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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:The Digital way of working
Moderator:QUARK::LIONELON
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5321
Total number of notes:139771

2275.0. "E.A.P. WHERE ARE YOU??" by WMOIS::STYVES_A () Tue Dec 15 1992 19:26

    Yesterday the 14th, Westminster like so many others, once again
    lost more than a few good men and woman.  As in the past I knew
    and respected more than a few of the people that were deemed by
    some faceless, nameless individual as no longer being needed.
    Everywhere you turn people on all levels of the corporate ladder
    are simply "burned out".  How can any of us be expected to concentrate
    on customer satisfaction issues, ontime shipments, ISO/9000 or
    any of the hundreds of other conditions that must be met in order
    for us as a company to survive?  
    
    In the private sector, whenever a disaster occurs, crisis intervention
    centers are immediately opened so that the survivors can get the
    counceling that is so very vital for them to continue the fight.
    Apparently it is not the professionally correct thing to do to admit
    that many of us high tech professionals are at the breaking point.
    DIGITAL people are supposed to be above all that.  Only the weak
    and timid break under the pressure, right?
    
    Our EAP people, if they still exist, MUST start holding a series of
    mandatory stress management seminars.  If we don't have enough of
    them to handle this then hire more.  Never mind the "only if you
    want to see me philosophy."  make the meetings mandatory.  Remove
    the stigma of going to see the "shrink."  We are drowning and we 
    need someone to throw us a life preserver.  We as individuals need
    help. 
                                                                
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2275.1Stigma is rightNEWVAX::SGRIFFINDTN 339-5391Tue Dec 15 1992 22:2017
>    Our EAP people, if they still exist, MUST start holding a series of
>    mandatory stress management seminars.  If we don't have enough of
>    them to handle this then hire more.  Never mind the "only if you
>    want to see me philosophy."  make the meetings mandatory.  Remove
>    the stigma of going to see the "shrink."  We are drowning and we 
                                                                
This struck a chord with me.  I've always wondered why everyone is encouraged 
to get regular dental and medical checkups, but not psychiatric checkups.  I 
am a little more sensitive than usual on this topic since my ex-wife informed 
me this morning that her boyfriend had committed suicide last night.
Had he had regular checkups, someone may have noticed the fact that he was 
manic-depressive, had been on painkillers for 15+ years, etc., and been able 
to intervene, saving his life, my ex and his kids and relatives the pain, etc.

I think police officers are required to have regular mental exams because of 
the stress of the job.  Does anyone have any table that lists stress levels by 
profession?
2275.2will someone please LEAD!!!ODIXIE::SMITHJTue Dec 15 1992 23:442
    I would settle for just a meeting with local management at least
    telling us what has happened to who and why.
2275.3Be proactive - bug someone about it!NETWKS::GASKELLWed Dec 16 1992 09:0312
    Get on to your health services nurse (or Personnel) and make the
    suggestion.  Chances are that the nurse is under so much work that she 
    hasn't had a chance to think of it.   We have had a couple of Stress
    Management and Handling Change seminars/workshops at LKG.  Also the
    Secretarial Committee sponsored a fun, upbeat speaker - Norm Bossio.
    He is a talented speaker with refreshing humor about stress and the human 
    condition.
    
    My message is, don't wait for someone to provide a resource, go ask for 
    it!      
    
    
2275.4my $0.02GRANMA::MWANNEMACHERLights out, party's over!Wed Dec 16 1992 10:004
    
    These courses are offered, I think to make it mandatory is ridiculous.
    
    Mike
2275.5Please, don't coerceTLE::SAVAGEWed Dec 16 1992 11:013
    The concept of _making_ people go for help won't work, IMHO. For it to
    be effective, person must _want_ that have that kind of help.  If they
    don't ask for it, don't force it on them.
2275.6You Could Be RightWMOIS::STYVES_AWed Dec 16 1992 12:1625
    RE .4
    RE .5
    	    For the most part, I agree that the most effective help
    	    can be obtained when the person needing the help steps
            forward and asks for it.  The sad truth of the matter, I'm
            afraid,is that not all people have the strength to ask for
    	    that help.  There are many, many people that for one reason
    	    or another need that gentle push in the right direction.
    	    Fear of the unknown can be a completely debilitating factor
            that turns the outwardly strong man or woman into jelly.  If
            everyone was told that their group was to attend a stress
            management seminar, then that person could hopefully get the
            help he/she needs by simple "tagging along" with the rest of
    	    the people in the group.
    
    	    Truth be known, I'm really not a trained anything.  Just another
            nameless, faceless tiny frustrated cog in an ever shrinking
            wheel.
    
                               PEACE 
    	    
    
    
    
    
2275.7Middle ground?TLE::SAVAGEWed Dec 16 1992 13:0512
    Re: .6:                                                                  
    
    I guess there's some room for maneuver here.  I can accept a gentle
    pull (not a push), "Come on everyone, I'm going and I think this (EAP)
    seminar would be good for all of us."  but not, "You WILL attend along
    with everyone else, and that's a direct order!"   The one person who
    needs the help most will, at best, go through the motions of
    'participating' while filled with resentment toward the directive and
    problem denial (mentally blocking out all potentially useful messages).  
    
    I'm not a trained psychiatric counselor either, just an ordinarily
    reasonable guy; and these are just my opinions.
2275.8Ve haff vays of making you relax ...NASZKO::ROBERTWed Dec 16 1992 13:063
"Mandatory stress reduction:" is an oxymorn.

 - g
2275.9GRANMA::MWANNEMACHERLights out, party's over!Wed Dec 16 1992 16:309
    
    RE: .6 I guess the "Investment In Excellence" mandatory training left a
    bad taste in my mouth.  :')
    
    
    Peace to you as well,
    
    
    Mike
2275.10Managers need the most help.CASDOC::MEAGHERSo many books, so little timeThu Dec 17 1992 09:0220
I think the stress in this company would be greatly reduced if the effort that
goes into the EAP were channeled instead into helping management communicate
better.

The managers are greatly in need of people who can: 

o Assess the information that's being given out to the rest of us and let them
  know that we won't believe it or accept it if it's badly written 

o Write memos that make sense (and can be read and understood by the rest of
  us)

o Write memos filled with sentences that either contain actual information or
  convey the impression that a human being stands behind the words

o Make the managers understand that they themselves are fostering cynicism,
  derision, and contempt in the rest of us because they're so poor at explaining
  what's going on

Vicki Meagher
2275.11Give me a memo, ANY memo...MR4DEC::FBUTLERThu Dec 17 1992 09:409
    re: -.1
    
    
    From where I sit, I think it would be great if we could just get mgmt
    to write memos... period!  
    
    And who knows?  There might actually be some information in them...
    
    
2275.12I triedWRKSYS::QUEBECThu Dec 17 1992 09:593
    I made an appointment....10:00 today. It go cancelled.
    
    go figure
2275.13ECADSR::SHERMANSteve ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 MLO5-2/26aThu Dec 17 1992 12:1510
    re: .11
    
    >From where I sit, I think it would be great if we could just get mgmt
    >to write memos... period!  
    
    WELL!  That we can handle!  Do:
    
    $ VTX MM
    
    Steve ;)
2275.14VTX MM is obsoleteSCAACT::RESENDEY R U U?Thu Dec 17 1992 13:151
    VTX MM has not been updated since August.  That's a lifetime.
2275.15Dept. of Redundancy Dept.MR4DEC::FBUTLERThu Dec 17 1992 13:448
    re: -.1
    
    
    My point exactly...Thanks.   As has been said many times (like most
    other things...) it's not that we have poor communication within the
    company, it's that we have NO communication.  I don't know when I'll
    stop being amazed at what I see around me...
    
2275.16ECADSR::SHERMANSteve ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 MLO5-2/26aThu Dec 17 1992 17:265
    re: .14-.15
    
    Hey, didn't you notice the winking smiley?
    
    Steve
2275.17Suicide hurts EveryoneJULIET::MORALES_NARevenating GenerueSat Dec 19 1992 22:1119
    .1
    
    I have had two men very close to me commit suicide.  Both men told me
    they were going to in different ways.  One said he was going on trip,
    but didn't think he'd be back.  He was my best friend's husband, I was
    only 19 at the time.
    
    The second was my brother-in-law who told me how he was going to do it,
    so that my sister and the kids could collect all the insurance the
    military provided.  I was 21 at that time.
    
    Nonetheless, those suicides left me feeling guilty, helpless and
    depressed.  Your ex-wife may need some comforting and support during
    this time.  Perhaps, if your relationship permits, you could encourage
    her to talk wi someone.
    
    For me, I turned my heart towards G_d.  That's how I found solace.
    
    Nancy