Problems with the emotional health of employees is costing employers up to $500 billion per year. As a result, the global wellness market is growing nearly twice as fast as the global economy, according to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).

 For employers wondering whether their workers are stressed out and unhappy — and thus hurting the bottom line — the signs are everywhere. 

 Discontented employees are less likely to engage each other in conversation, relying instead on email. The absentee rate increases and production declines as workers call in sick more often. And, of course, eventually employees begin to search for a more emotionally stable place to work, leaving managers to constantly look for replacements.

 The employers who do not consider their employees’ emotional wellness are bound to suffer high turnover rates. Employers who are not responding to those needs will feel a significant impact.

 There are many ways to change the company structure to accommodate employees who are feeling stressed out, including the following five.

1. Review existing (or create new) core values, vision, and purpose — These items often sound like flaky ways for big corporations to show their connection to clients. The reality is, if done right, these items are the pillars of every company. 

2. Walk the Walk — Leadership’s role in corporate change begins when its leaders behave the way they expect their staff to behave. If one of your core values is “have integrity” and the leaders do not act with integrity consistently, they cannot expect it from their teams. 

3. Invest in employees — Create a “game” room for staff. Explore team activities that are pure fun and are not specifically designed to “enhance teamwork.” Treat random employees to lunch.

4. Monitor client feedback — Are your clients happy? If they are not happy, is it because your employees are not happy? When client feedback starts heading south, it might be because your employees are not “smiling on the phone” and if they are, it feels and sounds fake. Client feedback is the canary in the coal mine that your employees are not happy.

5. Don’t let employees suffer in silence — To reduce and prevent burnout, employers need to create a workplace culture that encourages employees to raise their hands and ask for help. 

The pressures of today’s society are unlike anything we have seen before. These pressures don’t go away when a person goes to work. If employers want to have happy, satisfied employees, it’s important that they offer comprehensive emotional-wellness programs.       

Alex Zlatin, author of the book Responsible Dental Ownership (www.alexzlatin.com), had more than 10 years of management experience before he accepted the position of CEO of a company that makes a dental practice management software (Maxident). His company helps struggling dental professionals take control of their practices and reach the next level of success with responsible leadership strategies. 

Sick days among workers are commonly associated with physical ailments, but mental-health issues also account for frequent absences. A report from the 2018 Mental Health in the Workplace Summit showed that more people miss work due to stress and anxiety than for physical illness or injury.

Dealing with mental health can be a delicate issue for both employers and employees. Some think it carries a stigma, thus employees may attempt to hide their problem. A survey by the American Psychological Association found that less than half of American adult workers felt their companies supported the well-being of their employees. 

Yet more companies, cognizant of productivity and cost issues associated with employee absences, are starting to implement mental-health initiatives as part of their workplace-wellness programs.

Employees try to hide what they’re going through because they fear the negative consequences of being discovered. And these fears are justified. Many otherwise capable managers become very uncomfortable when they hear one of their team members mention words like stress, anxiety, and depression.

 Forward-thinking employers are implementing initiatives that break stigma and improve access to effective care. They recognize the role of leaders at all levels in creating positive, respectful, health-promoting work environments. As has often been said, culture trumps strategy every time. An employer can have all the right policies in place, but it’s the culture that either brings these to life or makes them a joke.

Here are some tips for employers: 

• Break the stigma. Studies indicate one in five American adults experience a form of mental illness. Like most health conditions, these are most effectively treated when identified early. Stigma causes many who suffer to deny their need for care and, therefore, delay seeking it. Senior executives are in the best position to break the stigma. They can share their personal story if they live with a mental-health condition, talk about how they have supported others, and sincerely encourage their employees to get the care they deserve.

• Improve access to effective care. Hold your benefits-provider system accountable for effective care delivery. Take a searching and fearless look at how well your organization’s mental-health benefits actually serve those in need. You do that by creating an anonymous feedback mechanism for your employees and their family members. Sadly, I can almost guarantee that the results will show a need for significant improvement.

• Train leaders. Stress is the enemy of health and sustained productivity. More than any other factor, our immediate supervisor creates the culture of our workplace. When leaders at every organizational level treat those who report to them with an attitude of caring and respect, including respect for initiative, autonomy, diversity, and reasonable limits when it comes to productivity, the best organizational results will follow.

It’s in everyone’s best interest for employers to fight the stigma linked to mental-health issues, ensure medical-benefit partners are delivering on their promises, and make sure leaders of people are up to the task.            

Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio is an author, speaker, family therapist, and leadership and life skills consultant. He founded GreenGate Leadership (www.greengateleadership.com) after retiring from his role as health and wellness, at Prudential, where he was responsible for behavioral health services for the company’s 20,000 U.S. employees. 

The average American changes jobs 12 times in his or her lifetime. With each new job comes new offices, new co-workers — and possibly a decision about what to do with the 401(k) plan they started at their last job. 

 Selecting the right course of action for what becomes of that money can be crucial because the 401(k) has essentially replaced pensions as an employer-sponsored retirement-savings vehicle.

 You have to look at where you are in life. If you’re in your 40s with many working years left, it might be better to roll the 401(k) into your new company’s plan. If you’re just a few years from your planned retirement, putting the money into the new company’s plan is possibly not the best thing.

Here are five 401(k) options to consider when taking a new job:

• Direct rollover to the new company’s 401(k). A direct rollover is a transfer of assets that allows those retirement savings to grow and remain tax-deferred without interruption. It goes directly into the new employer’s retirement plan without ever passing through your hands. If you have at least another 10-12 working years left with the job change, this is often a preferred route to take. One of the advantages is a 401(k) offers lower-cost or plan-specific investment options.

• Direct rollover to a traditional IRA. People roll over a 401(k) to an IRA to have wider investment options and more control over their money. You don’t pay taxes on IRA contributions or gains until withdrawing the money, which you can do starting at age 59 ½. With a traditional IRA you contribute pre-tax dollars, and that money grows tax-deferred. This might be a better option for those closer to retirement. At that point you want lower-risk investments, and moving your money from a 401(k) to an IRA will give you a variety of fixed-income options. 

• Convert to a Roth IRA. Contributions to a Roth are taxed when they’re made. The upside is you can withdraw contributions and earnings tax-free at age 59 ½. If you have a relatively small 401(k), maybe it’s worth it to convert to a Roth and pay the taxes up front. I certainly think Roth conversions can be a great situation, but they have to be done delicately. 

• Leave it behind. Leaving your money in your former employer’s plan may make sense if you like the investment options it offers, or if you’re taking time to explore other options. The downside is you’re no longer contributing to it.

• Cash it out. This is almost never a good idea, due to the tax implications and the hit your overall retirement fund takes. People who have financial distress will take the 401(k) distribution, but if there’s any way to avoid that they should. There’s a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty if you are under age 59 ½. The exception to this rule is if you are leaving or losing a job at age 55 or later, but the distribution counts toward that year’s taxable income. 

Whatever one decides, the key considerations are continuing the tax-deferral of these retirement funds for as long as possible, and to avoid current taxes and penalties that can take big chunks out of what you’ve saved and invested.       

Christy Smith is founder and principal of Presley Wealth Management (www.thepresleygroup.net). She co-hosts a weekly radio show, “Your Money Matters,” and is author of the book, “Plan, Protect, Preserve.” 

We’ve all heard the expression in business, “Fake it until you make it.” 

Starting out in the advertising business, I was a nervous-norvus any time I had to present to an audience of more than one or two people. I remember my boss’s advice at the time. “Fake it until you make it. Just smile, act like you know your topic better than you do, deliver your pitch with confidence, and you’ll get there,” he counseled me. I got the message. And I’m still getting it. That is what it takes sometimes.

But I learned something recently by volunteering as a judge at the 2019 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) New York State Leadership Conference, which was held in our town. As I sat through and evaluated eight teams of statewide high-school students’ five-minute presentations of their public-service announcements (PSAs) on the topic of “the importance of soft skills in the workplace,” I learned a lot about soft skills, especially communication. 

More importantly, I was reminded how an audience actually judges a presentation. I learned anew that first impressions are huge. I experienced how a smile, eye contact, and pleasant greeting instantly establish likability. And I rediscovered the power of passion for one’s subject. 

Five minutes is plenty of time to sort out which students truly had bought into their pitch — versus the dude who couldn’t wait for it to just be over. The deciding factor in rating the presentations, for this judge anyway, turned out to be: who believes in what they are presenting? Who has a passion for it?

Our first-place presenters turned out to be a dynamic duo that knew their stuff, owned it, had done the research, made a strong PSA, stated their objective and made their case, choreographed a dynamic and interactive presentation, and smiled and interacted with the judges — making appropriate eye contact the whole time. They did all this in four minutes and change. These kids will go far.

Then there was Heavenlee, a name that testified to this young lady’s oratorical skills. It was just her in that room. No Powerpoint. No theatrics. Just her and the PSA she had shot, herself, using her iPhone. Heavenlee wove a story that had us judges captivated with its honesty. She didn’t check all the boxes for production or technical prowess, but she more than made up for any deficiency there with sheer believability, impeccable body language, command of words, and powerful delivery. 

Authenticity is a word that is widely bandied about but sorely lacking in this age of social media. It doesn’t get more authentic than a high-school student standing in front of two judges, telling her story, without notes, and without editing. The students that made it through to the regional, state, and national finals made their points by talking with the judges, not at them. So that, I guess, is the point I’m trying to make. Yes, in business sometimes we need to fake it until we make it. On the other hand, if we really want our audience to buy what we are selling, to practice what we are preaching, or to take the next step, we had better be authentic. We had better interact. We had better connect. And, we had better believe it before we present it.

As for the FBLA, this was my first experience with the esteemed 50-year-old institution. I wish I’d known about it when I was 16. It gave me a new appreciation for the quality, character, and drive of today’s youth. It renewed my hope that we (society) will “make it.” I would recommend volunteering to be an FBLA judge, timekeeper, or administrator. This is the organization’s creed:

I believe:

• Education is the right of every person.

• The future depends on mutual understanding and cooperation among business, industry, labor, religious, family, and educational institutions, as well as people around the world. I agree to do my utmost to bring about understanding and cooperation among all of these groups.

• Every person should prepare for a useful occupation and carry on that occupation in a manner that brings the greatest good to the greatest number.

• Every person should actively work toward improving social, political, community, and family life.

• Every person has the right to earn a living at a useful occupation.

• Every person should take responsibility for carrying out assigned tasks in a manner that brings credit to self, associates, school, and community.

•  I have the responsibility to work efficiently and to think clearly. I promise to use my abilities to make the world a better place for everyone.

For more on the FBLA, visit: fbla-pbl.org.

Steve Johnson is managing partner of Riger Marketing Communications in Binghamton. Contact him at sdjohnson@riger.com