Schools don’t allow for much faculty and staff flextime. Your students need your faculty and staff to be there when they’re on campus, and planned events must happen when they’re scheduled. Managing employees from a local coffee shop just isn’t possible. Yet, according to a survey done by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 98% of parents say they are burnt out—and it’s affecting their views on their careers.
Survey results found that frazzled parents are pointing the finger to their employers. More than 50% reported they were unhappy at their current job, 62% said they didn’t feel as though their employer cared about them, and 80% agreed that changes need to be made at the office—not their home life.
These results mark a shift in the workplace. Whereas older generations didn’t question their employer’s lifestyle benefits such as flex time and maternity leave, younger generations are passively voicing dissatisfaction. Three-fourths of those responding to the survey said that would not complain to their employer about their struggles with work-life balance. However, stressed employees are more likely to quit, less likely to bring an added dose of creativity to their jobs, and use more sick time than satisfied employers.
Organizations are challenged with trying to not only obtain and retain top quality talent, but to also manage health care costs, which tend to rise parallel to stress levels.
Some large corporations have made policy changes over the years in reaction to employee feedback. One of the latest companies to make headlines was Netflix with their unlimited time off and paid leave for new moms and dads for a year. However, according to the survey reported by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, fringe benefits such as telecommuting, flextime, and job-sharing aren’t enough to rejuvenate exhausted parents.
Several conclusions impacting your faculty and staff can be drawn from this information.
1. Fringe benefits don’t make as large as an impact as early data suggests. This can be a bonus for your campus considering many of these trendy workplace benefits don’t fit into your school’s culture. According to this survey, what employees are looking for more than the ability to telecommute is a culture of understanding. Open door policies and goal-setting evaluation systems are two ways to promote employee morale by helping them balance work-life friction.
2. Implement changes that matter. Common sources of work stress are low salaries, excessive workloads with minimal support, limited opportunities for growth, lack of social support, and unclear performance expectations.
3. Wellness is as important now as it was before. As our society continues to accelerate, it’s perhaps even more important that your school institutes wellness options to help balance frantic lifestyles. Exercise, meditation, and unplugging from stress in short intervals has been proven to help restore positive perspectives and promote overall better health.
4. Don’t take advantage of your top performers. Top performers are notorious for doing whatever it takes, sacrificing whatever needs to be sacrificed, to get the job done. All too often, over time, this becomes expected instead of appreciated. Yes, the tasks are completed, but what is also happening is your top performer is burning her/himself out. No one is invincible. Eventually, everyone hits a wall where they are forced to either slow down or seriously risk their health. Encourage balance in your faculty and staff. Acknowledge the motivation and determination, but instill a culture where maintaining balance in life is also rewarded.
There’s another side to this topic as well—your families. It’s not just your employees who might be struggling with maintaining balance in their lives. Your school’s families might be equally as stressed—or more so.
Just as a large part of your role navigating employee issues, a large part of your role is to also manage parent relations. Stress manifests in different ways in different people. In some it may appear as anger, in others anxiety or depression, while in some it can bubble up as over eagerness. Men and women also show stress in different ways.
Although you’re not expected to have a psychology degree to manage your school’s risks, it is important for you to understand that different personalities metabolize stress differently. Without walking in your families’ shoes, you’re not aware of what life is pressing on them at the moment. Keep an open mind and ear when dealing with parent frustrations, and don’t pass judgment while emotions are involved.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Private School News Vol. 12 No. 3 De-stressing in the Office
The Source for Risk Managers Vol. 6 No. 4 Staying Positive in Negative Environments
The Source for Division Heads Vol. 12 No 7 Aftershocks: Dealing With Trauma in the Classroom
