Category: Meditation / Mindfulness / Self-Care, Practice Management, Stress Reduction ... (show more) Category: Meditation / Mindfulness / Self-Care, Practice Management, Stress Reduction, Supervision and Management, Workplace Issues (show less) Other: Wisconsin Other: Wisconsin (show less)

Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services (WCDHHS) is a county agency that recognized that the work that all of their social workers and employees do takes a toll on them. Systems are over-whelmed, morale can be low, individuals are getting tired, and people constantly feel like they can’t do enough. The response? The Employee Resilience group, a cross-agency effort to look at the issues around chronic stress, vicarious traumatization, burnout and their impact on staff and staff retention. Self-care can be seen as an ethical obligation when the impact of a low professional quality of life trickles down to a threat to protection of clients. Considering the importance of recognizing both personal and organizational stress responses, learning specific strategies that have worked in organizations will assist both direct staff and administrators in moving the needle towards a more resilient workforce, community and society. This session will cover the actions Waukesha County has taken as well as the science behind what it takes to implement innovative resilience-building efforts on a macro level. Leave with inspiration and an action plan for implementing employee resilience building practices within your own place of work.

Objectives

1. Participants will learn specific strategies that have worked to assist both employees and administrators in moving the needle towards a more resilient workforce.
2. Participants will understand what it takes to implement innovative resilience-building efforts on a macro level. 
3. Participants will leave with inspiration and an action plan for implementing employee & staff resilience building practices within their own places of work.