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wbjournal.com | March 5, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 23 W e live in stressful times, in all areas of life. It's unavoidable, yet much of it is manageable when we decide to take action and begin to control what is controllable. Stress is a normal human response, designed to protect us. In the workplace, it can even be beneficial in small doses by helping to stay focused and alert. Prolonged or undo stress, which varies by profession, if left unaddressed can have a debilitating effect on health, morale and business itself. Workplace stress, specifically, is a prime risk factor for anxiety and depression issues. Persistent or excessive stress can lead to irrational anxiety interfering with normal living and negatively impacting job performance. You cannot have loyal customers until you first have happy, loyal employ- ees. This implies a necessary focus on employee well-being, especially stress. Stressful situations can negatively impact relationships at work or in life and is often a contributing factor to risks of injury, job burnout, team tur- moil, chronic pain, health insurance costs and lost productivity. It impacts every employee as well as the bottom line. Employers must take a greater role in understanding and reducing job stressors wherever possible. Every employee and leader can apply a few, easy-to-follow strategies to help 10 T H I NG S I know about . . . … U s i n g t e c h t o a d v a n c e y o u r b u s i n e s s By Michael Kierman Michael Kierman is the marketing and sales coordinator for Worcester IT firm Avatar Computing. Reach him at mkierman@ avatar-computing.com. K N O W H O W Take control of workplace stress W elcoming business consul- tants can bring lots of posi- tives to save companies time and money. Communication about a consultant's role is key: Without enough transparency, employees may wonder about their own positions and security within the company. And sharing what might otherwise be sensitive corporate information may seem counterintuitive. But in reality, consultants need all the details in order to help your firm. Their term and focus are up to you. A consultant can be brought in to tack- le an especially complex issue, or serve as an extra set of eyes to be sure certain problems get proper attention, accord- ing to staffing agency website RobertHalf.com. A consultant's pur- pose is wherever you think they'll do the most good. "You can also look to a … consultant for help assessing and evaluating your business strategy, pro- cesses, operations management, supply- chain logistics, exposure to risk and more," the article states. Choose wisely. Price isn't everything, but a consultant's rate has to make sense for your business at its particular stage, writes Brad Mroz at Entrepreneur.com. "An inexperienced consultant who is cheaper but takes a longer time to reach your goal may be more costly than an experienced con- sultant who reaches your goal more quickly but with higher bill rates," he says. Contract length is another thing to watch; a good consulting firm will propose an end date to resolve issues, not drag you along as a client for longer than necessary. HR consulting. For employee-rela- tions complaints, a human-resources consultant can preserve the integrity of workplace investigations, says Ruth Mayhew at SmallBusiness.Chron.com. "An HR consultant who is specially trained to mediate workplace disputes can save exorbitant costs to litigate employment cases. HR consultants may also advise you on proactive mea- sures to ensure employee satisfaction so that you mitigate future risks," she writes. BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal 10 1: H i r i n g c o n s u l t a n t s 10) Wearables. The benefits of being hands-free can be industry specific – but voice control is the key. Especially in positions that require you to be hands-on, while relaying information on the fly. 9) Time-tracking software. Create accountability with your staff. But the limitations don't stop at time tracking – they offer quoting, estimating and billing tools allowing you to charge for exactly what work has been done. 8) Remote monitoring. Investing in remote monitoring can be intimidating, but that's just it – it's an investment. The ability to limit downtime, enhance security and improve productivity is well worth it. 7) Virtual & augmented reality. VR and AR is definitely cutting edge technology. Marketing, prototyping and design are the most popular business applications, but it is transitioning into sales and finance. 6) Advanced analytics. Most companies track who is visiting their website. Now, more critical information is captured – campaign ROI, relevant products and user experience. 5) E-mail management. For those of you receiving tons of e-mails and in-bound leads daily. Parse content, work with third-party software, and automate reminders. 4) Invoicing & budgeting. Saving time is just the beginning – they eliminate paperwork while offering strong branding opportunities. 3) Password management apps. The key here is to create a master password, so accessing your accounts will be just as easy – just safer. 2) Collaboration tools. This allows the ability to access information, whether it be allowing employees to work from home or training staff out of state. 1) Marketing. Software helps to create marketing plans, apps manage all of your social accounts, and e-mail marketing/ blog companies bring all of that content together. BY BOB MARTEL Special to the Worcester Business Journal W W manage and reduce their own stress. Beyond an individual choosing to take back control emotionally, the ability to have some control over one's own work- load contributes to the impact work has on life as a whole. The goal is to learn to train the mind to remain calm, relaxed and in control, and to be as cool as a cucumber on command, using an anchor to switch your emotional state. While keen employers are adopting stress management in their company's well-being programs, employees con- cerned about their stress must adopt a holistic self-care approach to lowering their stress. I advise people at corporate seminars to beware of early warning signs, which can be physical, emotional and behavioral. These signs include avoiding social situations or people, excessive drinking, feeling tired and fatigued, easily angered, unusually emo- tional, or difficulty with concentration on job tasks. High-blood pressure, heart dis- ease, and migraine headaches are symp- tomatic of stress-related issues. Presenteeism, or absence on the job, is yet another sign. Learn to breathe deeply with a nice diaphragmatic breath. Learn how to use self-hypnosis to feed your mind positive suggestions daily and to understand your specific stressors. Take charge of your thoughts: when you change the mind, you change the brain (literally), and you change behavior. Be certain to use posi- tive self-talk. Sit with yourself, with the intention of being able to more clearly see what is stressing you and what you can, indeed, control with better thinking. W Bob Martel is a board-certified hypnotist and stress management consultant at Positive Results Hypnosis in Holden. You can reach him via email at bob@bobmartel.com. Learn to breathe deeply with a nice diaphragmatic breath. Learn how to use self- hypnosis to feed your mind positive suggestions daily and to understand your specific stressors.