Develop the mental toolkit for success

This informal CPD article Develop the mental toolkit for success was provided by Ayming UK, who aim to improve Business Operational and Financial Performance.

Develop the mental toolkit for success

Everyone faces challenges at work and in their personal lives. Like wider society, most employers are more aware than ever of the importance of mental health and the risks of work-related stress and burnout. Safeguarding mental health is a personal as well as a managerial and corporate responsibility. Success in today’s modern and constantly changing workplace depends on this resilience.

The impacts of stress are physical, emotional and mental. UK statistics on workplace stress are chastening:

• More than 13 million work-hours lost annually
• Half a million people say they feel ill as a result
• It triggers 70% of GP visits and 85% of serious illnesses

Business owes much of its understanding of mental toughness to the world of sport. In both arenas, we must perform to our best under pressure and deal with stress. But these are not one and the same thing. The Health & Safety Executive defines stress as: “The adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work or beyond.”

Pressure that is not excessive can be a good thing. It boosts adrenaline and energy, sharpens focus and decision-making, and often raises performance. As the Inverted U-Model (devised by Yerkes and Dodson in 1908) shows, underload tends to depress our productivity – think of the time we take to knuckle down when facing a distant deadline.

Once we go over the peak point of benign pressure, however, we tip into fatigue and exhaustion. Concentration falls and anxiety rises as overload leads to burnout and our ability to perform falls apart. Managers and team members alike need to understand the causes of work-related stress, as well as being self-aware of our responses, emotions, and strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, different people will need different coping strategies.

We need to detect the early warning signs if we are to minimise the adverse effects. Agitation, loss of interest, low mood and poor sleep are red flags. Similarly, managers may need to intervene when conflict increases within teams, members start taking more sick days, or working longer hours, or their productivity dips.

What’s to be done to reduce stress? Again, managers and managed alike need to communicate and act. Talk to each team member individually, hold an open team discussion, and run an anonymous survey if necessary to establish the underlying reasons. Team and individual objectives may need to be reassessed, as well as workload and delegation.

People should feel able to ask for help and say ‘No’ to additional demands; and speak up yourself if you’re feeling overloaded. Remind employees to take proper breaks and their full holiday entitlement. Managers should set an example. We know more today about how to develop personal resilience. Many employers run wellbeing initiatives, as well as occupational health and employee assistance programmes. From mindfulness to physical exercise, or yoga to simply spending more time in green spaces, there’s an option that will help each and every one of us.

Another technique is to watch out for the ‘thinking traps’ and negative thoughts that undermine resilience. We can break this vicious cycle, get things into perspective, and think positively. You can also use concepts, such as Covey’s circles of concern and influence, to distinguish between what we can and cannot control. Resilient people ignore the latter and focus on areas where they can make an impact. They also view life’s difficulties as challenges, want to find solutions and learn from their mistakes. And they are willing to commit to goals and take action, getting involved and embracing change.

This makes us feel more empowered and reinforces our self-confidence. And it equips us with the skills and mindset to thrive amid the pressures and stresses of the modern world of work.

We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Ayming UK, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.