Volume 7, Issue 12

Coping with Holiday Stress and Depression

For many of us, the holiday season is a time of family, laughter, and joy. However, for others the holidays bring unsolicited stress and depression as a plethora of demands and social events take over including work, holiday parties, gift exchanges, and caring for children who are on school break; just to name a few. According to the Mayo Clinic, there exist three areas that commonly trigger holiday stress and depression to include relationships, finances, and physical demands.

Tensions among relationships during the holidays are often heightened when there are a variety of needs and interests to accommodate. Additionally, family conflicts can intensify, particularly if everyone is situated together for several days. Conversely, there can exist feelings of sadness and loneliness when an individual is absent to share in the holiday season. Overspending on holiday gifts, travel and other entertainment can also cause financial stress. The effects of such overspending can be felt for months after the holiday season is over for those who made their purchases with credit cards, and are left making payments. Lastly, the physical demands of shopping, social events and parties, and preparing for holiday visitors can leave one feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, which can further bolster and perpetuate stress and depression.

Despite these common triggers, there is good news! There are helpful and preventative steps that can be taken to minimize stress and depression, and include but are not limited to:

• Acknowledge Your Feelings
• Seek Support
• Be Realistic and Stick to a Budget
• Plan Ahead
• It is Okay to Say No!
• Take a Breather and Forget About Perfection
• Do Not Hesitate to Seek Professional Help if Needed

Source: www.mayoclinic.com

Supreme Court Watch: Allowing the Introduction of "Me, Too" Evidence

During this 2007-2008 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide several cases tackling issues of employment law. On December 3, the justices heard oral arguments in what is considered to be the most important case, Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn. In Mendelsohn, the justices will decide the controversial issue of whether in an age discrimination case, trial courts must allow the introduction of "me, too" evidence, which allows the plaintiff to put on testimony of other employees in the same company who claim they also suffered discrimination, but by different supervisors than the plaintiff's.

Specifically, the plaintiff in Mendelsohn was employed with Sprint for 16 years when she was laid off as part of a reduction in force (RIF). This layoff resulted in 14,000 terminations over a period of two years. The plaintiff brought suit against Sprint under the theory of age discrimination. The trial court ruled that any evidence of other employees, who were laid off in the same RIF and claimed they were also subjected to age discrimination, was excluded from the trial if the other employees did not have the same supervisor as the plaintiff. At trial, the jury ruled in favor of Sprint. The Court of Appeals, however, reversed the trial court's ruling regarding the exclusion of the "me, too" evidence. The court reasoned that the evidence of other employees claiming age discrimination should have been allowed since they were all laid off as part of the same RIF within a year of each other, even though they each had different supervisors.

This issue of the treatment of "me, too" evidence is disputed throughout the appellate courts. With the Supreme Court, Sprint is seeking a categorical rule that such evidence is never admissible without a direct link to the plaintiff's termination. Their argument is that to allow it would require the employer in such cases to have a mini-trial to defend itself from each witness's claim. In contrast, employee advocates argue that such evidence is necessary to show a pattern of behavior in the company, especially in circumstances such as a RIF. Further, they assert that evidence of decisions by other supervisors will shed light on the culture of the employer. While the Mendelsohn case deals with the issue of age discrimination, the Supreme Court's decision on this matter may reach into other types of discrimination claims. Watch for the Court's decision in the new year.

Process Change in the Aftermath of a Crisis: A Dish Best Served Cold

A long-term employee is summarily fired for viewing pornography on a company computer. A CFO is frog-marched from an office tower for accounting violations. A substance abuse epidemic on a plant floor results in the dismissal of dozens of workers.

Crises, great and small, afflict business every day. While the worst attract headlines and TV cameras, most fade rapidly into memory after a few moments of surprise and a few days of gossip. Every crisis, however, is an opportunity for business positive change, and businesses are well-advised to make a calm and intentional effort to learn lasting lessons from each misfortune.

The immediate aftermath of a crisis is, simultaneously, the best and worst time for contemplating significant change in business process and practice. Resistance to change will be low, but, with emotions raw, the impulse to make rash and ultimately harmful decisions will be strong.

In the aftermath of a crisis, organizations will be unusually receptive to change. The strongest inhibitor to positive change in most businesses isn't resistance or ineptitude but complacency. Modifying any process or practice is genuinely difficult, involving tiring consensus-building and the rationalization of differing (and sometimes competing) interests. It's much easier, in practice, to get through the day and navigate around any obstacles or inadequacies built into a process.

When an embarrassing or painful crisis erupts, however, it understandably commands attention and has the effect of temporarily recalibrating employees' perceptions of what is important and what is trivial. Complacency and (to some extent) self-interest diminish, and the organization is unusually well-suited to considering process change in a practical, nearly clinical fashion. This moment of openness is fleeting, however, and the organization will inevitably return to well-established patterns of behavior. To effect positive change, it is important to seize this moment and act quickly.

Unfortunately, however, the post-crisis organization's welcome openness to positive change is less than discriminating. With emotions raw and the sense of embarrassment fresh, genuinely bad ideas receive equal hearings with good ones. Leaders in the organization will feel pressured to do something - almost anything - that is visible and preferably dramatic.

This impulse can result in a freefire zone of new controls and regulations, issued largely without regard to long-term effect and unintended consequence. Often, the symptom of the process failure is addressed rather than the underlying weakness within the process that led to the crises. The "wrong end" of the process is fixed.

Consider, for example, the case of a manufacturing facility that has uncovered widespread substance abuse on a night shift. After the offending employees have been terminated, management may be tempted to implement onerous and expensive security measures - sophisticated surveillance cameras, say, monitored vigilantly by newly-hired guards. In realty, a better, less expensive, and ultimately healthier approach might be to examine how such deleterious employees snuck into the company in the first place. The underlying problem may not be a lack of discipline on the plant floor but rather a lack of discipline in the company's recruiting and hiring practices.

When considering process change in the aftermath of a crisis, companies must seize the moment and take advantage of the organization's temporary openness to change. But, they would be well-advised to control emotions and resist the understandable impulse toward visible and dramatic action. A moment's pause to isolate the real cause - and, therefore, the real opportunity - will target the organization's energies more profitably and produce better results.

Crime Prevention Tips for the Holiday Season

While most of us are planning for the holiday season by baking cookies, shopping for loved ones, and making travel plans, there are many individuals who plan on making a quick buck by preying on unsuspecting people during the holiday season. Although this season should be a time to spread good cheer and relax, unfortunately we have to be cautious because of those looking to exploit this opportunity. Below are some safety tips to keep in mind for your home, work, or while holiday shopping.

• Shop with a family member or friend. If you can avoid shopping alone, do so.
• Bring as little cash as possible and plan on making purchases with a check, credit or debit card.
• Women should hold their purses close to their body and avoid leaving them dangling from a strap. If you can manage, leave your purse at home and carry a small wallet.
• Always remember to lock your vehicle and do not leave valuables in open view. Gifts should be stored in your trunk.
• Shop early to avoid darkness but if you do shop at night, park in a lighted, highly visible area.
• Stay alert and avoid distraction while walking in the parking lot. Hold off on using your cell phone until you are safely in your vehicle.
• If someone does confront you, comply with their request and when they leave, immediately write down everything you can remember and give that to the police.

• If you are away for the evening or out of town, leave some inside and outside lights on and always remember to lock all your doors and windows.
• Don't display presents beneath the Christmas tree that can be seen from the outside.
• After the holidays, don't over advertise gifts you've received. Destroy the boxes presents came in or place them in sealed non-clear bags.
• Only make online purchases from secure websites. To verify a website's security, look for "https" in the web address.

• When departing for the holidays, all office doors and building exterior doors should be closed and locked.
• If you have to unfortunately work during the holidays, let someone know where you are and when you are expected to be home.
• All valuable personal items should be taken home or securely locked away when departing for the holidays.

The Bottom Line for a Greener Workplace

Not a moment passes anymore when we are not hearing a plea strongly advising us to protect the environment. Thanks to Hollywood and the news media, instead of being asked to simply recycle and pick up litter, the zeitgeist "Going Green" has been suddenly coined with the hope that the idea will be remembered each time we get in our cars, turn on a light, or throw something away. Such a fad has expanded into homes as well as businesses with desperate attempts to help realize that our usage habits do have irreversible consequences.

The question we have to ask ourselves is if we are being green friendly. Since most of us spend the majority of our week at work, we should be mindful of steps we can take to help the planet in the process. Such things as making sure the building is up to energy efficient standards, installing automatic shut offs for lights, and setting computers to turn off after 15 minutes of idle time can all help to make a greener workplace. Employees especially can focus on using more electronic communication to save paper, recycling cans and plastics, and carpooling or using city transportation for their commute.

Surveys have suggested that more people would be willing to embrace the green concept if some financial incentive was offered. Tax breaks, for example, might be enough to convince businesses to make energy efficient changes that would usually make going green a costly project. With or without a tax break, more buildings and interior additions will continue to keep greener advances in mind.

It is safe to say that we are only seeing the beginning of this trend. For more information about bringing your environment up to green standards, the Environmental Protection Agency provides a list of simple things that can be done to make a difference. Please visit their website at www.epa.gov.