APRIL IS "STRESS AWARENESS MONTH" (S.A.M)

"HELPING EMPLOEES TO NOT JUST COPE WITH STRESS,

BUT TO LEARN HOW TO MASTER ITsm"

For over 30 years, Stressmaster International (SI) has been helping companies and their employees assess, reduce and master stress. Over 600,000 people have taken and benefited from our Stress Mastery Programs. If you would like to provide your employees with state-of-the-art information, tools and techniques to master workplace stress, now, during Stress Awareness Month (S.A.M.), we have programs that will help your employees to master stress both at work and home.

Our mission is to empower employees to discover how stress may be affecting them using the Stress Mastery Questionnaire (SMQ) and, then, to provide evidence-based strategies, techniques and programs that will actually help them to reduce and master stress. This is accomplished by providing each of your employees with a Personal Stress Mastery Report that shows how stress is affecting them physically, emotionally and interpersonally both at work and home. We then provide them with our Stress Mastery Guide and Stress Mastery Workbook to use for self-development or as part of a stress management training or coaching program.

WORKPLACE STRESS IS REAL!

The High Cost of Employee Stress

The research is clear...Workplace stress impacts employee wellbeing, productivity, health and job satisfaction. The impact of stress is enormous and smart employers are doing something about it.

Regus of Luxembourg polled over 22,000 employees in 100 countries about their level of stress; they concluded that... "office life has never been more stressful, with over half of the global workforce (53%) saying they are closer to burning out than they were just five (5) years ago.”

A Willis Towers Watson report stated that people with high levels of stress have a 35% higher rate of absenteeism and are twice as likely to report that they feel disengaged or unsupported. They concluded that 40% of employee turnover is due to stress.

Carnegie Mellon University surveyed over 6,300 people and found that workplace stress has increased between up to 30% since 1983.

A Harvard and Stanford University study concluded that “workplace stress contributes to 120,000 deaths each year at a healthcare cost of up to $190bn

The American Psychological Association found that chronic stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. And, more than 75% of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Yet, few received any help for their stress.

The third annual Work Stress Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, polled 1,019 employed Americans. The results showed a marked increase from last year's survey, which found that 73% of Americans were stressed at work. This year, that number jumped to 83%.

It’s a fact: Mental health and stress related problems are the major healthcare costs to be concerned with; together they account for 28% of employee benefit claims. This cost is greater than claims for heart disease (14%) and cancer (13%), the second and third highest healthcare costs.

PROGRAMS TO HELP EMPLOYEES TO MASTER WORKPLACE STRESS

Stressmaster International programs are built on the latest scientific techniques to reduce and master stress. We can tailor our programs to your program and financial needs.

Contact us to discuss options. CONTACT

Step 1- Watch a webinar on the Stress Mastery Program

Prior to taking the SMQ, employees are encouraged to watch a webinar on the nature of stress, why stress awareness is so important, how the SMQ assesses stress, the importance of understanding how stress affects us, and the overall nature of the Stress Mastery Program. The logistics of taking the SMQ are explained followed by a Q&A. Click to watch the video. Learn more.

Step 2: Complete the Stress Mastery Questionnaire (SMQ)

After watching the webinar, each employee who agrees to participate is sent an email with the Link to take the SMQ along with an Access Code unique to that person. The Access Code unlocks the SMQ assessment so that the SMQ can be completed online. Employees are encouraged to complete the SMQ within a certain timeline; usually one week. The SMQ a scientifically developed and validated stress "risk" assessment that can be completed online in about 10-12 minutes. Click to take the SMQ

Step 3: Receive their Stress Mastery Report

After completing the SMQ each person receives his or her personal Stress Mastery Report (19pp). This Report shows their level of stress "risk” on each of the 11 SMQ scales along with a brief description of the scale and why it is important. In addition, the Report shows how one answered each of questions on scale. This information is vital to developing a plan for stress mastery. Click to see an example of the Stress Mastery Report.

Step 4: Obtain the Stress Mastery Guide

In order for participants to better understand their Stress Report and the meaning of each SMQ scale, a copy of the Stress Mastery Guide is provided. The Guide helps interpret the results of the SMQ and is used by trained coaches or trainers interactively with the participants or clients during the course of the training or coaching. Click to see the Stress Mastery Guide.

Step 5: Work with the Stress Mastery Workbook

The Stress Mastery Workbook provides specific exercises to help trainees or clients gain the knowledge and skills necessary to reduce and master stress. Specific exercises have been developed or each of the 11 SMQ Scales that participants can complete at home and then share with their coach or trainer. Click to see the Stress Master Workbook.

Step 6: Schedule a "Discovery Session" with a coach

Information alone will not necessarily produce change. In the hands of a good trainer or coach, the feedback provided from the Stress Mastery Report, Stress Mastery Guide and Stress Mastery Workbook will facilitate change and personal stress mastery. We provide a 30 minute virtual "Discovery Session" to discuss with the employee the meaning of each scale and to chart a path for personal development.

Step 7: Get started today - Call us to talk!

There is more to the Stress Mastery Program than can be shared on this website. Call us today to discuss how we can tailor a Stress Mastery Program just for you and your employees. We have Associates who are well trained and experienced to deliver a truly life-changing employee experience. Contact Dr. Jim Petersen today to discuss options, program design, costs and benefits. Give him a call at 480-444-6301 or email at jpetersen@stressmaster.com

STRESS MASTERY POSTERS

In addition to the Stress Mastery Program, we encourage the promotion of long-term change by using motivational, inspirational and informative products that help employees to "Not Just Manage Stress, but to Learn to Master IT!" Following are some of the motivational tools we can provide you to place around the office or provide to each person. Motivating employees to make change is improved with constant visual cues like posters and emails with reminder messages. We have a series of posters available but can tailor stress awareness posters to meet your needs. Check out the posters.

STRESS MASTERY DESK GUIDES

Stress Mastery Desk Guides are a terrific resource to help your trainees and clients understand their stress and what to do about it whenever needed. Produced in a glossy 8.5” X 11” tri-fold, employees are provided with evidence-based tips, suggestions and techniques for how to understand, reduce and master stress. When an employee is under stress, he or she can take out the Guide to find the best way to deal with their stress right now. The Guide provides evidence-based ways to reduce, manage and master stress, so that they can function at optimal levels and peak performance. To see the Desk Guide.