Author: Deborah Jeffries

Have you complained recently to someone else that you did not get a good night sleep? Do you feel yourself dragging or feeling less than your normal self? It seems to be a regular conversation regardless of where you are or who you talk to.
Most of us have heard plenty lately about self-care and with reason! So, what do you need to do to reboot yourself? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD is a physician and researcher. She wrote the book, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. While Dr. Dalton-Smith’s 7 types of rest may not appear to be earth shattering when you read the list, we believe you’ll find at least one of them will resonate with you and because it is what we ALL need. The seven types of rest are:

1. Physical Rest – there is both a passive option, such as sleeping, napping, etc., or an active option, which involves stretching or a massage. She notes that signs of a deficit of physical rest include aches, pains, swelling in legs and feet, back spasms.
2. Mental Rest – this involves calming an overwhelmed and overworked mind. The doctor points out a deficit is likely if you can’t sleep because your mind is racing at night, or you can’t remember more than a couple of things.
3. Social Rest – This is the time spent with “life-giving” people versus the people who need things from us: reports, data, a phone call, etc. Those folks, while well intentioned and doing their job, drain your energy. Then there are family members who need things from us: a meal, money, a ride, etc. While we need (and want) to engage with people who need things from us, social rest is about focusing on relationship and spending time with people who do not need anything from you but rather give to you – fill your emotional cup.
4. Spiritual Rest – Dr. Dalton-Smith is very clear this can mean different things to different people – specifically one’s own belief system. It is more about feeling a sense of belonging. She identifies a deficit when someone doesn’t feel they are doing good, or their work doesn’t have purpose. She also notes lack of an inclusive and supportive environment contributes to a spiritual deficit, i.e., a toxic work environment will rob you of spiritual rest.
5. Sensory Rest – This refers to getting a break from the ringing phones, the notifications, screen time, Zoom calls, etc. According to Statista, 22% of us spend 3-4 hours a day, while 46% spend between 5-6 hours daily on our phones. A shocking 11% spend more than 7 hours a day. Our brains need a break from our screens.
6. Emotional Rest – this is not about emptying our minds, but rather spending time with people where we can be our authentic selves. “Many of us carry quite a bit of emotional labor privately, in that we don’t share with people what we’re feeling.” This can be due to wanting to maintain privacy, not feeling comfortable, etc. Regardless of the reason, we need to have time on a daily basis where we can just be ourselves, let down our guard.
   Creative Rest – This refers to the time where we let ourselves enjoy the beauty around us (be present, be in the moment). This may involve taking a walk, watching a sunset, listening to music, dancing. Dr. Dalton-Smith points to a deficit when you struggle to brainstorm or solve problems. She further argues, many of us have a deficit because there was so much problem-solving due to COVID.

Dr. Dalton-Smith argues that people often have a hard time accepting the deficits because they have things they need around them (a job, a car, a home, etc.), but that does not mean you are not in need of rest. If you are feeling burned out, you need rest, and not just a solid 8-hours of sleep. Her recommendation is to begin where you have the biggest deficit and if you need assistance in figuring out where your biggest deficit lies – she has a quiz for that (please note, it may take up to 24 hours to receive your results). She provides a score for each area and the severity of the deficit.
There is good news. The renewal process is something you can start as soon as today! It begins with being intentional, thinking about how you spend your time, and reflecting on what brings you peace and joy. Small steps can have a big impact, not only on your personal well-being, but it will likely spread into your work life and family life. Where are your deficits?

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think” -Socrates
Do these observations or statements sound familiar?

• Managers distrust teams and often employ tactics like micromanaging employees, controlling freedom, and acting superior.
• Employees’ performance, productivity, and overall happiness seem to keep declining and harm their, sense of trust, emotional outlook, passion for work, company loyalty, and company advocacy.
• Managers don’t understand the strength and weaknesses of each individual, preferring instead to approach coaching everyone as if they were on the same level.
• Coaching sessions are uninteresting and lack engagement because coaching isn’t personalized to their needs and skills.
• Teams lack basic skills and don’t know how to apply their knowledge.

Perhaps it is time to offer training for managers. One of the focal points for employers in 2023 is Manager engagement and retention. If managers are struggling and frustrated and feel like they are not doing their job well or don’t feel like they have a handle on their staff and how to help their employees meet their performance goals, they need assistance. You or your managers might need to develop focused coaching skills to be confident and competent enough to build and lead a high-performance and autonomous team to success. Manager groups with a strong sense of belonging and which practice accountability have a higher success rate. So, efforts to go beyond training that involve giving them opportunities and places to talk will be vital. Examples might include round tables, retreats, time, and places where they can workshop through a conversation or career pathing ideas for employees while building fellowship and having fun.

Your 2023 benefits open enrollment period is approaching and new needs will pop up as we continue with our hybrid workplaces. You will have to decide whether conducting your meeting in person, virtual, or a mix is going to be best for your employees. You need to ask yourself: 

Are you able to have all-staff meetings, or do you need employees to meet in smaller groups to avoid disruptions in production or safety considerations?

Are there some employees who will be best served by meeting in-person, while others will need to go through open enrollment virtually?

Whatever option you pick, your communication planning is paramount. Your messaging is important and the medium you use (well-crafted emails, brochures, and reminders) live, in-person, or virtual meetings vs. pre-recorded can also be productive and offer the opportunity as an on-demand feature. Your considerations may be number of employees, locations, employee tenure, your benefit offerings, the changes that need communicating, etc. 

We are sharing some checklist items from Celeste DaVault from USI and Deena Harvanek from Mercer along with some of ours as the backdrop to suggestions and planning steps for your consideration:

Make a plan and develop a strategy

• Review your notes from what worked and what did not work from last year.
• Set goals and measures for outreach, use of digital resources, and enrollment.
• Conduct employee surveys or conduct employee listening sessions (when, how, who).
• Determine your media plan, develop key messages, and identify all audiences, making content personal, simple, and direct.
• Consider that most employees base their enrollment decisions on; answers to four basic questions: What is it? What’s in it for me? How does it work? How do I sign up?

 Get the word out

• Let employees know it is coming…and your deadlines.
• Think generational – what works best with each of your populations to hit your targets.
• Distribute a pre-enrollment flier (printed and online).
• Hold a virtual benefits fair

• Who will attend – all of your providers/partners? Any incentives offered? Single event or multiple sessions/days?

• Distribute an enrollment packet, again with a reminder of due dates (printed and online).

 Ready, set, go!

• Launch enrollment through a benefits portal, for a period of about three weeks.
• Take this opportunity to rethink your approach to open enrollment – create opportunities for “open door office hours” if people need to talk one-on-one.

 Measure success

• Consider your stakeholders. What is it they want and need to know?
• Developing year-round communications,
• Research and update your offerings and support services
• Track the results of your efforts. If possible, gather data related to:
• Health plan and retirement plan elections
• Increased contributions
• Video views and material downloads
• Email open rates and click throughs

An additional observation for your consideration: Often times employees do not know what they had….what was offered until they “need” it or until they leave. So, take this concept and work backwards with “how do I convey the messages I want or need the employees to hear and understand?”