Tag: Wellbeing

Fill the Potholes

My wife and I ventured this weekend to Indianapolis to visit our daughter. If you’ve been reading my blog for any time, you know we’ve had some adventures in working at her home. It’s only 105 years old !! You honestly wouldn’t know it with all of the sweat equity we’ve put in over the past 1 1/2 years. We enjoy helping her out and it’s fun to get your hands dirty as we continue to make her home come to life.

If you’ve ever watched those HGTV shows, anyone who ever buys a house makes changes. We all have different styles. Something that appealed to the previous homeowner may not fit the current owner. Melanie had been making style changes and repairs to get things updated and put her twist on things. What’s a bit intriguing is she is the 3rd most recent owner. The couple she purchased the home from did more living in the house with very little effort to keep things nice. She has been making alterations to the gentleman who owned the home before that.

He had done a good job. We met him last year and he explained that when he purchased her home it was falling apart. So he basically “flipped” it. One choice he made was contrary to how Melanie had grown up. I love landscaping !! One of the main reasons we purchased our home in 1991 was the lawn, trees, and landscaping. My kids have been working in the yard with me since they were very young. Some of our greatest experiences were spent in the yard and the beds getting them mulched and planting endless perennials.

Melanie’s beds at her home were covered in stone. The beds were either a thick layer of pea gravel or river rock. They didn’t look bad, but it’s not what she wanted. Well, in order to get the beds to where she could add topsoil and mulch, the rocks had to be removed. That may sound easy and on the surface, you’re fooled into thinking it will take just a few hours to remove the stones and prep the beds. It isn’t easy, and it didn’t take just a “few” hours.

My wife and I came to help take on the rock removal and two of her close friends volunteered to jump in as well. Once we started putting the rocks into wheelbarrows, we needed to decide where to place the stones. Did I mention that Indy is full of potholes? Not kidding. It’s a giant problem throughout their city. The alley that runs next to Mel’s house is fraught with them. If you tried to drive down the alley you are fearful your suspension is going to fail.

We saw an opportunity staring right at us. (Please note that our daughter tried to contact the community council and they said they’d look into it. Hmmm.)

So, we filled the potholes. Load after load. We moved hundreds of pounds of stones. Her neighbors came out and thanked her for looking out for them and taking action. It was a great feeling to be in a position to help them.

We started our day hoping to finish moving the stone out of both the front and back yard. You have to have goals !! We quickly realized getting the front yard done would be enough. Six hours later we went to a local brewery to enjoy a few adult beverages and talk about our day.

Once I had a chance to relax and not focus on my aching muscles and joints, I thought that we as HR pros could fill the potholes of those we work with. I’m not suggesting we fix people. I do, however, think we can give people our attention, focus, and effort. The number one need of people at work is to be acknowledged and recognized. Doing that helps mend the potholes they are all experiencing. You see, our time is just like the stones we moved. Giving people small doses of our time intentionally can repair any divots. It helps smooth out their day so they can perform.

This week, make the move and fill your HR wheelbarrow with your time, and then head into the alley. There are potholes waiting to be filled and you are just the right person to do that !!

Fatigue

I’ve lived in the same house since 1991. It was the first house my wife and I bought on our own. Hard to believe that 31 years have passed !! One of the attractive features of where I live is that we have a half-acre lot. There are some massively mature trees scattered throughout, but the majority of the lot is the lawn.

As you know, you can’t keep up with growing grass. We live in the Midwest and we’re fortunate to have fairly consistent rain. I’m grateful for that because I love seeing a green lawn out my picture window . . . until it’s time to mow it once again. I’ve always had a push mower because I enjoy the exercise (seriously) and the time in the yard. I put some headphones on, pick a playlist from Spotify and start down the first row.

When I was younger and had just purchased the house, I could mow the entire yard in 1 1/2 hours and on one tank of gasoline. Now, I do the front yard one day and the back yard the next. I may even sneak in a break during each cut if the grass is overly long. I was 27 when we moved into our house. You can do the math . . . Time is winning as it always does.

Recently, we’ve had an abundance of rain. Inches of it !! I can usually get by with cutting the lawn once a week, but not at this time. A few weeks ago though, I didn’t have any time to cut after work. I am going into the office and am usually spent after a “normal” day. So, a full week went by and my grass must have been trying to overachieve because it was well over six inches when I finally was able to attack it.

This go-around was draining at a level I hadn’t experienced. I ended up splitting the days for the front and back lawn but needed to cut each one twice just to get it back to a manageable height. The usual one and half hour cut turned into five hours !! I was completely spent after both days. When I get finished with a cut, I fall into a chair on my front porch to rehydrate and catch my breath. After tackling the entire lawn for over two days, I could barely move.

As I was trying to regenerate on the front porch, I understood complete fatigue. There was nothing I could do to recover. It was concerning. I took some deep breaths and calmed myself down. I chose to sit and relax for as long as I needed. My wife brought me a giant cup of ice water and some small snacks. It gave me some time to think.

I feel people at work are experiencing this same level of fatigue more often than not. Still, they go to their jobs dutifully as they struggle. They make it through days barely, but they make it. I’ve seen it trickle down to interactions between people throughout their days as well. They can’t escape it.

If you try to capture the cause(s) of the fatigue people are experiencing, you fall short. There is no one circumstance that is consistently facing every person. Everyone is looking at the landscape of ever-increasing costs for day-to-day items such as food and gasoline, the global turmoil happening on various stages, the endless ripping and tearing of political diatribes from all angles, and that doesn’t include the situations in each person’s home/family structure. Throw on top of this the often unclear expectations and communication pressing people in the workplace. It’s overwhelming to determine all that could possibly be overwhelming those we work with.

Is there anything we can do? Do we just succumb to the crushing weariness and shuffle our feet while mumbling complaint after complaint? I don’t think so. There are ways to assess where we are and how we can move forward in a healthy manner.

First of all, we need to acknowledge it’s all around us and affecting people at all levels of an organization. We need to affirm what people tell us and not dismiss it as someone slacking off. The next step is to assess each person’s situation for what it entails. No broad stroke movements. No overarching declarations. Possibly no easy solutions. Just listen and assess.

The next step is critical and runs contrary to all we do in companies. Allow people to have a personalized path to fight their fatigue. One by one. You need to stick to this individualized approach because no one is experiencing fatigue in the same manner or for the same reasons.

Finally, be patient, empathetic and genuine. This sounds simple, and it can be if we allow HR and employees to work their way through their own path for their personal wellbeing. Step into this my friends. You can be there for each other.