Category: Health and Well-Being

  • Build Psychological Safety and Fun Into the Workplace to Reduce Overwork and Burnout – CUPA-HR

    Build Psychological Safety and Fun Into the Workplace to Reduce Overwork and Burnout – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | September 28, 2022

    In the wake of the Great Resignation and talent recruitment challenges, heavy workloads have led to stress and burnout for some employees. One way higher ed HR pros can help identify sources of stress and mitigate burnout is by considering employees’ work environments. Are invisible pressures placed on employees, causing team members to downplay or hide their concerns about heavy workloads, or can employees be honest about their concerns and feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work each day? How would employees describe the atmosphere where they work? Are levity and humor weaved into the workday, or is the lack of levity contributing to feelings of being overwhelmed?

    In the recent CUPA-HR virtual workshop, How to Manage Unmanageable Workloads, presenter Jennifer Moss explained how building psychological safety and bringing the fun back to work can reduce the impact of overwork and burnout. So what is psychological safety, and how can HR integrate it and the elements of fun and play into the workplace?

    Increase Psychological Safety

    “Psychological safety is the ability to reveal one’s true self and opinions without fear that doing so will lead to negative repercussions in terms of reputation, career, status or relationships with others,” explains Why Psychological Safety Matters Now More Than Ever, an article in the Spring 2021 issue of Higher Ed HR Magazine. Teams with high psychological safety see more open conversations between team members and managers about their work. They feel comfortable sharing honestly because they know they won’t be punished simply for doing so.

    Read the article to learn how HR pros can elevate psychological safety in the workplace by attending to systems and structures, supporting employees to forge connections, and fostering a learning orientation.

    Bring Back the Fun

    Although HR has much serious work to do, leaders can look for opportunities to incorporate fun, where appropriate. The application of fun and play has been shown to reduce stress and feelings of burnout while also improving creativity and productivity in working environments. Having fun at work has shown to have a positive impact on employee morale, engagement and camaraderie, all of which collectively have an influence on an organization’s culture. Here are some ideas to bring back the fun and stimulate play in the workplace.

    Encourage Humor

    Similar to incorporating more fun into the workplace, there are also plenty of benefits to weaving humor into the workplace. This element of work is sometimes considered non-essential but has many emotional and physical benefits that make us happier and healthier at work. Humor builds trust in relationships; a culture where it’s okay to admit failure; and happier, healthier employees. Learn how to conduct a humor audit to analyze where your workplace humor went right and ways to use it more effectively.

    Related resources:

    Health and Well-Being Toolkit (CUPA-HR members-only toolkit)

    How to Bring the Fun at Work (Higher Ed Workplace Blog)



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  • Suicide Prevention and Awareness: Four Ways HR Can Lead the Conversation – CUPA-HR

    Suicide Prevention and Awareness: Four Ways HR Can Lead the Conversation – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | August 31, 2022

    This blog post was contributed by Maureen De Armond, Executive Director, Human Resources at Drake University.

    In higher education, we must plan for many worst-case scenarios, including tornados, fires, active-shooter situations, and, as we now know, pandemics. Among this wide range of difficult scenarios that could present themselves on our campuses at any time, suicide is one that deserves more attention and discussion.

    Like other scenarios, suicide prevention and planning should contain at least these components: awareness and prevention at the front end; crisis-response protocols to deploy in the moment; and post-incident support and debriefing.

    Here are four ways HR can take the lead on awareness and prevention efforts:

    Normalize Mental Health Conversations

    HR can set the example in normalizing conversations about mental health. From new employee orientation to leadership trainings to trainings offered during open enrollment, make mental health as normal a topic to discuss as being sick with the flu or needing rehab due to an injured back. We know that mental health carries a stigma; openly discussing mental health helps chip away at that stigma.

    Coordinate Messaging

    Tailor communications to your institution’s practices and use more than one channel for communication. If your institution sends newsletters, plan articles for each week of September. Consider emails as well. Be sure to provide your leadership teams with prepared messages and information they can share with their teams. Point them to helplines, training opportunities, reminders about EAPs, and tips for what to do and where to go if they or someone they know is having mental health crisis.

    Collaborative messaging sent from campus and community partners can also create a widespread impact. Consider reaching out to student services, the provost’s office, Title IX/Equal Opportunity, campus safety, student senate, faculty senate, student counseling, faculty subject matter experts, and your institution’s employee assistance program (EAP) providers and health plan partners to team up on mental health messaging throughout the month.

    Train, Train, Train

    Offer learning and development opportunities that focus on mental health awareness as well as suicide prevention. This fall semester, Drake University is offering Question, Persuade and Refer suicide prevention training in addition to Mental Health First Aid for Higher Education for faculty and staff. Faculty partners are facilitating these sessions. We’ve found that having faculty-led sessions can help attract faculty attendees, leverage internal expertise and offer faculty additional forms of service to the institution.

    Inventory Resources, Benefits and Policies

    Take a fresh look at your well-being/wellness programming. Does it appropriately address mental health? Explore what resources and trainings may be available through your existing EAP contracts. Does your health plan offer virtual doctor’s visits for mental health care? If so, shine a spotlight on those resources. Making mental health care as accessible as possible may mean more people will consider using it. Review sick, personal and other paid-time-off leave policies to ensure mental health is clearly addressed. This includes handbook and web language, too.

    While suicide awareness and prevention shouldn’t be a once-a-year conversation, September is a great month for HR to demonstrate leadership in normalizing conversations about mental health and suicide prevention and planning.

    Related resources:

    Reassessing Your Institution’s EAP: Steps for HR Pros to Increase Awareness and Accessibility (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    HEERF Funds Can Be Used to Support Mental Health Resources (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Mental Health Month Focus: Higher Ed Campus Culture (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)



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  • Reassessing Your Institution’s EAP: Steps for HR Pros to Increase Awareness and Accessibility – CUPA-HR

    Reassessing Your Institution’s EAP: Steps for HR Pros to Increase Awareness and Accessibility – CUPA-HR

    by Lakyn Whaley | May 2, 2022

    May is Mental Health Month. Throughout the month, be sure to join the Connect discussion in the General Discussion group to discuss challenges and successes, as well as pose questions and offer advice to higher ed HR peers on the topic of mental health. A Zoom discussion will also take place mid-May. Stay tuned for the link to be posted in the Connect discussion. 

    Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are nothing new. In fact, 97 percent of large employers offer an EAP as part of their benefits package. Yet, the utilization rate of these programs is abysmally low, clocking in at an average of less than 5 percent even as concerns around mental health continue to grow. EAPs should be a key resource for struggling employees, so why isn’t anybody using them?

    Lack of Awareness

    Lack of awareness, on multiple levels, plays a large role in the underutilization of EAPs. Usually, employees are introduced to their organization’s EAP and other benefits during their onboarding process. However, the deluge of information new employees are exposed to during this time can easily wash out any memory of an EAP mention.

    In addition, there’s a general lack of awareness as to how EAPs function. People may form their own incorrect assumptions, such as thinking that participating in an EAP will incur an immediate cost or that EAP use will be reflected on performance evaluations, which keep them from accessing this benefit.

    Distrust and Stigma

    From grief counseling to connecting employees to legal resources, the situations that EAPs are designed to provide support for can often be deeply personal. Because of this, some employees may be concerned that personal details or other information related to their EAP access will be shared with their employers, since the EAP is an employer-sponsored program. Others may be hesitant to interact with EAPs due to the stigma surrounding mental and behavioral health topics.

    Accessibility

    If employees are aware and comfortable accessing their organization’s EAP, the next challenge they often have to surmount is the myriad steps required to connect with the resources and services they need. Many of the individuals who would benefit from using an EAP are already operating under higher levels of stress and may be more fatigued than their peers. This can mean that these employees are less likely to have the energy needed to engage with extended processes, even when they’re the ones who need it most.

    How Can HR help?

    It might feel like the issues listed above are too big for one department — and in some cases one person — to overcome, but there are steps you can take to help.

    Start by looking at your organization’s EAP from an employee perspective and map out the steps someone needs to take to access services. Ask questions along the way such as: How many steps are there? How do employees learn more about their EAP? What options are there for contacting someone? Might the hours of service be prohibitive to some? Are the services provided meeting a variety of needs? Note too where you notice the potential for confusion or frustration within the process and remember that if something can be simplified, it should be simplified!

    Once you’ve reassessed the EAP process, take some time to examine how your campus is talking about mental health in general. While communication about the EAP is necessary for program awareness, by itself it’s not enough to improve utilization. Double down on efforts to reduce stigma around mental health and mental illness. Creating a culture where employees feel safe to talk about their mental health and welcome to bring their whole selves to the table has myriad benefits — only one of which is improving EAP usage.

    Related resources:

    Mental Health Toolkit (CUPA-HR members-only resource)

    Destigmatizing Mental Health on Campus: What Can HR Do (Higher Ed HR Magazine)

    Right Direction – Free Turnkey Resources for Organizations to Address Mental Health in the Workplace



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  • Workplace Eye Wellness Month: How HR Can Help Employees With Low Vision or Vision Loss – CUPA-HR

    Workplace Eye Wellness Month: How HR Can Help Employees With Low Vision or Vision Loss – CUPA-HR

    by Jill Thompson | March 22, 2022

    Whether it was logging overtime behind laptops before work-from-home boundaries were put in place or turning to mobile phones and tablets for entertainment during lockdowns, many of us recognized the uptick in screen time during the height of the pandemic. Our eyes likely noticed the uptick too by feeling increasingly strained.

    March is Workplace Eye Wellness month, so we’re highlighting some tips from Prevent Blindness to help keep screen time in check and lessen eye strain at work and at home.

    • Screen time: Try to decrease the amount of time spent in front of screens and/or take frequent breaks to give your eyes a rest.
    • Use the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away.
    • Filters: Screen filters are available for smart phones, tablets and computer screens. They decrease the amount of blue light given off from these devices that could reach the retina in the eyes.
    • Anti-reflective lenses: Anti-reflective lenses reduce glare and increase contrast and also block blue light from the sun and digital devices.
    • Intraocular lens (IOL): After cataract surgery, the cloudy lens will be replaced with an intraocular lens (IOL). The lens naturally protects the eye from almost all ultraviolet light and some blue light. There are types of IOLs that can protect the eye and retina from blue light.

    Visit Prevent Blindness for more information and resources on eye and vision health.

    HR Perspective

    From the human resources perspective, HR practitioners can help employees who are experiencing vision loss or low vision. Employees experiencing a decrease in vision may have difficulty completing paperwork, reading standard-size print, discerning regular or colored font on computer screens, or locating the cursor, all of which impact productivity at work.

    In the Disability in the Workplace toolkit in CUPA-HR’s Knowledge Center, Mississippi State University’s HR guide offers plenty of creative low-tech and high-tech accommodations for employees with low vision:

    Low-tech accommodations:

    • Place tactile dots on controls on equipment, such as the telephone, a copier, the microwave in the breakroom, etc. so that an individual who is blind or visually impaired can determine which buttons perform different functions.
    • Place a braille sticker on an employee’s mail slot to identify it.
    • Increase or decrease lighting in an office or cubicle to increase visibility or reduce glare.
    • Cover a window to reduce glare.
    • Provide extra floor space in a cubicle to accommodate a guide dog.

    High-tech accommodations:

    • Implement screen reading or screen magnification software to allow an employee who is blind or has low vision to complete computer tasks.
    • Provide a larger monitor or dual monitors to allow an individual with low vision greater access to visual information.
    • Implement a braille display paired with the computer or an iPad or used independently to allow vision-impaired employees to take notes and recall information.
    • Provide a video magnifier to increase the size of print and enhance the contrast of printed materials.
    • Provide optical character recognition hardware or software to capture print information and translate it to audio output.

    To read the full guide and explore other disability inclusion examples from higher ed, visit the Disability in the Workplace toolkit (CUPA-HR members only resource).



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  • Take a Break With These Meditation Resources – CUPA-HR

    Take a Break With These Meditation Resources – CUPA-HR

    by Melissa Fuesting | February 9, 2022

    Meditation is an umbrella term for achieving an intense level of focus. Humans have been meditating in various ways for thousands of years, and research suggests there’s good reason why. Meditation can increase concentration, reduce stress, reduce anxiety and depression, improve physical health and help us become more resilient in our personal and professional lives.

    If you’d like to dip your toe into meditation, try one of the free resources below. Don’t be afraid to try a few different approaches — some methods might click with you better than others. If meditation intimidates you, try starting with guided imagery meditation or a physical form of meditation like yoga or tai chi.

    Mantra Meditation

    Create deep focus by continuously chanting or mentally repeating a word or phrase.

    Guided Meditation

    Create deep focus by using as many of your five senses as possible to anchor yourself in the moment.

    Mindfulness Meditation

    Create deep focus by increasing your awareness of the moment. This method of meditation usually involves focusing on your breath.

    Physical Forms of Meditation

    Check out this blog post and on-demand webinar for more practical steps HR pros can take to build resilience into work and life. 



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  • Tips to Help HR Retain and Engage Talent – CUPA-HR

    Tips to Help HR Retain and Engage Talent – CUPA-HR

    by Jill Thompson | January 26, 2022

    In a recent members-only article from the winter issue of Higher Ed HR Magazine, Britni Elder, associate vice president for human resources and risk management at the University of Central Arkansas, shared tips and resources higher ed HR practitioners can tap into to get ahead of the resignation curve and not only hold onto employees, but keep them engaged and moving up within the institution.

    • Address employee discontentment at the manager level — Managers with poor people skills can lead to unhappy employees, and ultimately, more turnover within the institution. HR must ensure managers are equipped to manage their teams well and to help each team member reach their potential. This is a great opportunity for HR to partner with upper-level management to teach new managers the skills that will help them be the best leaders for their teams, not just managers.
    • Educate employees about total compensation — Oftentimes, employees leave for a bigger paycheck only to find that the base pay is better, but the benefits at the new job don’t compete with those of their previous job. When HR informs employees about total compensation (the tangible and intangible benefits offered by the employer), it enriches the employee decision-making process. They have the tools to really see when better pay is better pay, not just better base pay.
    • Prioritize well-being check-ins — Sometimes, employees are unhappy, and one way they think they can fix it is to change jobs. Unfortunately, the urge to change jobs may be only a deflection of deeper issues. HR can help in this area by keeping mental health resources and access to counseling opportunities in front of employees. Encourage managers to make time for intentional check-ins with direct reports.
    • Build a path for employees to reach their full potential — Focusing on what’s next for employees can open their eyes to the opportunities right in front of them rather than searching for something else outside the institution. HR should initiate conversations and ask employees about their career goals and construct a path to help them get there. Sometimes all it takes is a conversation to get things moving.

    Read the full members-only article: Four Areas HR Can Address to Boost Engagement and Retention.

    Resources for employee engagement and retention: 

    Employee Engagement Toolkit

    Stay Interviews Toolkit

    Compensation Programs/Plans Toolkit



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  • Read and Listen to Inspiring CUPA-HR Content From 2021 – CUPA-HR

    Read and Listen to Inspiring CUPA-HR Content From 2021 – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | January 5, 2022

    Throughout 2021, HR practitioners have proven their resilience time and again by positively impacting higher education not only in response to the ever-evolving pandemic, but also in building more flexible, diverse and inclusive workplaces. CUPA-HR captured many of these higher ed success stories, as well as leadership advice, helpful resources and workforce data trends in the following articles, podcasts and blog posts.

    As you read and listen to the inspiring work your HR colleagues are doing at colleges and universities around the country, we encourage you to jot down ideas to take into the year ahead: 

    Retention and Engagement 

    Develop to Retain: Tools and Resources for Higher Ed Professional Development (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Maintaining Culture and Connection for Remote Employees (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Stay tuned for an article in the upcoming winter issue of Higher Ed HR Magazine: “Four Areas HR Can Address Now to Boost Retention and Engagement.”

    Future of Work 

    New Report Highlights Changes to the Professional Workforce in the Wake of the Pandemic (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    New Report Highlights Changes to Faculty Workforce in the Wake of the Pandemic (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Navigating Compliance With a Multi-State Workforce (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Determining Remote Work Eligibility and Talking to Leadership About Flexible Work (CUPA-HR Soundbite)

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

    5 CHROs Use CUPA-HR’s DEI Maturity Index to Energize Their DEI Efforts (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    A Mission for Greater Faculty Diversity — Oakland University’s Diversity Advocate Program (Higher Ed HR Magazine)

    Can HR Investigators Be Anti-Racist? — Action Steps to Overcome Racial Bias When Conducting Workplace Investigations (Higher Ed HR Magazine)

    Juneteenth — How Will Your Institution Observe the Day? (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Supporting the LGBTQ+ Community in Higher Ed — 3 Learning Resources for HR (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Three Ways HR Can Promote Cultural Appreciation Over Appropriation (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Boost Your Pay Equity Know-How By Tapping Into These Resources (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Mental Health

    Mental Health Month Focus: Resources (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    Strategies to Become More Resilient in Work and Life (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    HR Care Package — Resources for Self-Care (The Higher Ed Workplace Blog)

    HR Leadership 

    CUPA-HR Conversations: Higher Ed HR Turns 75 (CUPA-HR Podcast)

    Why Psychological Safety Matters Now More Than Ever (Higher Ed HR Magazine)

    Opening Doors for Strategic Partnerships With Academic Leadership (Higher Ed HR Magazine)



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