Redesigning Wellness Podcast

A common pain point of wellness professionals is how to gain leadership buy in. But in a recent WELCOA poll, only 13% of respondents agreed that their “leaders are strong champions for wellness”. That means 77% of respondents haven’t found a way to effectively engage their leadership in their wellness efforts! 

So, what can we do to better engage leadership in our wellness efforts? Today’s guest, Eric Kaufmann, has some advice.

Eric brings 20 years of experience working with CEOs, helping leaders think more creatively, decide more effectively, and relate more wholeheartedly. He describes his work as an unrelenting commitment to results with an unyielding regard for the human spirit. Eric is the author of Four Virtues of a Leader and President of Sagatica, an executive development consultancy.

In this interview, we learn Eric’s definition of leadership, the four virtues of a leader and the difference between a leader and a manager. Eric offers his perspective on CEOs, their mindset and the interesting aspects of their role that many of us don’t consider. When we get to the part about how we, as wellness pros, can get a seat at the table, I encourage you to listen up. Eric offers valuable advice, but it requires getting out of your comfort zone. Are you ready?

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For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunit

According to the American Psychological Association, 65% of U.S. employees cite work as a significant source of stress. The American Institute of Stress estimates that job stress costs U.S. industry more than $300 billion a year.

But how do we fight the stress epidemic in organizational cultures that perpetuate it? Today’s guest, Cory Smith, co-founded Wisdom Labs to bring a scalable solution to attack stress and enhance wellbeing through mindfulness, emotional wellbeing and resilience.

In this interview we discuss what led him to create multiple companies and his shift into aligned entrepreneurship. Cory shares why businesses are positioned to make real change in the world and how mindfulness, emotional fluency and social connection will help bring people together. 

We dig into the various ways Wisdom Labs spreads wisdom at work, results they’ve seen so far and how it works in organizations. As always, he leaves us with a tangible tip. 

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For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

One metric we often look at to determine success in worksite wellness is how many people participate. If we are getting low participation, we often send out surveys asking employees if there are better wellness topics we can offer or what times we should hold events. We rarely focus on what’s called the psychosocial factors (how we perceive our work environment) that impact participation. 

Today’s guest, Dr. Mahban Sangachin, published a study titled “Interactive effects of work psychosocial factors on participation in worksite wellness programs.” Specifically, she studied the effects of job demand, work control and social support on worksite wellness participation. There’s not much research on these factors when it comes to corporate wellness so I wanted to bring Mahban’s key findings to light. 

In this interview, Mahban explains what got her interested in the research, she walks us through her research methods and the key findings. She also addresses limitations of the study because of course, every study has its limitations. Hopefully this is just the start of further research!

Announcement: I’m holding another small group training from July 15 to August 19, 2019. This is a 6-week weekly session where we briefly cover a Next Generation Wellness topic then spend time discussing how (or if) it would work in your organization or clients. There will only be 7 spots open and I haven’t opened registration yet. If you’re interested, use this contact form to let me know or if you want more info.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

We understand the importance of culture, but it can feel too big for us to do anything about. Or maybe we feel like it’s someone else’s job. So, we go about our day contributing to the culture whatever way we feel like showing up that day. But as today’s guest, Maggie Gough, tell us culture is everyone’s responsibility.

Here’s her definition of culture:

Culture is a million micro moments of people in connection with one another in an organization.

 But Maggie didn’t start out in the culture biz. She’s a fellow dietitian who has held various worksite wellness roles from working in a call center to wellness director at a biometric screening company (and a couple other positions along the way). It wasn’t until she found herself misaligned with her values, ill and in need of recovery that she started her own business, Realize Wellbeing.

In the first 20 minutes of this interview, Maggie takes us through the twists and turns of her worksite wellness career to date.  For those of you early in your careers or wanting to advance, she’s got some great advice for you.

Maggie gets candid (as is her nature) about when she was sick, anxious and in need of recovery. We discuss coaching employees and dive into her training called “All In”, that focuses on culture and why we’re all responsible for building it. Maggie leaves us with details on a Wellbeing Accelerator she created in partnership with WELCOA.

Announcement: I’m holding another small group training from July 15 to August 19, 2019. This is a 6-week weekly session where we briefly cover a Next Generation Wellness topic then spend time discussing how (or if) it would work in your organization or clients. There will only be 7 spots open and I haven’t opened registration yet. If you’re interested, use this contact form to let me know or if you want more info.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

Work disability has been described as one of the biggest social and labor market challenges that hinders economic growth and reduces effective labor supply (OECD, 2010).  Work disability costs organizations 9 to 15% of their payroll and the employer’s response at the time of injury can influence as much as a 26% decrease in duration.  

Even if you don’t manage the work disability process for your organization, it’s important to understand that work disability is a separate condition with its own set of causes and has its own set of interventions. 

Today’s guest, Jason Parker, President and Senior Work Disability Consultant of Centrix Disability Management Services, takes us through the multitude of factors that impact an employee returning to work.

In this interview, Jason tells us how he got into work disability and explains the high costs of work disability. We then discuss how work disability is developmental in nature and that there are multiple factors involved in successfully getting employees back to work. Jason outlines his four guiding principles and offers tangible tips for how we can help foster a successful return to work for these employees.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

According to Gallup, people with high Career Wellbeing are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their lives overall. But only 20% of people strongly agree that they like what they do each day. That means 4 out of 5 people don’t like what they do each day, impacting their overall employee wellbeing.

Because Career Wellbeing often relies on partnership with others in your organization or different conversations with your clients it can be seen as outside of the scope of wellness. So, what can you do to impact this foundational element of wellbeing?

That what today’s guest, Dr. Jim Harter, Chief Scientist for Gallup's Workplace Management and Well-being Practice, answers for us today. Dr. Harter is co-author of the New York Times bestseller 12: The Elements of Great Managing, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, and his research is featured in First, Break All the Rules. His 5 Strengths are: Achiever, Focus, Learner, Relator and Futuristic.

In this interview, Jim and I discuss the research behind the 5 Elements of Wellbeing and he answers my burning question – where does emotional health fall into the dimensions?

We then dig into Career Wellbeing - what it is, the research behind it and why they are moving towards term Purpose. We discuss why so many people seem to live for the weekends, the link between poor career wellbeing and health and how we (and our organizations) can positively impact career or purpose wellbeing.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

We frequently throw around the word wellbeing but don’t always define what wellbeing means to the population we’re serving. The fact is that what drives my wellbeing is different than what drives your wellbeing. This makes it really tough to address true wellbeing in the workplace because there are not only multiple factors to consider but we all value these factors differently. 

As health professionals, we also like to place people in neat and tidy categories, like healthy, at risk or high risk/chronic. But wellbeing is much more complex than simply putting labels on people. As one of today’s guests said, “Just because you’re physically healthy doesn’t mean you have a high level of wellbeing and just because you’re terminally ill doesn’t mean you have a low level of wellbeing.”

Today’s guests are Sandi Winter and Julia Gustafson. Sandi Winter, PhD, MHA, is the Director of the WELL for Life research initiative (WELL) and a Social Science Research Scholar at the Stanford Prevention Research Center (SPRC). Julia works as the Director of Community Engagement for Stanford WELL for Life where she strives to empower local communities and organizations to adopt and promote a culture of holistic well-being.

In this interview, we discuss their roles at WELL for Life, the research they conducted to further understand wellbeing from a diverse perspective and the 10 areas of wellbeing they found. Sandi and Julia walk us through how the WELL for Life scale is used today in worksites, the user experience plus some free resources available to those who take the assessment.

Foundational funding for the Stanford Wellness Living Laboratory (WELL) was generously provided via an unrestricted gift through the Nutrilite Health Institute Wellness Fund. 

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

We’ve all had charged conversations in both in our work and personal lives. When someone is “coming at us”, our human instinct often takes over, leaving us defensive, in disbelief or formulating our rebuttal. None of these responses are particularly helpful, especially since it causes us to tune out and not get to the source of what matters. So, what do you do instead?

Today’s guest, Dr. Wendy Lynch, walks us through how to put aside these less helpful reactions and get to what matters. Wendy is a data scientist who runs her own consulting firm conducting Big Data analytic projects in Human Capital Management.

A consultant to numerous Fortune 100 companies, her career includes faculty at the UC Health Sciences Center, VP of Strategic Development at HCMS, Principal at Mercer HR and Board of Directors for two publicly-traded firms. Dr. Lynch has also published three books: Who Survives, Aligning incentives, information and choice and, most recently, Get to What Matters.

Today we start with how the heck a data scientist wrote a book on communication, Wendy mentions the #1 mistake we make when having conversations at work and she takes us through the impact of a powerful conversations (using the Rule of Three). Wendy provides such amazing tangible tips we can all use when navigating difficult conversations that you will no doubt want to take notes throughout this interview!

Next Generation Wellness: From Theory to Practice – Early Bird Ends 1/31!

Although our 9-week Next Gen Wellness training doesn’t start until February 13th, the early bird special ends January 31st. That means the price goes from $695 to $895. You can find out more here.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

If you’re a regular listener you may have heard me mention a small group I facilitated last Fall. I offered it as a bonus for those who signed up early for our Next Gen Wellness Training that starts February 13th. 

We had a group of seven wellness pros and each week, I’d briefly present on a topic and we’d all discuss our thoughts around it and how/if it would work in our organization. It was amazing because all seven people were extremely cool. Everyone spoke their mind but was extremely respectful of each other.

When I asked for feedback, one person asked if there was a way to get the message out that there needs to be a shift in wellness. After letting that sink in, I thought why not bring a few of the small group members on the podcast. You guys can hear directly from wellness pros other than me that change is needed. 

Today’s guests are:

• Jill Dorris, Sr Health and Performance Consultant at HUB International Insurance Services.
• Kristin Stapleton, is Executive Director for Paradigm Health and Wellness.
• Margo W. Riddle is an experienced health and wellness professional who has the ability to work at both the employee and organization levels with multiple credentials in health coaching and workplace wellness.

In this interview, each guest starts out telling us what they do and what challenges come with it. They talk about why we need a shift in the wellness industry, what prompted them to take a gamble on the small group plus next gen and what they got out of it.

Finally, although our 9-week next gen wellness training doesn’t start until February 13th, the early bird special ends January 31st. That means the price goes from $695 to $895. You can find out more here.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Jill, Kristin and Margo!

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/

75% of people say their boss is the most stressful part of their workday. Couple that with the fact that 56% of American workers claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic boss, then poor management becomes a serious obstacle to employee wellbeing.

Today's guest, Mary Abbajay, provides valuable insight into the many facets of a bad boss. Mary is the president of Careerstone Group, LLC, a full service organizational and leadership development consultancy that delivers leading-edge talent and organizational development solutions to business and government. She’s also the author of Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss.  

In this interview, Mary defines a bad boss, the ramifications of reporting to a bad boss and the difference between a bad boss and a toxic boss. I ask Mary how you make companies aware bad bosses are a problem without putting them on the defensive. Mary also tells us her own bad boss story and leaves us with tangible tips for both managers and wellness pros who may want to broach this subject in their organization.

You’re Invited to our Encore Webinar: If you’re still on the fence about joining our training, Rebecca and I are hosting an Encore Webinar, “The Critical Steps to Increase Your Impact and Influence as a Wellness Professional” on January 17th at 2 pm EST. Register HERE.

Many health promotion efforts are stuck in an old paradigm, operating on outdated thinking or flawed assumptions.

This webinar will separate myth from reality – and jump start your path to confidently bringing your organization into the next generation of worksite wellness. You’ll leave with valuable insights and practical takeaways on how to increase your influence in your organization

You can register for the webinar HERE.

For links mentioned in today's episode visit  http://bit.ly/Redesignpod

To join the Redesigning Wellness Community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdwellnesscommunity/