Newsletter June 2002

Welcome to our six-weekly Newsletter. In it, we bring a digest of information that is most likely to be of interest in developing successful business systems.

In this edition:  

Each edition has one or two cover stories, plus links to other articles. If you wish to send feedback, please click on the “Email us button below. There are links to more articles on our website.

Kind regards

Paul Reyneke & Simon Lawrence

Taking Comfort from Stress
Should we get distressed about stress?  In our feature article, we scratch the surface of Workplace Stress and find some familiar and easy to manage concepts underneath.  In fact, we find it possible to visualise some real opportunities in these murky waters. By demystifying stress, we can see that by using common sense, we can address a whole lot of human behavioural issues that have been bugging the workplace since the year dot. [ more below ]

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Strategic Selling – from the Buyers Perspective
The first in a three-part series looking at selling from the other side of the table – the buyer’s perspective. Building on the excellent book of Neil Rackham and John DeVincentis, Rethinking the Sales Force (1999, McGraw-Hill), Paul Reyneke shows that mainly two factors impact the buying process and that sales staff often sell the “wrong things” in their sales pitch. [ article withdrawn due to staff movements ]

News Items

Premium Balance goes Electronic!
Systems4Business has announced that they are working on an electronic version of the highly successful "Premium Balance" OHS system. The unique "Total Package" features of the paper based system will be retained and many enhancements added.

Simon Lawrence is excited about the prospects; "Now we are going electronic, we have the opportunity to provide some very pleasing features for our clients. Foremost among these will be a unique "System Building" feature at the heart of the programme."Paul Reyneke, who was instrumental in formulating the original system with Simon, is equally enthusiastic: "To date, electronic OHS systems have been disappointing and rather unimaginative. Essentially, they were basic record keeping systems. We are adding some features that really add value, things that actually guide, prompt, build and assist the users and administrators of the system."

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ACC Worksafe Expo, Auckland 2002
The 4th Worksafe Expo will be held at the Ellerslie Racecourse during 3-4 October this year. The event, which is the only one of its kind in New Zealandincludes 55 exhibitors, some of whom are travelling from Australia. Products range from software and engineering systems to the traditional safety equipment suppliers.

ACC is a key sponsor and the event organizers are Safeguard.

The exhibition is supplemented by a series of seminars and speakers. The theme this year is using the Information Technology highway to improve access to shared OHS knowledge. Keynote speaker will be Chris Moore, from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

Approximately 1000-1500 people are expected to pass through over the two day period. Details will be published in the August edition of Safeguard Magazine. For further details, you can call 0800 WORKSAFE and ask for the free brochure.


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While we are on stress and productivity
We picked up a few tips from Phil Kerslake’s advice in the July issue of NZ Management magazine: “How to create the Productive Office”

Phil makes the point, as we also did in our Stress article, that we are no longer in the days of Scrooge. We can no longer expect to coerce employees and in turn, they expect more from a job than a pay cheque. There is this thing called “work/life balance.”

Phil came up with 5 maxims for creating the productive office. We have summarized and added a few interpretations of our own

1.       View the office as one of your principal management tools: In other words, put the thought and money into providing an environment that is pleasant, healthy and easy to work in. Don’t ignore the investment this represents

2.       Make the office suit the circumstances of individuals: Standardisation is out. Individuals may respond well or badly to the same conditions. Go “anti Dilbert” and provide features that suit individuals and their functions/ways of working. Examples are: gathering spaces, cafeterias, lounges, break-out rooms and even games rooms

3.       Be flexible about when and where work is done: e-mail, internet and increased use of computers means it is now possible to allow some work to be done at home or in satellite offices. Flexible hours are appreciated and may assist with quiet times or intensive periods of work, however, the office fulfils important functions in terms of personal communication and team building. Some balance is required and the process would need managing carefully

4.       Recognise the need for people to grow: The emphasis has shifted from process based routine jobs where the main purpose was to make ends meet, to viewing jobs as a means to progress, grow and acquire knowledge. We need to allow employees to progress forward and allow them to have influence in the way they inhabit the space within their job

5.       Avoid false economies: The office refit that accommodates the extra 5 people and removes the tea room may save thousands on the face of it, but treating people as if they have less value could easily cause an impact on the bottom line that far exceeds any perceived benefits. Be a trend setter. Keep Dilbert factors out of your office, despite the temptation.

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The Election and Changes to the HSE Act
Well, it was all going to happen in September. Now the early election is likely to postpone it for a few months. Not that this will change any of the content, so be prepared.

What will happen to Stress is anyone’s guess, (see our article) but it will be included in the definition of “harm” and “hazard” when the amended Act comes into being.

There will be mandated Safety Committees and Safety Representatives for medium to large employers.

There will be further clauses regarding volunteers, mobile workers, “good faith” co-operation, inclusion of air, rail and maritime crews among others.

Hint: OSH will be keen to develop a solid case history to support the Act this time around.

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Another successful JMAC Kaizen course!
Some recent news from one of our associates in Christchurch. Peter O’Halloran is gaining a reputation as something of a guru in “kaizen” methods. Because we also work in this area of expertise, we stay in close touch with Peter. Please read his article (below). We would love to see more manufacturers and even service industries using these simple, low cost methods to eliminate wasted time, effort and inventory.

Working through the Canterbury Manufacturer’s Association, Peter has brought kaizen to New Zealand in a way never before attempted.

We have not used the names of Peter’s clients, however, we can say that they are known leaders in their field of manufacturing.             

At first they said “it was not possible to improve (client) productivity at all” but the JMAC teams showed it was actually possible to improve productivity by a minimum of 31.5% without any capital expenditure.

The June 2002, JMAC course hosted over two weeks by (clients) once again identified opportunities for at least 30% productivity improvement in all 5 project teams.

These are already very well established organizations who have been continuously improving their products and processes for many years, so there was not a great deal of “low hanging fruit” or easy gains, yet much was achieved.

JMAC is a well proven process that has identified more than 30% productivity improvement in over 40 courses conducted in New Zealand & Australia over the past eight years.

JMAC Manufacturing Productivity Improvement processes are easily learned and simple to apply but it does take two weeks to learn this brand of knowledge and then apply the techniques to a real life project at a “host site.


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Managing Stress: Could this to be a well disguised opportunity?
Simon Lawrence, Director, Systems for Business, Ltd

Employers are rightly concerned about the increasing status of “Workplace Stress”, as evidenced by recent court cases and articles in safety publications. There is, more importantly, the proposed accommodation of stress and fatigue in the definitions of “harm” and “hazard” in the 2001 Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill.

The natural reaction for many managers is to view this increasingly high profile issue as another costly burden and consign it to the impenetrable world of “political correctness”. Too difficult to understand, let alone manage.  Bend over, here it comes again!

But pause for a moment.  A study of the facts, which includes papers, discussions and guidelines from the UK, Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand, reveals a consensus about the serious nature and general effects of stress. In short, if this stress thing is widespread in the workplace, anyone who can sensibly tackle it could end up gaining enormously.

Some of the Facts:

  • Up to 70% of doctors visits may be stress-related (Canadian study)
  • 80% of employees worldwide report  work-related stress
  • The cost to the British economy is estimated at NZ$12 Billion annually
  • At the very least, the effects include lost time and lower productivity, at worst, total incapacity to return to the same job.
  • Symptoms can include both physical and psychological effects 

But this doesn’t happen in our particular workplace, does it? Well, probably, yes it does. Perhaps no one is seriously incapacitated but what lies just under the surface? Consider some of the other negative conditions and side effects that are either part of, or implicated with stress:

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Stress has been linked with:

  • Occupational Overuse Syndrome
  • Absenteeism
  • Drug and alcohol abuse
  • Aggression/Irritability
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Heart Disease
  • Depression

Seen in the wider context, stress starts to lose some mystique and take on some all too recognisable forms, some of which we may see in our own lives. The reality is that, in all probability, most, if not all workplaces are affected by stress to a significant level.

It has become the norm to run organisations lean, expect long hours, set high expectations on employees and drive every last bit of use out of them. Often, they agree, apparently willingly, in the name of financial security or career prospects. The gains may only be short term. In the longer term, the environment may become counter productive as stressors build up. 

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Myths and Realities:

  • Stress is a mental illness.  Wrong. Stress is the natural reaction people have to excessive pressures or situations  they perceive they are unable to cope with
  • Stress only happens to wimps. Wrong. It can happen to anyone, depending on the particular circumstances. It could happen to you given the wrong conditions. Preventing it is good for business
  • Just send them for counselling. Wrong. Counselling is like a bandage over a wound. It may help, but doesn’t cure the cause. Research has shown that “front line” support (in-house) is better than third party intervention
  • There’s nothing employers can do. Wrong. You can’t always see stress or measure it, but if you ignore it, it won’t go away. You probably have a good idea of where the problems are already. It’s just that you haven’t given it a name before.

Examples:

  • Do you really want those workers on 12 hour shifts?
  • Is it healthy and productive to load your people so hard they work nights and weekends?
  • Why has Department A such a record of bitchiness and non co-operation?
  •  Manager B is irritable and hard on his staff. You know full well he is incompetent and it’s causing no end of employee problems.
  • Why does employee C have so much sickness, injury and bad time-keeping?

Does this start to look like an opportunity yet? By seeing some of these problems in terms of their underlying causes, we have the chance to address them openly, instead of turning a blind eye.

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Types of Stress:

To assist in understanding this issue, it is useful to categorise the types and causes of stress:

Intrinsic to the job - Where stress is in effect a condition of employment – e.g. police, social services, air traffic control, or any activity with sustained physical effort

Conditional on the response of Employers– e.g. long hours, arbitrary targets, negative changes to employment conditions,

Consensual by employees with acceptance by employer– Employees choose to expose themselves to stress.  Can be due to personality type, social factors (e.g. loyalty, economic need), emotional factors (e.g. fear of failure)

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Recognition of Stress:

This is not yet a science. Some of the more obvious effects are listed above, however, by the time these symptoms have shown, the battle has already been lost.

Risk Factors:

The OSH booklet “Stress and Fatigue: Their impact on health and safety in the workplace.” Is a good guide.  In it, the following risk factors are identified:

  • an excessive or insufficient intensity and duration of physical and mental effort
  • physiologically demanding or hazardous environment, climate, noise, ergonomics
  • excess or insufficient mental emotional demands, responsibilities, worries, conflicts and social interactions
  • illness, pain, disturbed circadian rhythm
  • organisational demands of work, including  shift work

So, what can we do to identify stress in the work-place?

Some Options:

  • Be open about the issue. Distribute publications, notices, signs. Provide a confidential “contact person” who is seen as trustworthy. Discuss stress in your newsletters. De-mystify it and treat it as a normal occupational risk. Encourage further discussion and reporting.

  • If you know stress is inherent in your organisation, or a particular department/function, list it on the hazard register, with appropriate control measures listed. Treat stress as any other hazard. Be serious about control measures. Monitor regularly to ensure the controls remain effective.

  • Put it on the agenda at Safety Committees and even routine meetings.

  • Ask all employees to answer a simple questionnaire annually. Don’t worry about the ones who fail to reply as long as you have provided a variety of other avenues and the confidentiality is assured. You can’t force this one.

  • Look for the personality types. Those who work long and late, who take on the extra roles and responsibilities and drive themselves. They may also be the quiet ones.

  • Look under the surface. If behaviours are consistently showing strains such as absenteeism, turnover, poor relations between group members etc, don’t blame this just on personalities. This may be only part of the cause.

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Stress Management Options:

  • Ability to complete  tasks and move on
  • Perception of the ability to resolve problems
  • Supportive relationships
  • Progress towards worthwhile goals
  • The opportunity to do high-quality work
  • The prospect of advancement and training

 The following non work restorative processes are also important:

  • Recuperative sleep
  • Rest and relaxation
  • Healthy nutrition
  • Good health and fitness
  • Supportive friendships or relationships

Addressing these factors, using a longer term vision and a belief in the value of people, rather than their short term dispensability, will create a more productive environment.

The phenomenon of Stress, like Occupational Overuse Syndrome, is here to stay and we should be aware that these two conditions may well be linked, both with each other and many other familiar symptoms.  Our pace of life and expectations for progress, income and achievement are combining together to provide us with new manifestations of problems that have been with us for centuries.

Bob Cratchett probably suffered from stress (and OOS). Fortunately, Ebenezer Scrooge got onto it in the nick of time. The book ended before we got to hear about the huge productivity improvement after Boxing Day. Perhaps Dickens should have put that bit in.

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