Job stress getting to you? You are not alone

This column was originally published on Jeff Neal’s blog, ChiefHRO.com, and was republished here with permission from the author.

Stress is real, and it can be a killer. One study showed that 80% of workers feel stress on the job, while nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and 42% say their co-workers need such help.

Other studies show clear relationships between stress and early death. Federal workers are not immune to job-related stress, and many occupy jobs that cause high levels of stress.

The most recent issue of the Merit Systems Protection Board’s “Issues of Merit” newsletter includes an interesting article on emotional labor at work. MSPB said, “In previous editions of ‘Issues of Merit,’ MSPB discussed the prevalence of emotionally laborious work in federal jobs and how emotional fatigue can negatively affect important work outcomes, including discretionary effort, intent to quit, and job performance. Given that emotional labor is required for many federal jobs, we asked agencies about the types of emotional labor their workforce performs and the strategies they use to ensure that employees are emotionally buttressed against the stressors and strains of those emotionally challenging jobs.” They continued, “It is important to realize that many federal employees work in highly stressful environments that require them to control both their emotions and to respond appropriately to the emotions of those in various states of anxiety and distress.”

MSPB focused on stress that is inherent in some lines of work. For example, employees who work on human trafficking may encounter children who are victims of sexual and other abuse. Law enforcement officers encounter things in their work that most of us see only in highly sanitized television shows. Medical professionals deal with people who are gravely injured or who are dying from serious illnesses. Border Patrol agents work in dangerous surroundings, often alone. Most people think of the Border Patrol being at border crossings that are heavily traveled, and do not think about the agent on horseback in a remote area.

Air traffic controllers work in high stress environments where a single mistake could cost hundreds of lives. They work long hours and maintain a high level of stress throughout a shift. Defense civilians are often deployed to hazardous duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas where the military is engaged in dangerous operations. Even jobs that might seem relatively easy, such as census enumerators, can have high stress from biting dogs or people who do not want anyone from the government around them.

MSPB found several agencies are taking deliberate steps to help workers cope with the stress they experience in their work. MSPB said, “In terms of what agencies are doing to relieve emotional fatigue, most agencies reported having employee assistance programs to help employees deal with the stress of their jobs. Many also reported having other health and wellness programs, flexible work-life balance options, unscheduled leave, and distressed employee hotlines. Some agencies indicated they have stress management courses, peer support, and chaplaincy programs. In addition, some agency representatives reported that, to the extent possible, they adjust workloads to decrease emotional fatigue, provide flexibility whenever possible in work assignments, and respond to requests for a change in population or service provided.”

MSPB highlighted four programs as “leading-edge programs to help manage emotional labor and stress.”

1. The State Department High Stress Outbrief Program helps foreign service officers and specialist employees returning from service at high-threat, high-risk posts to reintegrate with family, friends, and everyday life and introduce resources available to assist with the process.
2. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations arm recently implemented Awareness and Resilience Mentoring for Operational Readiness: a Safeguard Program for Child Exploitation Investigations, that includes orientation and pre-exposure training for employees who will be exposed to potentially traumatic events and images.
3. The FBI offers a number of wellness programs including the Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) and Post Critical Incident Seminar (PCIS) to heighten the awareness of employees regarding common stressors related to their job, possible reactions they may experience, and available resources to assist. The CIP teams deploy to provide services like psychological first aid, debriefing, and counseling through licensed mental health professionals and chaplains. The PCIS program provides follow-up for those in the identified “highly impacted groups” and provides three days of instructional and experiential learning which offer coping skills to mitigate or effectively deal with the potential for emotional labor.
4. The U.S. Marshals Service uses its Employee Resiliency Program (ERP) to deliver training, education, and preventative services that are designed to foster resilience within the USMS workforce. The goal is to build resilience within USMS personnel to proactively manage stress in response to traumatic situations. The ERP offers preemptive educational tools to employees and family members to alleviate stressful situations, decrease stress and reduce anxiety.

Customs and Border Protection is a good example of an agency that is attempting to supplement its EAP program to address emerging needs. Earlier this year, CBP asked to increase its EAP funding, saying, “The required increase to the [indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity] ceiling is due to a number of unanticipated events to which CBP was required to respond to for the health and safety of its workforce. CBP employee use of the Employee Assistance Program has increased in response to multiple, devastating hurricanes and other natural disasters, which were not foreseeable at time of contract award. Work Life services, including a Suicide Prevention Tool, increased the need for support during and after the 2018-2019 partial federal government shutdown and training sessions were required for management to assist employees with these situations.

“EAP use also increased in response to unanticipated critical incidents and other emerging crises, such as the unexpected response required for migrant caravans, employee suicides, and the need for a financial wellness program after the extended partial federal government shutdown. The unanticipated and unprecedented situation at the southern border over the past 12 months resulted in a significant increase in EAP activity and it is expected to continue while the migrant crisis is ongoing. The evolving needs of CBP’s growing workforce requires an increase in employee support and services that are offered through the EAP.”

One of the key points in that request was employee suicides. CBP is not the only agency that has experienced employee suicide — civilian agencies and the military experience such tragedies far too often. Law enforcement officers have a high suicide rate, with more officers dying by suicide than all combined line-of-duty deaths. That tragic statistic has been true in each of the past three years. Nationwide, the police officer advocacy group BlueHELP reports that 167 police officers at all levels of government died by suicide in 2018 alone. When I was DHS chief human capital officer, the issue of employee suicide was significant.

Every agency should ensure they do more than the bare minimum to offer their employees support for work-related stress. That stress includes more than just those high visibility occupations. I have heard from workers who believe their agency missions are being undermined and they are unsure of how to cope. Do they leave and feel they have abandoned a vital mission and their co-workers? Do they stick it out and get labeled as troublemakers? Do they just keep their heads down? And what happens to employees whose organizations are not filling jobs because the bosses want to reduce the workforce, even when the workload is not shrinking? What happens to employees who are still digging out of the financial hole they found themselves in after the partial shutdown, and what happens if we have another shutdown in fiscal 2020?

Employee assistance programs can help. Some agencies have more robust programs, or programs specifically targeted to critical occupations in their agencies like those MSPB highlighted. Other agencies meet the minimum requirements and declare victory.

I encourage anyone who is feeling significant stress at work to talk with your agency employee assistance counselors. If you do not find help there, try your friends, churches, and other sources of help that are intended to be accessible by everyone. Here are two:

1. Crisis Text Line (Text 741741 for help): The Crisis Text Line is free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. Text 741741 from anywhere in the U.S. to chat with a trained Crisis Counselor. Crisis Text Line trains volunteers to support people in crisis, and they have processed over 100 million messages. They offer support for emotional abuse, bullying, depression, suicide prevention, and more.
2. The Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255): The service “provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States. The Lifeline is comprised of a national network of over 150 local crisis centers, combining custom local care and resources with national standards and best practices.”

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