Stress at Work? A best practices roadmap to value-adding solutions – by DR. Richard Earle, Medisys’ stress expert.
Today’s rapidly changing workplaces often prove to be high stress incubators. Medisys’ stress expert, Dr. Richard Earle, also the Managing Director of the Canadian Institute of Stress, believes this affects body-mind well being as well as resilience, job commitment and ultimately performance.
Here are 6 HR-led best practices to stress-proof your workforce’s productive wellbeing.
① Diagnostics
While stress is usually the most visible symptom and the most powerful driver of lose-lose problems, draining both employee wellbeing and their work performance, it is rarely the only “weed in the garden”. Proper frontend diagnostics sort out strengths from risks, and avoid the too common mistake of mislabeling stress symptoms as the problem-solving focus.
② Target a well-defined value-adding solution
To achieve specific pre & post-pilot metrics … not simply questionnaire measures of employee stress, etc. Solution indicators must be those most meaningful to staff and to team operations; for example: grievances, fatigue, turnover, average cycle time, and up-selling success by a customer contact centre’s staff.
③ Ensure the solution will be seen as corporately value-adding
Business case results are essential to credibly positioning wellbeing as supporting corporate performance. Institute results include: 19% better up-selling results by a contact centre’s staff; or saving 1.2 days/week meeting time in a refinery’s engineering staff; or a 30% reduction in training time required for an airline’s newly hired cargo agents.
④ Ensure the results are sustainable, rooted in win-win outcomes
“Productive wellbeing” programs succeed because all staff, junior to senior, see it as contributing win-win results for them and the company alike. Each win-win solution cited in ③ above came from, and was deeply appreciated as stress-reducing by the team proposing it.
⑤ Ensure the results contribute to meeting future corporate challenges
Tomorrow’s success depends on effective leadership today. However, leaders who must depend on fatigued, over-stressed, uncommitted staff simply cannot deliver the needed results. A leaders’ future success presupposes a current base of Can Do – Will Do staff.
⑥ Ensure your solution is involving top to bottom in the organization
Effective solutions are personalized, using online self-profiling to link each person to the action recommendations supporting their on-the-job satisfaction. High staff participation rates require creativity in program delivery. Today’s scheduling crunches mean that innovators rely on blended learning (classroom, e-learning, and online coaching).
[Special Audio Podcast] – Rising Corporate Healthcare Costs… How to Mitigate Your Risk
Dr. Vivien Brown, Vice-President Medical Affairs at Medisys visits BusinessCast to discuss corporate healthcare issues and strategies with Robert Gold, Managing Partner, Bennett Gold LLP and Andrew Brown, President, RightOnTheMoney.com.
Among other things, Dr. Brown discusses the cost of healthcare to Canadian corporations, the top 3 corporate health trends and strategies for companies of all sizes to create a healthier workforce.
Top 10 Tips to Launch a Successful Flu Vaccination Campaign
You have booked your flu campaign and appointments are filling up quickly. Your campaign is off to a great start! Now you just need to get the vaccinations done. Our flu campaign director would like to share some tips based on her 10 years of experience, to help you make your campaign a success. Here are her 10 last-minute tips:
Julie Boutin, Director, onsite services and external pre-employment, Medisys Corporate Health
1- Ensure that Your Vaccination Campaign is Booked for Your Required Date
It may seem like a small point, but it is essential to make sure that your vaccination campaign has indeed been booked for the date that you require. If there is any doubt, be sure to clear it up with your service provider.
2- Confirm the Final Number of Doses to Your Supplier One Week before the Start of Your Campaign
This is especially important if your final number is higher than the number expected when you signed your contract. As a general rule, your supplier will always bring 10% more doses than ordered—but it is best to order enough doses to be sure that all employees wishing to be vaccinated will be accommodated.
3- Ensure that Your Employees are Aware of the Consent Form and Other Documents Related to the Vaccination
Medisys asks its clients to ensure that employees complete the vaccination consent form beforehand. Employees should also read the information provided about the flu and possible side effects of the vaccination.
Medisys’ medical personnel is always available to answer questions. However, making employees aware ahead of time is the best way to facilitate the vaccination process on the day.
4- Forward the Link to the On-Line Booking Site
For companies that have chosen to include on-line booking, the vaccination campaign coordinator should make sure that they receive the link for the booking site at least one week before the campaign starts. The link should be forwarded to the employees as soon as possible so that they can book their preferred times.
Medisys makes an on-line booking tool available to its clients. Employees can make their own appointments over the Internet and updates are made virtually in real time. This process greatly simplifies the logistics of managing bookings!
5- Remind Employees of the Vaccination Clinic Schedule
To ensure a high participation rate, it is essential to remind employees of the dates and times of the vaccination clinic, whether by email, displaying posters, or putting the information on your intranet. The final reminder can be given the week before the campaign.
6- Review the Logistics for Day 1 of Your Campaign
The campaign coordinator must ensure that the medical personnel will have access to the following elements that are required for the vaccination clinic: vaccination room (provide screens to divide the waiting area and vaccination area if they are in the same room), enough chairs, tables and pens, a telephone in the vaccination room to call emergency services if required, and a copy of the timetable for the day.
7- Obtain the Nurse’s Confirmation
The nurse must contact the coordinator in the days before the vaccination campaign. If no contact is made, get in touch with your supplier to make sure that a nurse will be present for your campaign.
8- Greet the Medical Personnel on Vaccination Day
Day one of your campaign, it is recommended to greet the medical personnel at least 30 minutes before the start of vaccination sessions to give them time to familiarize themselves with the facilities.
9- Be Available During the Vaccination Campaign
Throughout the vaccination clinic, the coordinator is the point of contact for the medical personnel. It must be possible to reach the coordinator at any time, whether by cell phone or in person.
10- Keep in Touch with Your Supplier
If anything unexpected comes up during your vaccination campaign, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your supplier, who can help to identify solutions.
Medisys regards the campaign coordinator as working hand-in-hand with our medical and administrative staff.
After your campaign, the campaign coordinator may receive a satisfaction survey. For Medisys, the objective of the survey is of course to improve the performance of the tools offered to our clients. In particular, we developed a guide for campaign coordinators as a result of comments received in our last survey.
To all our Medisys Blog members, we wish you a successful vaccination campaign. And don’t forget the importance of being vaccinated every year.
Find out more about Medisys’ flu vaccination campaigns.
Medisys Health Seminar on Genetic Testing
Medisys is pleased to announce our third health seminar of 2011 for executive and human resources professionals on the topic of genetic testing.
In events held earlier this year, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about mental health issues facing Canadian employers, as well as women’s cancers.
In October, Dr. Clarissa Desjardins, CEO of the Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine, will introduce Personalized Medicine, a rapidly evolving branch of medicine and present the benefits and implications of genetic testing. She will also explain how your genetic profile can help to identify health conditions that you may be at a higher risk of developing, predict how you will respond to certain medications and determine your likelihood of passing along genetic markers to your children.
Dr. Desjardins will be sharing her insights into Personalized Medicine at seminars in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal on the following dates:
- October 24 –Calgary
- October 25 –Vancouver
- October 26 –Toronto
- October 27 –Ottawa
- October 28 –Montreal
The sessions are free of charge but by invitation only. If you haven’t received an invitation and wish to attend, please contact us at events@medisys.ca and we will be happy to add you to the attendee list if room is available.
Medisys a top fundraiser for the Ride to Conquer Cancer for the third year in a row
Congratulations to the Medisys team for their participation in the 2011 Ride to Conquer Cancer® held on July 7 and 8, and for their fundraising efforts benefiting the Segal Cancer Centre at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital.
The goals of this annual event, which involves a 290-km bike ride from Montreal to Quebec City, are to raise cancer awareness, collect funds for research and treatment, and contribute to the ultimate conquest of cancer. This year, the Medisys team joined forces with the Mansfield Club and together raised $345,016, making our team the second highest fundraiser of the event for the third year in a row! Among 1,887 riders, our very own Medisys CEO, Dr. Sheldon Elman also took second place for funds raised by an individual participant. Congratulations!
In total, the Ride to Conquer Cancer raised more than $6.7 million in donations for cancer research.
To the donors who supported our team—thank you for your outstanding generosity. Together, in our support for the Ride to Conquer Cancer, we are helping to make the dream of conquering cancer a reality.
Medisys Women’s Health Seminars – June 2011
Back by popular demand to build on the successes of prior years, Medisys’ free health seminars for executives and HR professionals got underway in March in major centres across Canada. The first of the three national seminars in 2011 addressed stress and mental health issues and we were gratified by the positive comments that we received from attendees.
The second seminar is being presented in June and it forms part of the women’s health series that is intended for a female audience.
This year’s women’s health topic is cancer prevention. The speaker is Dr. Vivien Brown, Medisys’ National Director for Women’s Health. In addition to her responsibilities at Medisys, Dr. Brown is a family physician with a community-based practice in Toronto and she is also on staff at Mount Sinai Hospital, The University Health Network and North York General Hospital. She maintains her commitment to continuing education for family physicians by lecturing frequently on preventive medicine and she is in great demand as a speaker at national and international conferences.
Dr. Brown is sharing her insights into women’s cancer prevention at seminars in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver on the following dates:
- June 14 – Toronto
- June 16 – Montreal
- June 17 – Ottawa
- June 23 - Calgary
- June 24 - Vancouver
The sessions are free of charge but by invitation only. If you haven’t received an invitation and wish to attend, contact us and we’ll be happy to add you to the guest list if a place is available.
Request your spot at events@medisys.ca.
Medisys 123: New Pediatric Concierge Service in Montreal
When a child is sick, it can cause sleepless nights for the parents followed by presenteeism in the workplace. Medisys is offering a new solution in Montreal based on education and prevention.
The anxiety caused by a child’s illness affects the whole family, and indeed even the workplace, especially if the parents don’t know where to turn for information about appropriate care for their child other than to the hospital emergency room.
To meet this need for education and prevention, Medisys has launched Medisys 123, a medical concierge service in Montreal for parents who want appropriate pediatric assistance for their children. This service is also sure to interest employers who want to help employees maintain a fair balance between family life and productivity at work.
Consultations over the Phone or in the Clinic
Medisys 123 provides parents with telephone assistance until 11:00 p.m., 7 days a week, for any health-related problem that their children are experiencing.
If necessary, the multidisciplinary pediatric team can offer an appointment at the Medisys 123 clinic located in downtown Montreal, which is open 6 days a week by appointment only.
If the child’s situation requires further medical intervention or a specialist referral, the Medisys 123 medical team will coordinate the different stages from providing care to coordinating appointments and obtaining reports.
Workplace Seminars
Employers who offer Medisys 123 program to their employees can also promote children’s health by taking advantage of the on-site education service available from Medisys 123’s health professionals, who go to the workplace to give seminars on various topics related to children’s health.
Service Offered as a Complement to Government-funded Healthcare
The annual fee paid by parents or the employer covers services that complement government-funded healthcare. To give just a few examples:
- Telephone assistance 7 days a week, including from a pediatrician or a nurse
- Education by nurses on general children’s health issues
- Coordination of care by nurses
- Availability of a pediatrician to take calls after clinic opening hours up to 11:00 p.m. and on weekends
The annual fee does not cover government-funded services such as routine or urgent in-clinic consultations with a pediatrician. These services are performed by the Medisys 123 clinic in Montreal and billed to the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec.
The service is provided as an integrated health solution and cannot be purchased as individual services.
For more information about Medisys 123, contact Marie-France Courtemanche at 514‑499‑2777 ext. 3331.
