Workplace wellness is a big topic these days and managers are finding it a challenge to manage their own mental health and that of their employees.
One of the sectors hard hit by the pandemic is the hospitality industry and recovery has been painful and fraught with issues like staff shortages and an even more transitional culture than before. My program is tailored for managers but I wanted to customize it to address some of the issues this industry is facing.
Without making managers therapists, there are small shifts these leaders can make in the workplace to improve workplace wellness. And that’s what we came together to discuss.
These managers were all members of the Connecticut Chapter of the Club Management Association of America. The program was Emotionally Naked Workplace Wellness. (Program details at the very bottom of the page.)
The atmosphere, the food, the people! This group has style. What I love about them is how empathic they are about their employees and there was a true focus on helping support themselves and their workforce.
Represented were yacht clubs, Jewish membership clubs, golf clubs, traditional country clubs, and more. I have posted here some of the index cards, post-its from the “I struggle with…” activity.
My goal was to take a very practical approach to workplace wellness in the hospitality industry.
Here is the 1.5 Workplace Wellness Program outline (more detailed outline below)
- Anne Moss’s Story
- About Mental Health
- About Suicide
- Your Mental Health
- Employee Mental Health
- Be a Leader, not a Boss
- Resources and free downloads
“We wanted an impactful speaker who could start a solution-based conversation…and you checked all the boxes. I came into the room to get a cup of coffee, intending to return to the registration table, and was mesmerized by your opening 5 minutes and stayed for the entire hour and a half. Our members not only have tools for their workplace, but through your presentation, they have recognized situations in their personal lives that they can now positively impact.”
—Sally Becker, CCM, Managing Director, Connecticut Chapter The Club Management Association of America
I Struggle With….” Post-it Note Activity
There were lots of these and these are just examples of what some of the managers struggle with in their personal and professional lives.
Index cards of “one thing I learned….”
At the end I ask participants to list one thing they learned.
See the rest of the index cards here.
Program Details
Title: Emotionally Naked® Workplace Wellness
What can managers and leaders in the hospitality sector do to ensure that their employees are maintaining positive mental health and wellbeing?
Time: 90 minutes with a break
Description: We know emotionally healthy employees perform better, are absent less, and more likely to stay. That is why more companies are focusing on the mission, “In order to achieve, you have to put wellness first.” This upstream commitment of workplace wellness creates a prevention and retention culture that focuses on connection and belonging, building resilience, and maximizing self-care so employees have the tools and resources to manage adversity and anxiety before reaching burnout.
Attendees will learn practical and creative strategies for managing their own mental health as well as others– including how to build a wellness culture that fosters connection and retention. Managers will learn how to connect with employees, model coping skills for adversity, and how to address the challenges of an industry with a transient workforce in a demanding culture.
Takeaways:
- Coping strategies and DBT skills for managing adversity
- Small, creative, and doable strategies for big changes in workplace wellness
- How to create a culture of connection so employees don’t want to leave
- How to allow others to feel heard and therefore feel valued
- How to create more stability in a traditionally party hard work culture
- Life events that make people more vulnerable to despair
- How to be a leader, not just a boss
Download the pdf
