Newsletter 51 Sept/Oct 2009

There has been a lot to catch up on and in this edition we are delighted to :

• introduce you to new consultants who have recently joined us
• include an interesting article on cultivating effective work relationships
• offer a link to some case studies recently posted by the HSE
• as ever, tried to provide our usual balance of news, fact and resource with, hopefully, the odd bit of humour thrown in for good measure!

In Equilibrium News

New consultants join the team

We are delighted to introduce Ally Brown, Angela Smith and Andy Mason who have all recently joined In Equilibrium as consultants.

Ally Brown moved into consultancy with a wealth of experience gained from one of Britain’s big 5 banks.  He has designed and delivered many training programmes and provided consultancy in Leadership and Management Development, Recruitment and Interviewing Skills, Customer Service Excellence, and Team & Business Development.  He has recently designed an Absence Management through Return to Work Interviews Programme for a Scottish College. 

Angela Smith has been designing and delivering bespoke programmes in stress and anger management, conflict resolution, change management and mental health awareness for the past 12 years.  Some of the prestigious institutions she has worked with include the Home Office and Premier League football clubs. 

Andy Mason is a hugely experienced coach, trainer and consultant both at home and abroad.  His career has taken him from the NHS and many private sector organisations in the UK to Australia and Sri Lanka where amongst other roles he worked for the Nonviolent Peaceforce as a trainer in multicultural teamworking.

New Training Course Available

Our new one-day course is entitled “Facilitation, Problem Solving & Appreciative Enquiry Skills for Managers”.  With the role of leaders within organisations changing to accommodate the sophisticated needs of today’s demanding workforce, this course has been designed to provide a range of practical tools and techniques to enable managers to enlist the full support of their teams in order to overcome obstacles and achieve their business goals.

Follow us on Twitter You can now follow our regular tweets which cover all manner of things from links to articles we found of interest or our latest course details to quotations, tips and anything else suitable in reply to the question “What are you doing?”  We can be found at  https://twitter.com/in_equilibrium

Stress Management Tip

Although everyone’s entitled to be in a bad mood every once in a while; this month’s tip offers a suggestion as to how to get yourself (or somebody else) out of yours (or theirs) more quickly.  

Cultivating Effective Work Relationships

Our consultant Angela Brown is a Forensic Psychologist who has an exceptional reputation for helping organisations improve performance, public image and profitability.  One of her areas of expertise is conflict resolution and she has kindly contributed this article which outlines why and how you can develop a healthy working relationship with colleagues.

Websites/Resources

We found the following websites interesting:

www.hse.gov.uk/stress/experience.htm  – a new page, recently added to the HSE work-related stress website, which offers 6 case studies to explain the manner in which both private and public sector organizations have implemented the HSE Management Standards.  The page also includes 10 videos, based on real cases, which outline how people cope with stress and what managers can do to improve the situation.

www.toptools4learning.com – a handy little website especially with the schools back and homework making a re-appearance) which alphabetically lists free websites which either provide information and/or instruction on a wide range of subjects.  They are apparently suitable for learners of all ages.

New Research Report recently published Management Competencies for Preventing Stress at Work
The third phase of this research project which is a collaboration between the HSE, CIPD and Investors in People UK has recently been published.  The report outlines the findings of the research so far and describes phase three, a learning intervention for managers in 17 organisations. It looks at why manager behaviour is important, and reflects on barriers and facilitators of positive management behaviour and behaviour change. Short guidance leaflets based on the research findings can be downloaded here www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/health/stress/_lnstrswrk.htm?IsSrchRes=1

Amanda’s Column
She doesn’t mention happy ever after but marriage and relationships seem to have figured high on Amanda’s agenda this summer.

Stress in the News

Employee attitudes and the recession

First of a series of quarterly surveys looking at the attitudes of over 3000 employees to highlight the emerging challenges faced by individuals, employers and policy makers.  The report covers the following areas: job satisfaction & loyalty; attitudes towards management; employee well-being; work-life balance & flexible working; impact of the recession on employees & organisations; and employees views on the future. 

How to look after your mental health using exercise

The link between exercise and well-being has been widely acknowledged.  This booklet explains why exercise is important, makes suggestions as to how you can get started and then keep yourself motivated.  You can read it online or download one copy for free but if you require bulk copies you need to contact the Mental Health Foundation’s Customer Services on 0207 8031101. 

How Does Stress Influence Bad Decision Making?

Some recent research which involved experiments using rats has revealed a link between their increased stress and their ability to make decisions.  The findings suggest that chronic stress may prevent us from considering suitable and beneficial responses and freezes us into an automatic response mode.

and finally, find out how you handle adversity …

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? “When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest” find out which you resemble in this short motivational article.  Read more … https://www.wow4u.com/carrot/index.html

Quotations

“No man ever listened himself out of a job.” Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the USA (1872 – 1933)

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” Francois-Marie Arouet (better known by the pen name Voltaire), French Writer and Philosopher (1694 – 1778)

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter.  Please remember that we are always delighted to receive your comments as they are one of the measures we use to ensure our quality and content is consistent and relevant.