Energy Safety Canada brought in Paul Krismer on Sept. 11 for a session on positive thinking in the workplace, held at 小蓝视频east College in Weyburn.
Krismer used to work with Worksafe B.C., where, he noted, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a really poor performer, we should put you out of business.鈥
鈥淚f it鈥檚 not in people鈥檚 hearts, you don鈥檛 have a great energy program,鈥 he said, noting people who gripe are the most likely to get hurt, and the most likely to stay the longest on a claim.
To that end, Krismer said you should isolate 鈥渘egative energy leaders,鈥 and 鈥渆ncourage positive energy leaders.鈥
Weyburn Mayor Marcel Roy, a retired police officer and someone who runs a safety business, asked if post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more prevalent among millennials.
Krismer replied that it exists in 10, 20, 100 times more volume than it did 40 years ago, not to say that it didn鈥檛 happen 40 years ago.
He likened it to attention deficit hyperactive disorder, which when the diagnosis was first crafted, was thought to affect only 15,000 kids in America. Instead, millions of children have been diagnosed.
Regarding millennials, he said, 鈥淭hey bring a lot of good qualities, but they鈥檙e much more fragile.鈥 He attributed the phenomena of 鈥渉elicopter parenting鈥 and 鈥渃areful management of their egos鈥 as part of the issue.
鈥淓very generation prior to the millennials thought their standard of living would be better than their parents,鈥 Krismer said. But since 1976, real wages have been stagnant. In Vancouver, they will likely never own a house. 鈥淢y generation 鈥 you give me money, I鈥檒l do the work. Millennials don鈥檛 believe that.鈥
He said they are looking for meaningfulness at work, and that something is fundamentally shifting. More and more older workers are insisting on meaningfulness, too.
On the topic of positivity, Krismer said a big predictor of staff retention is if an employee has a close friend within the organization. 鈥淲atercooler talk is hugely important,鈥 he said, noting it creates psychological capital.
To this end, he referred to the escalating hierarchy of needs. First there are basic needs, like pay and employment. Then there鈥檚 safety. The third level is belonging. He noted we are tribal animals.
The fourth level is appreciation, and the last is autonomy, 小蓝视频 able to handle one鈥檚 own problem solving.
鈥淧eople need to feel appreciated and belonging at work,鈥 he said.
鈥淲hen people feel a sense of autonomy, especially professionals and highly trained tradespeople, this is huge for them. They want to be bringing their own creative professionalism to the workplace. They want to be agents for change in their own lives.鈥
One of the issues these days is mindfulness 鈥 paying attention to the job at hand, as opposed to having one鈥檚 eyes on their cellphone. He noted that attention spans are getting shorter.
Mindfulness is something that can be taught, however. That includes meditation and something he referred to as 鈥渜ueuing.鈥
鈥淪uccess and happiness are highly correlated. If you find one, you find the other,鈥 Krismer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not success first, it鈥檚 happiness first, and success follows.
Happy people are literally smarter, he noted. They also see more, which has safety implications.
Happiness is highly predictive and causative, he noted.
鈥淧ositive emotions lead to more success in life,鈥 according to Krismer.
He said it is a learnable skill. 鈥淔irst we need to overcome the negativity bias. Things that make us feel bad, we learn hard and fast,鈥 he said. That鈥檚 a self-preservation trait.
鈥淲e have been programmed, genetically, to be running 24/7 from threats. It鈥檚 part of our genetic heritage.鈥
This can be overcome with positive offsets.
There鈥檚 some math to all this. He noted that a 3:1 positive ratio for a sales team results in better performance. The best ratio was 5.9:1.
One way to inspire positivity is simply asking the question, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going well?鈥 but he acknowledged that focusing on that can be difficult.
鈥淚t鈥檚 simply asking, 鈥榃hat are you grateful for?鈥欌
That can be one of the most powerful interventions, Krismer said.
鈥淓very day, look at your past 24 hours, and write down three things that went well. Do it at the same time every day,鈥 he said.
Doing this 鈥渁utomates鈥 happiness, training the brain to look for things that went well.
He gave an example of a British Columbia company that saw a 92 per cent reduction of unsafe behaviour within weeks, due to talking about safety. That company had previously had an atrocious safety record.
He noted CEOs of companies don鈥檛 own the culture, it鈥檚 the frontline workers that do. And front line leaders make a difference.