Something Weighing You Down

Who knew, your employees will wonder, when you mentioned becoming a Lean company you were talking about their waistlines as much as over-fattened business processes?  Or that when you spoke of tightening the corporate belt what you really meant was enabling them to tighten, rather than loosen, the belt to their pants for a change? Those are just a couple of the irritated jokes/rants you'll experience if you try to inflict weight control/healthy living on your workforce in an effort to curb rising health insurance costs. It's not a matter of better, more positive communication of the message; it's a matter of them needing the heaping bowl of hot fudge-laden rocky road ice cream in front of reality TV at the end of the day to forget how stressful work life has become.

As you think up ways to help them shed those pounds through expensive, "progressive" wellness programs, think about the fact that many people--maybe even your devoted employees--gain weight when they're unhappy, need to relieve tension, are bored, or uninspired and need something to literally spice up or sweeten life. New corporate wellness offerings, such as the increasingly popular intra-office health fair, are okay, but what may be more effective is observing whether your company is suffering from a bout of misery eating. The symptoms?  The worker who doesn't do his work without an open bag of pretzels or popcorn by his side. Or the one who seems to return from her coffee break with an accompanying donut or cupcake more often now that another round of layoffs is pending.

You can't (and wouldn't want to) assume the role of office psychologist/corporate Richard Simmons to your "expanding" workforce. But you can break up the monotony and isolating stress that causes vending machine visit-inducing boredom and depression. Work with managers to create daily, or at least weekly, meetings to stimulate quick bursts of creative thinking/enjoyment. Suggest, for instance, 15-minute mid-morning or afternoon get-togethers in the kitchen, break room, or an unused conference room to brainstorm and air the day's grievances. Make the gatherings a routine happening so you can plan games or contests to encourage discussion and idea generation. Maybe every Monday at 11 a.m. you'll award an extra vacation day or early winter Friday departure to the worker who arrives with the most novel new product or marketing idea. Or maybe it's as simple as an award every Wednesday afternoon for the employee who brings in a story from the media or his/her own life that has lessons for the way the company does business. The goal is to get them inspired enough to forget jelly donuts--no easy task--and then, in addition to sharing interesting thoughts, get them talking enough to share work-related angst.

If such "meetings" are too touchy-feely for your corporate culture, ask managers to think about increasing the number of collaborative projects they assign. Work with them to figure out which employees can aid each other more regularly, and what upcoming departmental needs can be fulfilled better, or at least just as well, through work groups rather than individual assignments. The enigmatic allure of Ring Dings really isn't that mysterious--they represent a comforting presence in the life of an employee who doesn't have anyone to share the burden of the upcoming deadline. Human company is not a cure for sweet tooths and poor eating habits, but if there are one or two fellow sufferers sitting beside you as you labor over your tiresome chore maybe talking out the horror will be just as good as gorging on Tastykakes or MoonPies. Even better, all that collaboration--which by the way should be in-person for the best psychological benefits--might result in better products or services for customers.

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, and all that "Low-Fat" sugary pastry and potable goop from Starbucks are comforting. But more comforting are people to share the workload and have an honest misery discussion with. Sometimes when the going gets rough--if you're a sugarholic anyway--it's tempting to envision an office that's actually a gingerbread house with co-workers (especially the difficult ones and bosses) who are hollow chocolate figurines (human versions of chocolate Easter bunnies) instead of stress-generating people. But since that's not usually a realistic possibility, I advise teaching managers to help employees make the most of their shared difficulty. Getting together regularly and often to share feelings and collaborate on work is fulfilling and won't result in cavities or a need for a raise to cover the cost of perennial pants replacement.

Are you helping managers maximize collaborative work opportunities and organize brainstorming gatherings to offset stress and unhealthy living and increase productivity?