E-Steemed Up!

Volume 1  

“We regard self-esteem as the single most powerful force in our existence...the way we feel about ourselves affects virtually every aspect of our existence...work, love, sex, interpersonal relationships of every kind.”
Spencer Johnson, M.D. & Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D., The One Minute Manager

Greetings from Betsy!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of E-Steemed Up!, a quarterly newsletter for people in the human and child development professions. We know healthy self-esteem creates a better working environment, resulting in lower staff turn over, higher productivity, and healthy interpersonal relationships. When teachers and parents model healthy self-esteem, children naturally adopt healthy self-esteem.

My goal is to make THE difference in the life of every person I touch, empowering them to be their highest self, creating a world where we all live with dignity, respect and acceptance - a world where we embrace who we are and who we can become.

E-Steemed Up! is a place to share your thoughts and experiences concerning this important area of human and child development. I welcome your letters and articles. Together, we make THE difference!

Time Management and Self-Esteem

Does self-esteem affect the way you manage your time or does the way you manage your time affect your self esteem? No matter how you slice it, there are 1,440 minutes in a day, 168 hours in a week.

Good time management is more than being well organized.  It’s about self-management.  Steven Covey says we need a set of principles - a mission statement. We must begin with the “end” (mission) in mind and center our lives on “principles” (values).

A key component of self management is goal-setting. Goals and objectives come from our principles and mission in life.

A distinct ingredient of time management is planning. Having a plan of action with specific “to do” items assists us in taking steps toward our goals.

Prioritizing is recognizing that life is about compromise. Look at your “to do” list and decide what needs to be done and when.

For more time management information, watch for our next issue.

Low Self-Esteem Contributes to Declining Employee Commitment

California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal & Social Responsibility

Team Building

Low Self - Esteem Contributes to Declining Employee Commitment

According to a study released June 15, 1998 by AON Consulting entitled “America @ Work,” American workers are less committed to their employers in 1998. They also face more stress on the job, want more time for their personal lives, and will switch jobs for relatively small increases in pay.

Today’s workers are more educated, more entrepreneurial, and independent than ever, and are more discerning in choosing where to work. Particularly in this tight labor market, it is much tougher to retain the best and brightest employees.

With the rapid expansion of child development programs and services, employee turnover is at an all time high. Never before have employment opportunities been so abundant.

According to “America @ Work,” job related stress is on the rise. Job related burnout grew from 39% to 53% over a three year period. Days lost due to stress increased 36%.

How does this apply to you? More than one fourth of your employees will leave for a pay raise of 10% or less. According to Dr. David Stum, the cost of finding, hiring and training a new employee is roughly equal to six months’ salary.

According to “America @ Work,” here are the top five requests from employees to create workforce commitment:

Key Findings and Recommendations of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility (California Dept. of Education. Toward a State of Self Esteem, 1990).

Education and Academic Failure. If the family is first in importance in nurturing self-esteem, the schools are second. More than in any other single area of our study, schools have demonstrated the centrality of self-esteem. Schools that deliberately nurture self-esteem have recorded impressive results in academics as well as in social and personal responsibility.

The Task Force is recommending that every school district make a conscious effort to promote self-esteem and personal and social responsibility. Because good education requires good self-esteem, the Task Force recommends training in this area be a part of the teacher credentialing process and a part of all in-service training.

Poverty and Chronic Welfare Dependency. The Task Force found that being a welfare recipient can be destructive to self-esteem, encourages a “learned helplessness,” and undermines one’s efforts to be personally and socially responsible. Assistance programs, therefore, must be sensitive to every person’s need for dignity and respect. This emphasis needs to include both recipients and the staff who work with them. All aid programs need to help people move toward high self-esteem and financial self-sufficiency.

Welfare recipients often need training in vocational and educational opportunities, independent living skills, and interpersonal communications.

The Workplace. Although the workplace was not an area assigned in the enabling legislation, through public hearings it became evident to the Task Force that it had to take note of the critical influence of the workplace on self-esteem and responsible living. Corporate policies and procedures have a crucial impact on the sense of dignity, worth, and responsibility felt by employees. Employers must, therefore, be sensitive to these areas of concern and be willing to recognize the special needs of their employees as human beings, family members, and parents. Businesses also have responsibilities to the community and can assist in resolving social concerns. This can happen only in an environment of mutual esteem.

“Team Building Creates Results!”

The following results were reported by Ellen Horwitz of Pomona Unified School District

Through the management training that you did with us, we were able to discuss staff communication styles and how to better respond to each other. As we determined our own management style, we were able to constructively create an atmosphere to work with others on our team.

I now see the benefits of having a balanced team. We are creating group stability, group health and group effectiveness. Our work on handling the many challenges that face our program due to extended growth is in motion.

Our staff is now working towards establishing goals that benefit children, families, centers and providers. Our expanded capabilities have created much energy and enthusiasm to replace stress and burn-out.

Thanks for the lift so that we can be better equipped to make critical decisions that focus on current situations, as well as the future.

E-Steemed Up! is published quarterly by BH & Associates. Contributing Writers/Editors: Dennis I. VanderWerff, Ph.D. and Barbara Murray.

©Copyright 1998, BH & Associates