Leveling Up Wellness, Part 5: Removing Stress and Anxiety by Writing the Unwritten Rules

Business leaders, take a few minutes to reminisce about your first week at your current or last job. Ask yourself: What could have been communicated to me during my first week to reduce my stress and anxiety during my job?

Now, step into the shoes of those external or internal candidates you want to bring to your team.

Ask yourself: What can I communicate to them now to help reduce their stress and anxiety?

One way to do so is to develop a workplace wellness charter.

Whether you’re working with a team of two or a department of hundreds, a set of norms helps create boundaries around work expectations. Such a charter is a short document and should be no more than one page.

Some of you might be thinking, “Mark, you’re crazy. There’s no way I can set guardrails around my work. I’m needed 24/7!”

I disagree. I’m challenging you to establish agreed-upon expectations with your team. Getting buy-in from your team will show leadership, demonstrate you care about their well-being, and ultimately could see a reduction in employee turnover, which will positively impact your company.

Topics to address in a charter include:

Creating a clear definition of “work hours.”