Cal Wilson / May 18, 2022

Burnout, physical illness, and waves of employee resignations continue to be one of the major issues impacting employers in North America. As an employer, resilience needs to be a priority not only for your staff, but for yourself.  

In this issue of the Pulse, we take a look at resilience; what it is, and how you can promote it in your workplace.  

What is resilience? 

Resilience is essentially the ability to recover from adversity. How quickly and how well can you bounce back? Resilience doesn’t mean we aren’t hurt or don’t struggle – but that we can move through it and adjust over time.  

Psychologist Susan Kobasa says there are three elements essential to resilience: 

• Challenge – resilient people are more likely to view difficulty as a challenge, not as completely devastating. They take failures and mistakes as opportunities for growth instead of a negative reflection on their self-worth.  
• Commitment – resilient people can make commitments to goals, ambitions, relationships, causes, and other things they care about, and follow through on those commitments.  
• Personal control – resilient people spend time and energy on situations/aspects of their life that are within their control, rather than focusing on uncontrollable events. 

The past few years have certainly been a test of resilience for many of us, adjusting to new ways of living and likely significant changes at work.  

Resilience can be built.  

As explained by the American Psychological Association (APA), “resilience isn’t necessarily a personality trait that only some people possess. On the contrary, resilience involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that anyone can learn and develop. The ability to learn resilience is one reason research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary.” 

While it can be learned, it takes time and intent to do so – and it may just be a worthy effort to commit to if you find yourself struggling with different workplace or personal challenges.  

Resilience is a part of our mental health.  

Since our capacity for resilience isn’t fixed, it’s natural that our mental wellbeing will impact it. If you’ve ever felt like you just can’t weather things the way you used to, that’s normal. And it’s not necessarily always going to be that way, either. Sometimes, we’re in a great place to roll with the punches, and other times, the slightest gust can knock us over.  

This is because our resilience is connected to our mental health. This goes to say, if employers want their employees to be resilient and avoid burnout or illness through challenging times, they must prioritize their employees’ mental health.  

Action is necessary.  

While adopting a mental health-conscious mindset is good, action is also needed. In fact, there seems to be a disconnect between these two concepts.  

Data from 2021 found that 86% of employers see mental health, stress, and burnout as a top priority — yet only 25% have implemented a wellbeing strategy. 

So, whether you’re an employer in the process of developing a strategy or an employee in a workplace without a concrete plan in place to protect your mental health, working on building your own resilience may be necessary for your wellbeing and success.  

Strategies to build resilience.  

While this list is by no means exhaustive, it includes some helpful practices you can adopt to build your resilience: 

• Slow down – spend intentional time relaxing, working on your sleep routine, and practicing body and mind wellness activities like meditation or deep breathing.  
• Take care of your body – according to the APA, “stress is just as much physical as it is emotional. Promoting positive lifestyle factors like proper nutrition, ample sleep, hydration, and regular exercise can strengthen your body to adapt to stress and reduce the toll of emotions like anxiety or depression.” 
• Practice thought awareness – a key quality of resilient people is that they “don’t let negative thoughts derail their efforts.” Instead they have agency over their thoughts and are able to reframe them. These are the kinds of thoughts to be aware of: 
  • Permanent – thoughts that see the effects of bad events as permanent rather than temporary.  
  • Pervasive – thoughts that let setbacks or bad events affect other unrelated areas of life.  
  • Personalized – thoughts of self-blame or self-hate in relation to a difficulty or challenge experienced.  

• Learn from mistakes and failures – every time you fail, there is likely a lesson. Take the opportunity to learn and adjust your strategies, rather than internalizing the failure.   
• Choose your responses – practice strategies that allow you to react calmly and logically during challenging times. This isn’t inherent to everyone, but is a skill that can be worked on.  
• Maintain perspective – although a situation or crisis may seem overwhelming in the moment, part of resilience is having a proportional reaction to its long-term impact.  
• Set goals – setting smart, effective personal goals that align with your values can help you build successes and learn from your experiences.  
• Work on building your self confidence – according to Mind Tools, when you “develop confidence and a strong sense of self, you have the strength to keep moving forward, and to take the risks you need to get ahead.” 
• Focus on strong relationships – in the workplace as in all walks of life, those with strong connections that can survive stress find themselves happier and more resilient.  
• Join a group – you may need to look to a specific group outside of your regular activities to help build those connections. Whether hobby-based, faith-based, or around a common interest such as volunteering, these are all great ways to find and foster strong relationships.  
• Be flexible – rigidly adhering to plans and expectations can cause undue stress when those plans need to be amended or scrapped altogether.  

In conclusion… 

Resilience is needed to adjust to and overcome adversity in the workplace, or any walk of life. While resilience isn’t a fixed quality, and can be reflective of our mental health, it’s important to remember that there are steps and strategies we can take to improve it.  

Cal Wilson / May 3, 2022

Some people are more routine-oriented than others. Life also has a habit of forcing us into routines, from your job schedule, kids’ extracurriculars, or general day-to-day responsibilities. Routine may sound boring or unpleasant, but there’s science behind why routines can help foster success in your work and personal life. In this issue of the Pulse, we explore the science of routines.  

Routines are powerful tools. 

According to Megan Edgelow , Assistant Professor in Health Sciences at Queen’s University in Ontario, routines “can support cognitive function, boost health and provide meaningful activities and social opportunities.” 

That’s why, at the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone’s routines were being completely thrown off, many pointed to the value of developing and sticking to a new daily routine. Now, with hybrid work becoming the new normal, and new norms beginning to form in how we move about our daily lives, it may be time to craft a more permanent routine for ourselves once again.  

Here’s why.  

Your cognitive function will thank you.  

Mental cognition is the brain function responsible for attention, knowledge acquisition, memory formation, memory storage, and the ability to reason. Edgelow explains that routine being built into “regular work processes allows workers to spend less cognitive energy on recurring tasks, which can support focus and creativity for more complex tasks.” 

The belief here is that the little parts of your daily routines, such as small rituals, help set you up for a productive day.  

“If taking medications at the same time and putting the keys in their spot is part of a daily routine, less energy will be spent looking for lost objects and worrying about maintaining one’s health, freeing up time for other things people want to do in their day,” Edgelow says.  

Likewise, adding certain behaviors into your regular routine can improve cognition, research finds. The biggest benefits come from adding regular meditation, physical activity, and sleep to your routine. Likewise, adding these behaviors, particularly sleep and physical activity, will also promote better health.  

How do you build a routine? 

As previously stated, some people just come by routines more naturally than others. If you’re not one of them, how do you get in the habit of following a routine? How do you make routine routine? 

Here are some practices that Edgelow recommends: 

• Use a planner, either physical or on an application, to organize your daily activities and to-do list into a comprehensive schedule. 
• Choose a regular time to wake up and to go to bed and try to stick to it most days of the week. 
• Keep an eye out for meaningful activities that may be popping back up in your community, like a book club at the library or a social walking group. 
• Be sure to make space for important personal fulfillment activities, like exercise and hobbies.  

In conclusion… 

It’s never too late to become a person with a routine. If you do, you may find yourself feeling more creative, more ready to take on complex tasks, and with more energy for things you love to do, outside of your responsibilities.  

Cal Wilson / April 19, 2022

Though not an airborne pathogen, hurry sickness might be spreading around your workplace if you’re not taking measures to protect against it.  

In this issue of The Pulse, we take a look at the phenomenon that is ‘hurry sickness’ – what it is, how it can hurt your work and personal life, and how to take steps to overcome and avoid it.  

What is ‘hurry sickness’? 

Don’t worry  – it’s not an actual illness. However, it is a psychological phenomenon that might concern you, your colleagues, or others in your life.  

Hurry sickness was first described by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman and popularized in their 1974 book, Type A Behavior And Your Heart. They, and later research from other scholars, have found that “hurry sickness” can accompany the broader Type A personality complex.  

It can be characterized by a pressing need to hurry through tasks, use every moment productively, and an overwhelming, persistent sense of urgency.  

Here are two definitions that can be particularly helpful when understanding this phenomenon: 

1. A behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness. 
2. A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time and so tends to multi-task to the point of forgetting one of the tasks.  

How do you know if you have it? 

If you’re more of a Type A individual who feels a persistent need to get things done, it can be easy to mistake general business with hurry sickness. So, what are some signs to look out for? 

Although hurry sickness is clearly a symptom of anxiety, whether chronic or episodic, it doesn’t always present in the way you might expect anxiety to look like. This is partially because hurry sickness often leads to results or a ‘grind’ that our society has come to celebrate, despite its negative impact on our overall health.  

Here are some signs to watch out for: 

• Irritability  
• Hypersensitivity 
• Restlessness 
• Workaholism or nonstop activity 
• Emotional numbness 
• Trouble prioritizing the activities/values that matter most 
• Lack of care for your body 
• Escapist behavior 
• Isolation 
• Rushing through activities, whether that be speeding while driving, eating quickly, etc.  
• Making mistakes while during work or household tasks because you were hurrying through them. 
• Frequently trying to fit more into your schedule.  
• Endlessly running through your to-do list in your head.  

By itself, one or two of these symptoms may not mean much. However, when you put many or all of them all together, look at your work-life balance and current stressors, it might tell you that you’re dealing with hurry sickness.  

Is it that bad? 

You might be thinking, “so what? I get a lot done.”  

Maybe that’s true. Still, there are some emotional and physical consequences to pushing through hurry sickness.  

From the constant, nagging worry that you’re running out of time, to heightened anxiety, tearfulness, feelings of guilt, and trouble concentrating and relaxing, hurry sickness can take a big toll on your mental health. Long term, this can result in lowered self-esteem, increased feelings and outbursts of anger towards yourself and others, as well as general difficulties making and maintaining meaningful relationships.  

The physical effects of hurry sickness often stem from a lack of time devoted to self-care. As Healthline states, “relaxation and alone time might be the first ‘unnecessary’ activities you scrap when you feel busy, but many people with hurry sickness also start to ignore things like hydration, balanced meals, physical activity, or sleep.” 

This can result in: 

• Trouble sleeping 
• Changes in appetite 
• Fatigue 
• Headaches 
• Stomach issues 
• Decreased immune health 
• Potential heart health issues 

How to overcome hurry sickness? 

The obvious answer to combatting ‘hurrying’ is to slow down – but that’s easier said than done. Here are some strategies Forbes suggests: 

• In the morning, wake up with enough time to have a set breakfast.  
• Plan to arrive places five minutes in advanced, so you never feel late, and you have time to take a breather.  
• Count to five before answering your phone.  
• Cross out the lowest priority item on your daily to-do list.  

Other strategies include: 

• Taking a daily walk. 
• Make use of mindfulness apps and videos.  
• Prioritize self-care and relaxation – even if it’s only for fifteen extra minutes a day at first.  
• Learn your limits, set boundaries, and respect them.  
• Ask for support.  

In conclusion… 

The psychological phenomenon “hurry sickness” is a combination of anxiety mixed with the hustle mentality of our working culture. It tends to affect those we would consider as having Type A personalities.  

Although these individuals tend to be high achievers and producers, the long-term impact of working through this feeling can be detrimental.  

Slow down and be patient with yourselves. For leaders, identifying which of your team members may be struggling with this is also important.  

Cal Wilson / April 5, 2022

We hear the word ‘authentic’ thrown around a lot, often regarding what people, or rather consumers, want when interacting with a business. So, what does it mean to be authentic in business? In this article of The Pulse, we revisit a topic we first looked at all the way back in 2007.  

What is authenticity? 

The word authentic has several accepted definitions. These include: 

• Worthy of acceptance or belief, as conforming to or based on fact.  
• Conforming to an original, so as to reproduce essential features, or made or done the same way as an original.  
• Not false or imitation.  
• True to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.  

Regarding business, we can assume that we are looking at primarily the latter two meanings when it comes to how we represent ourselves, and perhaps the first two when it comes to our products and services.  

How can we apply this meaning to business today? In 2007, our article about authenticity stated, “as reality is qualified, altered, and commercialized, consumers respond to what is engaging, personal, memorable – and above all, authentic. If customers don’t view your offerings as real, you’ll be branded inauthentic – fake! – and risk losing credibility, customers, and ultimately the sale.” 

Does this hold up in 2022? 

Fifteen years later, is this still what consumers are looking for? According to experts, yes. According to Forbes, “burgeoning research on authenticity has documented its many benefits, including greater levels of well-being and life satisfaction” and “many organizations encourage employees to bring their true selves to work to spark proactivity, creativity, and effectiveness.” 

Why is authenticity important? 

As Forbes suggests, authenticity in business has a lot of benefits, from how your employees work and relate to each other, to how your customers see your brand.  

Here are some of the benefits of authenticity for your employees: 

• It allows them to make a more informed decision about where they want to work, and whether they’ll be a good fit.       
• Allows for better collaboration and trust between staff.  
• Fewer interpersonal conflicts. 
• Higher job performance. 
• OfficeVibe says that authenticity leads to a sense of ‘psychological safety’ among staff. 
• Employees will feel safe to provide better feedback and suggest newer, more innovative ideas.  

Likewise, the benefits for your customers: 

• Allows customers to make decisions about where they get their goods/services based on an understanding of shared values and priorities, such as environmentally friendly initiatives, or inclusive, safe spaces.  
• Happier and more confident employees will deliver better, more satisfying results for customers, which can lead to longer relationships, repeat customers, and recommendations and testimonials for your business.  

Do employees feel safe to be authentic in the workplace? 

It’s easy to say authenticity is welcome, but it’s another to make staff and clients believe it. At least ten percent of American employees feel they cannot be their authentic selves in the workplace, believing it could be detrimental to their job. However, 72% said they feel they are authentic at work.  

Forbes says, “when a person shares the values, priorities, and beliefs of the organization, their true self will be celebrated and appreciated by others.” 

In other words, if your business can demonstrate that its values and beliefs are in line with those of your ideal workers and customers, you’ll find that both will be able to be more authentic with you. Part of doing this means that managers and executives have a duty to authenticity, as well.  

How can leaders foster authenticity? 

Creating a workplace where staff can be authentic, and where customers trust in that authenticity, is going to be a top-down process. It starts with the leadership.  

As a business owner, manager, or leader in your workplace, there are specific ways to model authenticity that you can begin practicing if you don’t already: 

• Don’t be afraid to be yourself – you don’t have to put on an act to get respect from your team. Instead, trust them and allow yourself to build those stronger connections.  
• Model making mistakes and being resilient – you’re only human, and that’s okay. It’s okay to make errors and mistakes, and turn those into opportunities for positive growth. There’s nothing less believable than an infallible person, right? 
• Start and encourage productive discussions with your team. Did you know, as much as 24% of employees don’t feel like their peers welcome different opinions?  
• Create opportunities to get to know your team authentically, and for them to get to know each other the same way.  

In conclusion… 

In 2007, we said that authenticity mattered in the workplace. That is just as true in 2022. In order to have the happiest employees and customers alike, fostering authenticity in the workplace is a must.  

Cal Wilson / March 22, 2022

In an ever-changing world where businesses need to constantly re-imagine themselves in order to maintain a competitive edge, Martin Reeves recommends play and imagination for business executives.  

Instead of all work and no play, Reeves talks about how the right play can lead to more successful work and companies with more longevity.  

For more information, watch Reeve’s Ted Talk: How play can spark new ideas for your business. 

Cal Wilson / March 8, 2022

In our last issue of The Pulse, we talked about the consequences of the declining rate of students enrolling in post-secondary studies. One of the impacts was that employers will continue to struggle to find qualified applicants to fill open positions. That means employee retention is more important now than ever. Business owners and managers would be wise to focus on giving their talent a reason to stay long term, where possible.  

In this issue of the Pulse, we look at what employees want, what some managers might be getting wrong, and how to foster a workplace culture that promotes longevity.  

It’s harder than ever to recruit qualified talent.  

You’ve probably heard that statement a lot lately, and there is some truth behind it. Following what has been dubbed the Great Resignation last year, a lot of jobs are open, and business owners are desperate to fill them. However, that’s not because talented job seekers don’t exist.  

According to Slate, many job seekers are unhappy with company policies, and many workers can accurately identify why recruitment is unsuccessful. In fact, it’s oftentimes the same policies that drive employees to leave.  

Let’s take a look.  

The price isn’t right? 

Slate found that businesses looking for new talent aren’t doing enough to make themselves competitive. In fact, they’re often asking for too much experience for entry-level jobs while “still operating on a model of underpaying and overworking at a time when workers have much better options.”  

Likewise, many of the employers aren’t changing their compensation policies to better match today’s realities. Examples workers gave to Slate include: 

• Inadequate salaries to cover the cost of working in-person in expensive cities.  
• Limited personal days with no room for negotiation.  
• No COVID-related sick-time.  
• Unreasonable experience expectations.  
• Positions that are too demanding.  
• Extremely slow hiring processes that can take weeks if not a month.  

No matter what your personal perspective on these issues is, this is the point of view of many workers in today’s world. And with a shortage of workers and abundance of jobs, companies are going to need to start meeting those demands if they want to recruit new talent and, more importantly, to hold onto existing employees.  

They key is adapting to the here and now.  

One of the big concerns should be, as an employer, do your employees have better options elsewhere, and could they leave you struggling to fill a role? What can you do to make your business more attractive to job seekers, but also to those you hope will stick around into the foreseeable future?  

Slate’s advice is to ditch the resistance to adapting to new conditions, and meet workers where they’re at, when possible.  

This is in your financial interest, too.  

Putting the extra effort into hiring the right people from the start, as well as keeping them around, is worth making some changes for. 

Research has found turnover costs companies $15,000 USD per worker. Likewise, stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found 31% of American workers will leave a new job before the six-month mark.  

So why do employees leave? 

According to Connect Team, some of the common reasons listed in exit interviews and offboarding are: 

• Low salary 
• Poor benefits 
• Lack of room for growth or career advancement 
• Feeling of being overworked, lacking recognition, lacking challenge or motivation, etc.  
• Dissatisfaction with management 
• Poor work-life balance or company culture 
• Inflexible scheduling and lack of remote options 

What will make them stay? 

If you want to avoid the cost of turnover, here are some strategies you can take: 

• Begin early with a thorough onboarding process that includes establishing goals for their first week, month, three months, year, and so on. Give every new hire the opportunity to raise questions and concerns in a safe way.  
• Pair newer hires with seasoned employees to act as a kind of mentor while they adjust to the workplace.  
• Make sure your employee has all the tools they need to succeed in the role.  
• Establish a healthy line of communication between newer hires and their managers/supervisors.  
• Celebrate wins and milestones. 
• Build a workplace culture that prioritizes professionalism without stress or tension. This includes promoting a healthy work-life balance for all employees, and yourself, and making respect a primary value in the workplace,  
• Ask for feedback and act on it. 
• Practice team-building activities or outings. 
• Offer additional training and professional development opportunities. 
• Work to earn your employees’ trust and honor it.  
• Challenge your employees in a positive way that promotes their growth.  
• Offer flexibility with schedules and hybrid working models, if applicable to your business. This is especially important when research has found, as of 2021, 74% of the U.S. workforce would be willing to quit their job for the opportunity to work from home.  
• Don’t make sudden changes to your employees’ routine/role – change is good, but not if it’s going to give your employees whiplash.  

At the end of the day, the important thing is to listen to your employees and treat them with the consideration they need to do good work for your business.  

In conclusion… 

The labor market is always in flux. Sometimes there are fewer jobs than seekers, but right now it’s the inverse. Employers will have to make changes and amendments to their set habits and policies in order to attract new workers and encourage them to stay.  

Cal Wilson / February 22, 2022

In 2021, following what has been dubbed the “Great Resignation,” many businesses found themselves in the troubling position of having positions to fill but not enough qualified applicants to fill them.  

Among other things, 2021 highlighted a shortage in skilled workers. Likewise, new data shows that this may continue to be an issue in the future as fewer and fewer young adults enroll in post-secondary education with every passing year.  

In this issue of The Pulse, we look at this phenomenon and how it might impact businesses in the future.  

2021 saw a concerning drop in post-secondary students. 

Data released in January found that there are currently one million fewer students enrolled in American colleges and universities in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers. In the fall semester of 2021 alone, institutions saw 500,000 fewer undergraduate students.  

According to the National Student Clearinghouse research center: 

• Enrollment has fallen 6.6% in total since fall semester of 2019. 
• This represents the largest two-year decline in over 50 years.  

• Community colleges have seen a 13% decline from pre-pandemic enrollment.  
• Roughly half the shrinkage comes from four-year programs.  

Is this representing a cultural shift?  

While the consequences of the pandemic have accelerated this trend, enrollment has been declining steadily over the past decade.  

These young adults aren’t just doing nothing. In fact, unemployment is down, and many businesses are struggling to find workers. Instead, many who might have streamlined to college before the pandemic, are now out working, as the wages for unskilled or low-skilled positions continue to increase. And of course, everything else is on the rise too; rent, gas, groceries. The choice between work and school might not be much of a choice at all. 

What does this mean for businesses? 

While this might have long-terms impact on some of the individuals who are choosing to postpone or forgo post-secondary education, it will also certainly hurt the economy.  

Tony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, explained the impact to NPR.  

“The direct loss to the economy is the workers themselves. If they were trained and ready, they would get higher-wage jobs and they would add more to GDP, making us all richer and increasing taxes, reducing welfare costs, crime costs, on and on. When you hire the crane operator, the crane operator goes and buys groceries. So the grocery clerk has a job.” 

Now more than ever, many jobs require some level of post-secondary training. Meaning, workers with anything after grade twelve are increasingly needed.  

A drop in post-secondary enrollment means that the future could find even more jobs sitting empty, and a continued skills gap in the labor market. This will leave many businesses struggling to run, leading to issues like decreased tax revenue, inflated prices, production delays, and supply chain issues.  

What can be done? 

The problem here is not the students – or lack of students – themselves. It’s not even the educational institutions who are to blame. While universities and colleges across the continent are ramping up enrollment incentives and advertising campaigns, it’s going to take a lot more than good marketing to fix this issue.  

Pandemic closures and increased cost of living are doing more to deter students than colleges can advertise around.  

In conclusion… 

In the coming years, businesses across North America may see struggles to recruit and maintain qualified staff, as post-secondary enrollment is at a 500,000 decrease in undergraduate students.  

While there isn’t much that can be done, on an individual level, to remedy the larger problem, businesses can focus on management strategies and workplace culture to maintain the talent they already have. 

Cal Wilson / February 9, 2022