Corporate Stress ManagementLegislation about organisational responsibility for people’s wellbeing and social trends have placed wellbeing firmly as a priority issue for a wide range of organisations.
Seldom can we take the stress away, but we can help people to manage it.
The Laugther Solution can be a powerful tool in keeping your people well.
It has many health benefits and many business benefits.
For further details and information about tailored stress management programmes for the workplace or information about Laughter Yoga and laughter training please contact us.
Less absenteeismAn epidemic of workplace stress has been blamed for a near doubling of days taken off sick by employees. The Health and Safety Commission reports that 33 million days were lost in the past year due to ill health, compared to 18 million in surveys from 1995 and the number is even higher, 64 million days per year in some of the latest surveys. The biggest myth about laughter is that we laugh when we’re happy.
In fact, it’s the other way around – laughing makes us happier. This is for several reasons: the release of chemicals in the body that creates a ‘feel good factor’; the deep breathing and also because laughter is a coping mechanism for a variety of types of stress. Through laughter we clear enough emotional space to either handle whatever needs handling, or move on from the situation.
Dr Lee Berk has conducted extensive scientific research on laughter and has shown it to attenuate stress-related hormones – that it stops them from getting too high.
Studies have also shown that laughter helps protects us from colds and viruses because it increases the levels of antibodies (Immunogloblin A) in the nose and respiratory passages.
Laughter also increases levels of Natural Killer (NK) cells and antibodies to boost the immune system (stimulates production of lymphocytes containing T-cells which deal with cancer cells).
So lots of laughter each day keeps the doctor away.
Staff retentionThe number one premise of business is that it need not be boring or dull. It ought to be fun. An increasing proportion of employees don’t tend to think in terms of a life-long job or career. More money and promotions simply are not the key motivation. Commonly, people leave a job because they are not happy. Maybe they believe, like Tom Peters, that work is meant to be fun….or at least that life is meant to be enjoyed. Laughter can help make any task more fun. Research shows that the majority of our happiness (70%) depends on the quality of our relationships, both personal and work-related. Laughter is very powerful in teambuilding. Client relationship buildingIncreasing service standards mean polite service is not longer satisfactory to customers; modern service comes with a genuine smile. It’s much easier to work with happy people, and a sense of humour helps any kind of work go better. Building a positive brand feelNowadays organisational culture and external branding are intrinsically linked by an increasingly cynical public. Ask anyone about the people they like doing business with, and words like ‘we can have a laugh together’ are often used. Laughter breaks down barriers and builds trust. I believe that talk of building ‘happy staff brands’ is no fad – it’s just bringing back to the foreground what it is to be human and doing business with other humans. People tend to prefer to deal with happy people. Increases efficiencyLaughter creates a better mood by releasing tension, anger, frustration, fear or anxiety – it’s a powerful form of catharsis or ‘letting go’. I think they’re called e-“motion”s because they indicate a need for movement and release. Then we can get on with the task! Time scarcity is a top issue – we feel we don’t have enough time in our day. But the fact is, we have exactly the same amount of time in each day as Einstein, Mozart and Gandhi. And the answer is in not how to manage our time so much as in how to manage ourselves better. We can let our tasks weigh us down, but as Monty Python said ‘levity is the opposite to gravity’. Have you noticed how many of those who have achieved great things and live with a lot of stress are great laughers?
|