Stress Management

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Support your team when it matters most

During a public health crisis, your employees face greater stress and anxiety on a daily basis. That puts them at higher risk for stress-related physical and mental health problems — and raises the potential for burnout at work. You can help them better manage their stress by putting the right tools at their fingertips. We can help.

Learn more about mental health and addiction medicine at Kaiser Permanente >

DID YOU KNOW

7 in 10 employees say
COVID-19 has made this the most stressful time of their career.

— Headspace Care, 2020*

Help your employees discover healthy ways to manage stress

With the Finding Balance Stress Management Toolkit, you get resources to help you assess your organization’s needs, plan a strategy, engage your employees, and measure your program’s success. The full interactive toolkit is available for download below.

Due to the pandemic, some of the tips and tools provided in this kit may not align with CDC-recommended safety guidelines for COVID-19 prevention. For additional information, please visit cdc.gov.

Identify opportunities for healthy changes

What to do

Get leadership endorsement.
- Present a business case to your leadership team on the benefits of healthy activities.
- Have your CEO or other leaders demonstrate their commitment to workforce health.
Gather baseline organizational data.
- Survey your employees on their interest in healthy lifestyle activities.
- Assess your work environment to see what you’re already doing to support healthy behaviors. Look at:
  - food in vending machines
  - how walkable your workspace is
  - whether you’re hosting healthy meetings

Tips

Host a workforce health kickoff event and invite one of your top leaders to speak.
Working with an Employee Assistance Program vendor? Loop them in now while you’re gathering information so they can help make your workforce health program a success.

Tools and resources

Build a case for workforce health shows how to engage leadership with facts and figures.
Create your own free surveys with SurveyMonkey external link or Google external link.
For more ideas, see our employee health interest survey.
Worksite walkability audit tool external link helps you assess walkability at your workplace.
Healthy Meetings Guide

Introduce the program to your employees

What to do

Form a wellness committee to manage your program.
Promote your program.
- Have a leader or your wellness coordinator send out the promotional email introducing the Finding Balance program. Include:
  - program start date
  - details on the kickoff if you’re having one
- Print and post promotional materials in kitchen and break rooms.

Tools and resources

Wellness Committee Toolkit
Finding Balance promotional materials in English:
- Email
- Poster
- Flyer
Finding Balance promotional materials in Spanish:
- Email
- Poster
- Flyer
Employee guide
- English
- Spanish
Additional engagement: Fight stress with healthy habits external link

Roll out the Finding Balance program

What to do

Week 1: Send “Getting started” email.
Help employees rate their overall stress level and identify sources of stress.
Week 2: Send “Your stress journal” email.
Help employees spot patterns and identify stress-related behaviors they want to change.
Week 3: Send “Making an action plan” email.
Have employees set a stress management goal.
Week 4: Send “Relaxation and stress” email.
Introduce employees to relaxation techniques that can help them manage stress.
Week 5: Send “Money and stress” email.
Help employees see where they can spend less and save more to reduce financial stress.
Week 6: Send “Nutrition and stress” email.
Help inspire employees to discover the connection between what they eat and how they feel.
Week 7: Send “Exercise and stress” email.
Highlight exercise as an effective strategy for coping with stress.
Week 8: Send “Rate your progress” email.
Ask employees to evaluate their progress and look back on what they learned from the program.

Tools and resources

Weekly emails available in Spanish
Stress management workbook with surveys and quizzes, stress journal, stress action plan, and weekly activities:
- English
- Spanish
Additional engagement:

Tip

If you work with an Employee Assistance Program vendor, refer employees to them for additional support after they’ve completed the program.

Measure your program’s success

What to do

Evaluate your program.
- Survey program participants and capture results.
Plan future programs.
- Consider another program, such as a walking or sleep program, while employees are motivated.

Tools and resources

Create your own post-program surveys with SurveyMonkey external link or Google external link.
Rest and Revive Sleep Management Toolkit
Walking for Workforce Health Toolkit
Other programs

Get started with the Finding Balance Stress Management Toolkit

Download the Toolkit

*“New Data from Headspace Care Shows Nearly 70 Percent of Workers Feel More Stressed During COVID-19 Than at Any Other Point in Their Entire Professional Career,” Headspace Care press release, April 9, 2020.

Stress Management

Support your team when it matters most

DID YOU KNOW

Help your employees discover healthy ways to manage stress

Identify opportunities for healthy changes

Introduce the program to your employees

Roll out the Finding Balance program

Measure your program’s success

Get started with the Finding Balance Stress Management Toolkit

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