Once a quarter, our Wellness Director organizes a team team building activity. Instead of the usual time for lectures, we take the residents off campus for the event. In the past we have done ropes courses, paintball, escape rooms, and lakeside getaways. The activities help the residents get to know one another outside of work. These activities not only provide a fun escape for a day, but strengthens the camaraderie amongst the group that helps them support one another while performing a high stakes job.

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When a company adds a free gym memberships for their employees, it lets the employee de-stress and provides confidence in the employee that their company cares.

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Daily Stretch breaks & home workout equipment allowances

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Daily Stretch breaks & home workout equipment allowances

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My company hosted daily stretch breaks via Teams in the morning and afternoon during early 2020. The leader would be on camera and leave everyone through a stretch flow. It was 100% optional to attend, but most managers encouraged attendance because we were no longer in the office and not walking around seeing each other at our desks. There was also a period of time where partial costs of home workout equipment could be reimbursed by the company in an attempt to keep us all active.

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I used to work for Cognizant back in India between 2010-2013. If I remember, correctly we used to have a team outing day in our account every quarter.We together as a team will go to a picture and a lunch or dinner together. Also, we have been to resorts to have fun games and activities. We all some how felt energized after those outings. I miss all those here in USA

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Health check (no, not the COVID temp checks)

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Health check (no, not the COVID temp checks)

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One thing we started doing at our daily check-in / check-out meetings is a person by person health check "How are you feeling today 1-5". Its a really quick exercise but it demands that everyone in the room or online be engaged (like roll call) and its a low-stakes way to communicate when your batteries are starting to deplete (for whatever reason, work or otherwise). If I say I'm feeling a 1 or 2, someone will probably check in with me after the meeting to see if I'm OK or if there's something they can do to help. It builds connections to my co-workers and helps me know when to push and when to pull back with my peers.

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Better parental leaves. My husband's last company offered 3 months of paid paternity leave. His current one only offers one week and our stress in considering this area has certainly risen.

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Better parental leaves. My husband's last company offered 3 months of paid paternity leave. His current one only offers one week and our stress in considering this area has certainly risen.

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My company implements "recharge weeks" every quarter. My company will completely shut down for an entire week. This provides employees with dedicated time to truly step away, disconnect, and recharge.

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In addition to many of the resources that others shared, my company also offers a large amount of money to improve our home workspace. The majority of the organization is fully flexible and working remote, but that can cause challenges when we don't have a nice desk or reliable internet connection. My company provides support for home office equipment such as desks, chairs, headsets, etc. with a little extra if employees participate in an ergonomics assessment. We also have a nice reimbursement program for internet and cell phones which allows us to upgrade our packages to meet the demands of working from home without absorbing all of the costs.

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My company has a massage therapist come in and give chair massages once a month in order to help alleviate workplace stress.

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If employees are given the opportunity to go on an all-expense trip for a couple of weeks, it will help the employee recharge.

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Not necessarily related to my company, but I've noticed a significant increase in virtual access to mental health care, likely resulting from the pandemic. For many, stress can cause a magnitude of other mental health issues, and access to local care can be difficult. These online models have certainly changed the way we are able to manage our mental health.

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The College closes down for 2 weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays. This has been life-changing for my overall career happiness.

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In the summer, we work shorter weeks and enjoy 3-day weekends. This allows us some time to rest, regroup and get ready for the fall semester.

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We are a hybrid office, and our leadership allows us a more 'go with the flow' type of schedule. Some weeks may allow for more days at home vs. other weeks. If I have a doctor's appointment I can adjust my hours without explanation. There is an unspoken trust in our people and that speaks volumes when juggling life outside of work.

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My company provides a free gym membership to the largest gym in the area. It has locations all over town that are open 24/7 (beneficial because many are shift workers), have free fitness classes, plus basketball courts, soccer fields, tennis courts, racquetball courts, and a natatorium.

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Not many people know of it (a problem) but there is a policy where employees can take days off outside of vacation or personal holidays if you need it. You can just tell your manager you are not feeling great and need a day to reset, they are to give it to you.

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My previous employer implemented 'no meeting Fridays' across the entire organization post-covid. It allowed everyone to catch-up on work that required deep concentration and also the ability to plan the day as needed.

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My leadership instituted a 12-1pm lunch block everyday to ensure that we are taking a break from work and getting outside or doing something non-work related. This gives us the breather we need to refocus and finish up the day on a strong note.

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My company has dedicated resources to an emotional wellness portal where employees can find various strategies to cope with stress. We have a wellness program that offers an incentive to participants that complete well-being activities.

There is also a monthly podcast that focuses on topics of health and well-being with experts from around the state.

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My company urges management to set their hours and knock out their work to leave. If someone wants to flex their hours early morning to midday to be free for personal scheduling in the afternoon, that is fine. By allowing the freedom of flexibility employees are able to set their own schedules and not worry or add in extra stress of outside of work issues.

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Many of our corporate employees have the opportunity to work a hybrid schedule - with most work days spent working form a home office. Prior to the pandemic, this was not an option.

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Encourage junior and/or new employees to participate in mentorship programs with set times to discuss topics of interest relating to work or anything outside of work. This allows for increased relationship building and give every employee at least one safe outlet to express burnout concerns if they start to feel over stressed.

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Allowing flexibility for employees work schedule gives stress relief for employees to have access to stores, doctor appointments, etc without needing to take a day off with PTO. Additionally, it gives employees additional days on the weekend to decompress and spend time with their family, which would reduce stress.

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My employer added a therapy service that is free to all employees. This was in response to the strain that COVID put on our lives and the change to 100% work from home of our company.

Talkspace is an online therapy service that makes it easy and convenient to connect with a licensed behavioral therapist — from anywhere, at any time. Send unlimited text, video, and audio messages to your therapist via a web browser or the Talkspace mobile app. Your therapist will respond daily, five days per week.

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Utilizing a leadership coach to work with our teams but also individuals help refine the understanding of where people gain their energy through an Emergentics study. This development then leads to thoughtful situational exposure on how to handle certain situations with employees and build a team of trust.

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We have a dining hall and food service staff on site. Lunches are provided M-F for all employees in a family style dining service model. The goal here is to gather individuals from across the organization mid-day together. It provides a break in the day for sustenance and community. We also offer a weekly family night meal where an employee can bring their spouse and kids to dinner. This helps instill a sense of community across our staff team as families get to know one another and it raises awareness for the family of what the organization is about.

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We have a retired Covenant pastor visit our workplace monthly for spiritual direction. Employees can voluntarily sign up to meet with him for an hour-long session. It is free, confidential, and provides a sounding board opportunity from someone external. It allows someone the space to verbally process life in an embodied dialogue. I typically find new perspective in that conversation.

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My office includes activities and games that employees can use to take a break and de-stress from work throughout the day. For example, I like to play ping pong with my coworkers as a way to have fun and get energized. The office also has a foosball table, bubble hockey, arcade games, rock band, and various other video games. These are all investments that the company made to increase employee happiness and help reduce stress. However, these types of activities can often be used by companies to keep their employees in office for longer hours. While I like that my company offers these games and activities, it's also important to go home and relax outside of the office.

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Many people left our company in last few years, especially software engineers.
Since last year, the management started to create more internal opportunities to refresh and motivate employees.

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My employer has really got creative and added many benefits starting pandemic to assist employees in their mental wellness. Programs like Perks+ offer extra dollars yearly that can be invested towards gym membership and any fitness equipment’s etc., weekly region-based yoga and meditation classes, 1:1 advisory, meeting free Fridays. We also have lot of new features released through internal apps to remind employees about taking breaks, focus time, peer time as well. These add-ons are great stress relievers when utilized the right way.100% remote work flexibility is a huge that relives the stress of travel time, total time, exhaustion. Makes a BIG difference especially when working in so called competitive world day in day out!

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My company allows one day per year for employees to contribute to a volunteer effort of their choosing. This can boost morale by focusing efforts on a community benefit.

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During the pandemic lockdown, my employer began to offer a daily zoom yoga class. A few dozen people participated, but I kept receiving instant messages that interrupted my experience.
This later turned into a ClassPass subscription that allowed employees to view virtual workouts. I preferred this as I could exercise during time outside of work to minimize distractions.

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My company provides happy hour events and food truck days on site as an escape from the daily grind. Each employee, whether they are stationed at the main campus or remotely, is encouraged to join in the festivities. It takes your mind off of work for a little while.

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Some supervisors in my department encourage people to take a walk in the middle of the day. On remote work days, I like to play fetch with my dog in the middle of the morning and the middle of the afternoon. This refreshes me, clears my mind, and sets me up to be more productive when I return to my desk.

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My Company provides "Be Well" time to employees. Employees can use this time to learn a new skill such as CPR or meditation. This time can also be used to volunteer for an organization of their choice or help with their child's school or a field trip. There are other uses as well, but these are the most common.

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Mediation groups formed and guided at work had been useful in reducing stress and preventing further stress.

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My company is a firm believer in a 40 hour work week. If we are forced to work long days or work a weekend, we are instructed to take back our time by taking off a weekday without using PTO or working some half days. This has been an excellent method of reducing stress and burnout!

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Personally, one of my greatest stressors is the over reliance on the immediacy of slack or teams messages. Depending on how you use it, it can devalue the interpersonal communication and act as a stressor. For example, there is an expectation that it requires an immediate response. As a busy executive, being bombarded my these messages made it hard to accomplish tasks. This is especially true because I have pretty significant ADD. (You might like this article from the NYT on this subject and how it relates to ADD and depression: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/style/medication-depression-anxiety-adhd.html)

So, I made some simple requests to members of my team and my peers: only use instant messaging for socializing (a eustress), when something is urgent and needs immediate attention, praise, or something that doesn't not need substantive response/focus.

Similarly, I've pushed a meeting free day at the last three places that I've worked. I know these are really important things for me, but I've always gotten a lot of positive feedback. These are all free and easy things to reduce stress.

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The pandemic’s true toll on mental health won’t be known for a long time, but data from the past two years indicates a rise — some of it sharp — in prescription drugs for conditions like A.D.H.D. and depression.

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The company I work for has a massage therapist that comes to the office once a month and provides chair massages to any employees who want one. There is also a chiropractor who comes to the office weekly and offers adjustments. A lot of office workers carry stress in their back and necks, so the massages and adjustments can be a good way to relieve some of the stress.

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My company starting finding ways to appreciate peers more and put up a board where employees can write notes acknowledging peers for going out of their way to help with things. These notes then get put on the cubes/offices to show the appreciation from others. The extra acknowledgement can help to be an extra motivation.

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A non-monetary way to support a positive workplace is acknowledging when something is done well.  Public praise is great, but private appreciation between colleagues or from a manger to an employee can be powerful motivators.  It doesn’t need to be a grand gesture,  a memorable acknowledgment can be a simple note saying thank you.
-I saw you do x today and it resulted in this positive result.
-Thank you for your contribution on todays zoom call, it helped me think of x in a different way.

To make it even more special; mail it to the persons home. Few get cards anymore other than on holidays.

I teamed up with a professor from VCU to run a professional development series for my administrators on appreciative leadership (which is based on positive psychology).  It may seem simple, but authentic appreciation or acknowledgement of something can be a powerful motivator.

Here is a link to some research being done in positive psychology:
https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/de/learn

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Positive Psychology Theory

While positive psychology has seen tremendous growth over the past decade, the central theories in the field are continuing to evolve. Articles in this section introduce important theoretical concepts and refer to new research in the field.

What is well-being? And why is authentic happiness theory wrong? In his book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being, Dr. Seligman shares his updated theory of well-being. Read an excerpt from the book and learn about the new goal of positive psychology: to increase not just human happiness, but human flourishing.

Positive Psychology Initiatives

Positive psychology theory and research has been applied across many domains, from education to health to neuroscience. In this section, you will find information about some of the larger positive psychology initiatives from the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center. These articles are not meant to be comprehensive reviews of the work in these domains - instead, they offer an introductory overview for those who may not be familiar with these projects. For those curious to learn more about these initiatives, we have provided suggestions for learning more where possible.

Is health more than just the absence of illness? Read about recent efforts in "positive health" to identify the subjective, biological, and functional assets that actually increase health.

How does creativity work, how is it linked to imagination, and how does it contribute to our well-being?

What can we learn about psychological and medical well-being based on language used in social media like Facebook or Twitter?

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While positive psychology has seen tremendous growth over the past decade, the central theories in the field are continuing to evolve. Articles in this section introduce important theoretical concepts and refer to new research in the field. What is well-being? And why is authentic happiness theory wrong?

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One of the things that my employer encourages everyone to do is power-up time. This is a set time (usually Friday afternoon), where employees are encouraged to spend time learning new skills and researching new ideas. It is meant to help reduce burnout because people take 4 hours of their work week and not focus on what they do on a day to day basis. I have found this useful, because it has made me take a step back and learn something new. I have found myself feeling more refreshed the next work day after I do power-up, compared to when I don't.

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In addition to HR and corporate driven program, start a peer group that focus on staff engagement at the grass root level, fund the running of the group with a healthy budget and let the staff self run and manage without corporate influence. The group's should have a employee centric focus, perform survey and company feedback functions, and organize fun hobby type activities at a local level. It should advocate for staff and provide a blameless platform to share ideas of improvement and complaints on bad work culture. The group should bring back these ideas to management to form a partnership to address issue. In some ways, it is almost like a collective bargaining unit on work culture, without the compensation aspect of a traditional union.

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For the duration of my decade plus career, my employer has kept personal/medical time off separate from vacation days. Personal/medical time can be used for typical dentist or doctor appointments, activities that need to be completed during business hours (such as car maintenance) or volunteer time. Every employee gets 15 days of personal/medical time per year (100% pay), and can roll over up to 15 days to the next calendar year. I've never had to fall back on using all of these days, but the safety net if needed shows the compassion my employer has for employees. -Logan Brecklin

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My workplace utilizes the Microsoft Viva platform, which feels like a catch-all for work tasks approached through Outlook emails. In addition to the eustress experienced when marking action items complete, a small Headspace (mindfulness) exercise is also included. This helped encourage me to more readily accept mindfulness exercises as a way to reduce stress in the moment when everything seems to be so overwhelming. I highly recommend if you have even an inkling of stress - only $10 for an annual subscription (typically $70) if you register with your UWEC address! -Logan Brecklin

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In 2022 my organization is celebrating 12 extra well ness day.  Yes, this is an additional 12 days of time off to allow team members to focus on their mental health. I don't recall all of the 12 Rs but they are rest, relaxation, rejuvenation

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Remote work.
I have several team members who have family in other states.  Being able to work remotely has enabled them to be with family to stay connected.

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A wellness module by having work groups create teams and get Fitbits to help encourage movement during the day.

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I work at Amcor, and our Organization uses an Employee Assistance Program called Strive to reduce stress. Various programs are conducted in this strive, and every individual performs and updates the scores. For example, each team has to update the steps performed every day, and after a certain period, the team with a higher number of steps gets the prize. I remember most of our Organization's team participated and contributed, which was a good stress relief for the employee. Even in our IT leadership meeting, our leadership team addresses employee mental health and always says that employees are the most significant investment for the Organization. Our Organization also has an HR toll-free number to help support employees, and if anyone feels they are burned out they can reach for assistance.

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My employer offers a wellness program every year focusing on the health of the employees. There are tiered point goals, which you earn by exercising, completing various health oriented videos/training, getting a physical from the doctor and meeting certain standards, scheduling a health call with a professional, and lots more. It is incentivized with a really good discount on our health insurance.

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My new company has a policy of allowing several floating holidays throughout the year. The company has a handful of days that are "required" holidays, but the company allows for about half of the paid holidays to be floated to any day in the year. I think that this is a great idea to reduce the stress that can be associated with different groups of individuals celebrating and wanting different days off throughout the year without requiring vacation time. I also find this helpful in reducing stress because it allows the individual workers to determine if taking the day off for a holiday makes sense for them or not.

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Following the pandemic and resulting workplace changes, many companies are providing more flexibility for work start/end times and schedules in order to better accommodate employees' personal needs. For example, one organization offers Flex Fridays to all employees, which essentially gives them the option of taking a flex day, or vacation day, every other Friday.

More recently, I've also come across several articles about organizations paying their employees to take vacation and completely disconnect while they are out. I think this is a really interesting concept and I'll be curious to learn more about the impacts as more information is available.

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In-house Wellness Programs and Fitness Discounts

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In-house Wellness Programs and Fitness Discounts

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My employer offers free, weekly in-person and virtual mindfulness meditation, yoga, and pilates classes as well as art making workshops at different work sites. Employees also have the opportunity to dial in 24/7 for mindfulness meditation, music for relaxation, and yoga on demand. To promote general health, my employer also offers membership discounts for joining health clubs and fitness studios, as well as discounts for outdoor activities such as kayaking, bike tours, family-style rafting trips, and ski trips.

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My current employer provides a day off to all employees every quarter, via a recharge day (usually Friday of the last week of the quarter). This is flexible, so that an employee that wants to take the following Monday or the following Friday off can do so! One day off makes a big difference and is great to recharge!

In addition, my employer also has an An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - an independent, confidential, real-time service

designed to offer support. The service operates via a helpline where associates

can speak to a counselor, psychologist, or gain access to information.

Associates can also book an appointment to have a face to face session with a local counselor or psychologist.

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The company I work for has been doing social events for some time both at work and outside of work.  We do a company potlucks once a month and started doing ice cream socials, Golf events, and Christmas/end of year gatherings outside of town with all expenses paid.

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My company has implemented the concept of unlimited paid time off. This allows all workers to not have to stress about being bound to xx amount of hours they have for vacation, appointments, bereavement, etc. Employees are encouraged to take time off so that they don’t get burnt out and can spend as much time possible with their love ones or whatever they please.

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Redesign the conventional workspace to encourage employees to indulge in informal activities. Several firms are now investing heavily in real-estate to make the workplace more attractive and alleviate work-induced stress. These include green spaces, breakrooms with games, books, and other activities.

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My last two employers have utilized a wellness program provided by Virgin Pulse. One focus of the program is on developing habits to support mental health and personal strategies to reduce stress. The program utilized by my employers has involved and incentive strategy, which rewards employees who use the tool frequently, with lower health care costs.

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Reward and recognition is certainly an antidote to burnout but often times underutilized. Recently my organization had a proposal from an outside vendor to provide more reward and recognition for employees. The business is a fairly complex point system for a variety of things that allow the employee to earn things like logo wear, or other gifts. My immediate clinic site has a bulletin "kudos" board with one individual being chosen for a $25 gift card each month. Either of these allow for reward and recognition for an employee who is engaged. As lack of recognition and rewards is one of the 6 major causes of burnout, adding this type of a program is a business investment that can pay off significantly.