Tom Marrs's guest appearances

Tom Marrs

Changing Higher Ed

Keith Brown

Sam Horn

Rob Hartman

Michael Horowitz

Mike Goldstein

Grant Aldrich

Martin Leifeld

Bridget Burns

Ralph Enlow

Gordon Gee

Jay Patel

Scott Roberts

Tim Hill

Mike Petrilli

Ricardo Azziz

OwlTail

The COVID psychological impact on Higher Ed institutions is the topic of this Changing Higher Ed Podcast with host, Dr. Drumm Mc Naughton and guest, Dr. Tom Marrs. Under discussion is crisis recovery for higher education institutions that will continue to remain challenging as the fallout from the pandemic, including increasing economic issues, continue to emerge. Dr. Tom Marrs, is a licensed psychologist and assistant director for client engagement at the Center for Executive Education at Texas A&amp;M University’s Mays Business School. A Rapidly Changing Stream of Challenges Higher education institutions are dealing with the psychological impact of COVID and the multiple challenges, many of which have never been faced before. During this pandemic, many faculty and employees are returning to work exhibiting signs similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Employees may have contracted the coronavirus and may be dealing with its implications; they also may have lost loved ones, friends and work colleagues. Additionally, the metaphorical higher education “ship” is trying to right itself in a world that has changed significantly. The challenge of crisis recovery for higher education institutions becomes how to adapt to this emerging new paradigm. The pandemic and the resulting economic issues are causing a pivot in many organizations’ business model. This can lead to a purgatory where organizations have to figure out how much money to invest in changing infrastructure while not knowing how much of this will be moot once “business as usual” returns (if it ever does). This situation can result in organization leaders experiencing significant stress that can make decision-making difficult. Every day, solutions emerge for some COVID-related problems while new problems emerge. For example, there is now the reality of the vaccine on the horizon, but that brings up a quandary related to the large section of the population that doesn’t want to get the vaccine because they don’t trust it. There also are issues with distributions and logistics as well as timelines to be followed in administering the vaccine. Understanding and Coping with High Stress Events Many are describing the stress-induced issues in the general population as being PTSD. While PTSD is well-known as a buzzword, most individuals do not understand what it is, especially since the term is used frequently in social media and by news agencies. In the present circumstances, individuals are facing some element of struggle to function socially, interpersonally, developmentally, educationally, occupationally and physically. Many are lumping these experiences under the term PTSD as a way to give everyone a common language about what an individual is witnessing or experiencing. Many individuals use this term because it is known and there is a set of assumptions about what it means. People want to use this term to describe how severe their symptoms feel because these symptoms are stress-related and lead to a profound reaction. However, this applies a clinical pathology to something that is non-clinical and is instead better explained as a human reaction to a very stressful situation. One needs to look at the primary populations – the military and police – as examples of populations who experience PTSD. The current reaction by faculty and staff look very similar to that at this point. However, in the military, very few soldiers get PTSD given the number who experience severe trauma. That’s because the military prepares soldiers for what battle will look like during boot camp and gives them the strategies and tools in order to deal with these stresses psychologically. We don’t have that type of training with the general population so people are not prepared for the current situation and the resulting stresses. Extended Levels of Stress The real impact on people’s mental and psychological health and mental well-being is yet to be seen because one of the key components to diagnosing someone with a stress disorder is cessation of the thing that is causing the stress. An accurate diagnosis cannot be made if the stressor is continuing. Society now has to deal with other emerging issues. While COVID may go away thanks to the vaccine, there is a new intense stressor on economic conditions. We haven’t seen all of the impact of this situation economically and the health symptoms that will emerge because of it. This means our way of life is changing profoundly, which is going to lead to more stress. The first thing that needs to happen is for the dust to settle once the immediate risk for COVID begins to subside. People will have a natural tendency to try to return to homeostasis once the stress alleviates. When this happens, most people return to normal functioning within 3-6 months, but they don’t feel that is possible when they are in the middle of severe stress events such as we’re experiencing with COVID. Many people may be suffering from an adjustment disorder, which is a very high-functioning level of PTSD that comes from being exposed to a novel situation that is highly stressful and out of the ordinary. The situation overloads individuals psychologically and they start showing signs of PTSD. This is very similar to what is being seen during the pandemic. Managing the Psychological Impact on Higher Ed Employees and Faculty Returning to Campus The question becomes how to prepare these individuals to return to some sense of normalcy when they return to campus. That happens naturally as people regain their sea legs once they determine they can do things the way they used to or they find a new normal that will eventually feel safe. Most people will eventually find a new sense of security and safety in the new normal. However, there will be a group of people who will continue to struggle because they can’t get overcome their adjustment disorder. This may emerge in older faculty and employees who are more set in their ways; for example, individuals may exhibit these symptoms because they can have difficulty pivoting to a virtual environment and to the new order of things.  An Unequal Psychological Impact – Finances The COVID psychological impact on Higher Ed employees is exacerbated by the resulting economic impacts to staff who are in lower compensation brackets and may be taking a larger financial hit. It’s important for higher education leaders to be aware of this because these impacts can cause individuals to develop a palpable fear reaction that can be seen in the workplace. This leads to behavioral issues that have to be dealt with in the workplace, especially because individuals are worried about losing their jobs in the present economic climate. Higher education leaders can make a difference through helping individuals deal with these stress and fear reactions. Higher education leaders should not pathologize behavior, especially when there already is a performance baseline. Personnel issues will continue, regardless of the pandemic. There will continue to be good and poor employees, based on the differences in performance. Leaders have a choice if issues have emerged. These issues can be treated as a sudden onset of performance issues or can be looked at as if the employee has PTSD and needs to be referred to the employee assistance program. Leaders also can consider that these behaviors may be signs of adjustment disorder or extreme stress over a long duration of time. Under these circumstances, leaders need to take a different approach that is focused on getting the best from the team. Therefore, it’s important to cut employees a little slack and talk to them about what they need.  Leaders also need to normalize the situation and become empathetic. Additionally, leaders need to be careful about the language they use in communicating to faculty and staff (even through emails). The language that is used can help employees to be okay with the situation and to feel the leader’s empathy. Leadership Self-Care The psychological impact on higher ed employees means leadership must step up their game while managing their own stress and trauma. When people are under stress, they look to people in power and who they respect for direction. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to take care of themselves—and set the example for others. Leaders also can get fixated on specific issues or topics so they are continually ruminating. Leaders need to understand that it is completely normal to have difficulty making decisions when under a lot of stress. They also need to be careful about not pathologizing the current situation for themselves through saying it is terrible and awful, or that they have PTSD because the body will respond to what the individual thinks. The human body is very adaptive based on stress levels. By shutting down, the body helps lower the stress levels. This can show up as depression, where individuals don’t want to go out and do things that previously were pleasurable, such as attending social situations. Sleeping patterns can change, which can range from getting no sleep to always sleeping, and even having nightmares. Three Recommendations for Higher Education Leaders and Boards Marrs suggested several takeaways for higher education leaders:  Leaders need to help people to not pathologize their situation through being careful about the language they use. During times of stress, change, flux and uncertainty, we should increase the flow of information instead of decreasing it. Stay in touch and keep communicating, be positive and use intentional language to help people feel okay and normal. Leaders should not make decisions based on assumptions that things will go back to normal or the world is ending. Instead, take the approach that this is a severe but temporary condition. While terrible and life-altering, this situation is temporary. Don’t overlook opportunities to temporarily increase support services for employees in order to get the most return for investment. This could be increasing funding for programs that provide financial assistance for employees, creating more sessions at employee assistance program or increasing daycare services on campus.  Bullet Points  The pandemic’s psychological impact on Higher Ed institutions has created a ripple effect of both solutions and emerging problems that have resulted in prolonged high stress levels among individuals. Some organizations are in purgatory as leaders have to figure out how much money to invest in changing infrastructure while not knowing how much of this will be moot once “business as usual” returns. This can result in organizational leaders experiencing significant stress that can make decision-making difficult. While PTSD is well-known as a buzzword, most individuals do not understand what it is. It can be triggered by sudden traumatic events such as waking up during surgery or anaphylactic shock. However, in general these events do not include a life-threatening illness or debilitating medical condition such as COVID. The real impact on people’s mental and psychological health and mental well-being will not emerge until cessation of the thing that is causing the stress, which in this case is the pandemic. Many individuals may be experiencing an adjustment disorder, which overloads individuals psychologically and leads to signs of PTSD. While most will recover from this disorder once the stress drops, many older faculty and employees may struggle with it post-COVID because they have difficulty pivoting to a new environment. The deteriorating economic conditions is emerging as a new stressor. This may have a profound and continued effect on employees. Staff who are in lower compensation brackets may be taking a larger financial hit due to the current economic situation. Higher education leaders need to be aware of these situations. Individuals may develop a palpable fear reaction that can be seen in the workplace. This leads to behavioral issues that have to be dealt with in the workplace, especially because individuals are worried about losing their jobs in the present economic climate. Higher education leaders should not pathologize behavior, especially when there already is a performance baseline related to that employee. If issues emerge, they can be treated as a sudden onset of performance issues, a case of PTSD where the employee needs to be referred to the employee assistance program, or signs of adjustment disorder or extreme stress that developed over the pandemic’s long duration of time. Leaders need to cut employees a little slack and talk to them about what they need. Leaders also need to normalize the situation and become empathetic, especially in their spoken and written communication. Leaders also need to take care of themselves, which sets the example for others. This includes understanding that it is completely normal to have difficulty making decisions when under duress and through not pathologizing the current situation because the body will respond to what the individual thinks. The human body is very adaptive based on stress levels. By shutting down, it helps lower the stress levels. This can show up as depression and changes in sleeping patterns.    Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview:  Texas A&amp;M University’s Center for Executive Development Tom Marrs, PhD  Guests Social Media Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/  The Change Leader’s Social Media Links:  Website: https://thechangeleader.com Website: https://changinghighered.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com  Keywords: #crisesrecovery #higheredemployees #university #highereducation #educatio

The COVID psychological impact on Higher Ed institutions is the topic of this Changing Higher Ed Podcast with host, Dr. Drumm Mc Naughton and guest, Dr. Tom Marrs. Under discussion is crisis recovery for higher education institutions that will continue to remain challenging as the fallout from the pandemic, including increasing economic issues, continue to emerge. Dr. Tom Marrs, is a licensed psychologist and assistant director for client engagement at the Center for Executive Education at Texas A&amp;M University’s Mays Business School. A Rapidly Changing Stream of Challenges Higher education institutions are dealing with the psychological impact of COVID and the multiple challenges, many of which have never been faced before. During this pandemic, many faculty and employees are returning to work exhibiting signs similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Employees may have contracted the coronavirus and may be dealing with its implications; they also may have lost loved ones, friends and work colleagues. Additionally, the metaphorical higher education “ship” is trying to right itself in a world that has changed significantly. The challenge of crisis recovery for higher education institutions becomes how to adapt to this emerging new paradigm. The pandemic and the resulting economic issues are causing a pivot in many organizations’ business model. This can lead to a purgatory where organizations have to figure out how much money to invest in changing infrastructure while not knowing how much of this will be moot once “business as usual” returns (if it ever does). This situation can result in organization leaders experiencing significant stress that can make decision-making difficult. Every day, solutions emerge for some COVID-related problems while new problems emerge. For example, there is now the reality of the vaccine on the horizon, but that brings up a quandary related to the large section of the population that doesn’t want to get the vaccine because they don’t trust it. There also are issues with distributions and logistics as well as timelines to be followed in administering the vaccine. Understanding and Coping with High Stress Events Many are describing the stress-induced issues in the general population as being PTSD. While PTSD is well-known as a buzzword, most individuals do not understand what it is, especially since the term is used frequently in social media and by news agencies. In the present circumstances, individuals are facing some element of struggle to function socially, interpersonally, developmentally, educationally, occupationally and physically. Many are lumping these experiences under the term PTSD as a way to give everyone a common language about what an individual is witnessing or experiencing. Many individuals use this term because it is known and there is a set of assumptions about what it means. People want to use this term to describe how severe their symptoms feel because these symptoms are stress-related and lead to a profound reaction. However, this applies a clinical pathology to something that is non-clinical and is instead better explained as a human reaction to a very stressful situation. One needs to look at the primary populations – the military and police – as examples of populations who experience PTSD. The current reaction by faculty and staff look very similar to that at this point. However, in the military, very few soldiers get PTSD given the number who experience severe trauma. That’s because the military prepares soldiers for what battle will look like during boot camp and gives them the strategies and tools in order to deal with these stresses psychologically. We don’t have that type of training with the general population so people are not prepared for the current situation and the resulting stresses. Extended Levels of Stress The real impact on people’s mental and psychological health and mental well-being is yet to be seen because one of the key components to diagnosing someone with a stress disorder is cessation of the thing that is causing the stress. An accurate diagnosis cannot be made if the stressor is continuing. Society now has to deal with other emerging issues. While COVID may go away thanks to the vaccine, there is a new intense stressor on economic conditions. We haven’t seen all of the impact of this situation economically and the health symptoms that will emerge because of it. This means our way of life is changing profoundly, which is going to lead to more stress. The first thing that needs to happen is for the dust to settle once the immediate risk for COVID begins to subside. People will have a natural tendency to try to return to homeostasis once the stress alleviates. When this happens, most people return to normal functioning within 3-6 months, but they don’t feel that is possible when they are in the middle of severe stress events such as we’re experiencing with COVID. Many people may be suffering from an adjustment disorder, which is a very high-functioning level of PTSD that comes from being exposed to a novel situation that is highly stressful and out of the ordinary. The situation overloads individuals psychologically and they start showing signs of PTSD. This is very similar to what is being seen during the pandemic. Managing the Psychological Impact on Higher Ed Employees and Faculty Returning to Campus The question becomes how to prepare these individuals to return to some sense of normalcy when they return to campus. That happens naturally as people regain their sea legs once they determine they can do things the way they used to or they find a new normal that will eventually feel safe. Most people will eventually find a new sense of security and safety in the new normal. However, there will be a group of people who will continue to struggle because they can’t get overcome their adjustment disorder. This may emerge in older faculty and employees who are more set in their ways; for example, individuals may exhibit these symptoms because they can have difficulty pivoting to a virtual environment and to the new order of things.  An Unequal Psychological Impact – Finances The COVID psychological impact on Higher Ed employees is exacerbated by the resulting economic impacts to staff who are in lower compensation brackets and may be taking a larger financial hit. It’s important for higher education leaders to be aware of this because these impacts can cause individuals to develop a palpable fear reaction that can be seen in the workplace. This leads to behavioral issues that have to be dealt with in the workplace, especially because individuals are worried about losing their jobs in the present economic climate. Higher education leaders can make a difference through helping individuals deal with these stress and fear reactions. Higher education leaders should not pathologize behavior, especially when there already is a performance baseline. Personnel issues will continue, regardless of the pandemic. There will continue to be good and poor employees, based on the differences in performance. Leaders have a choice if issues have emerged. These issues can be treated as a sudden onset of performance issues or can be looked at as if the employee has PTSD and needs to be referred to the employee assistance program. Leaders also can consider that these behaviors may be signs of adjustment disorder or extreme stress over a long duration of time. Under these circumstances, leaders need to take a different approach that is focused on getting the best from the team. Therefore, it’s important to cut employees a little slack and talk to them about what they need.  Leaders also need to normalize the situation and become empathetic. Additionally, leaders need to be careful about the language they use in communicating to faculty and staff (even through emails). The language that is used can help employees to be okay with the situation and to feel the leader’s empathy. Leadership Self-Care The psychological impact on higher ed employees means leadership must step up their game while managing their own stress and trauma. When people are under stress, they look to people in power and who they respect for direction. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to take care of themselves—and set the example for others. Leaders also can get fixated on specific issues or topics so they are continually ruminating. Leaders need to understand that it is completely normal to have difficulty making decisions when under a lot of stress. They also need to be careful about not pathologizing the current situation for themselves through saying it is terrible and awful, or that they have PTSD because the body will respond to what the individual thinks. The human body is very adaptive based on stress levels. By shutting down, the body helps lower the stress levels. This can show up as depression, where individuals don’t want to go out and do things that previously were pleasurable, such as attending social situations. Sleeping patterns can change, which can range from getting no sleep to always sleeping, and even having nightmares. Three Recommendations for Higher Education Leaders and Boards Marrs suggested several takeaways for higher education leaders: <ul> <li>Leaders need to help people to not pathologize their situation through being careful about the language they use. During times of stress, change, flux and uncertainty, we should increase the flow of information instead of decreasing it. Stay in touch and keep communicating, be positive and use intentional language to help people feel okay and normal.</li> <li>Leaders should not make decisions based on assumptions that things will go back to normal or the world is ending. Instead, take the approach that this is a severe but temporary condition. While terrible and life-altering, this situation is temporary.</li> <li>Don’t overlook opportunities to temporarily increase support services for employees in order to get the most return for investment. This could be increasing funding for programs that provide financial assistance for employees, creating more sessions at employee assistance program or increasing daycare services on campus.</li> </ul> Bullet Points <ul> <li>The pandemic’s psychological impact on Higher Ed institutions has created a ripple effect of both solutions and emerging problems that have resulted in prolonged high stress levels among individuals.</li> <li>Some organizations are in purgatory as leaders have to figure out how much money to invest in changing infrastructure while not knowing how much of this will be moot once “business as usual” returns. This can result in organizational leaders experiencing significant stress that can make decision-making difficult.</li> <li>While PTSD is well-known as a buzzword, most individuals do not understand what it is. It can be triggered by sudden traumatic events such as waking up during surgery or anaphylactic shock. However, in general these events do not include a life-threatening illness or debilitating medical condition such as COVID.</li> <li>The real impact on people’s mental and psychological health and mental well-being will not emerge until cessation of the thing that is causing the stress, which in this case is the pandemic.</li> <li>Many individuals may be experiencing an adjustment disorder, which overloads individuals psychologically and leads to signs of PTSD. While most will recover from this disorder once the stress drops, many older faculty and employees may struggle with it post-COVID because they have difficulty pivoting to a new environment.</li> <li>The deteriorating economic conditions is emerging as a new stressor. This may have a profound and continued effect on employees.</li> <li>Staff who are in lower compensation brackets may be taking a larger financial hit due to the current economic situation. Higher education leaders need to be aware of these situations.</li> <li>Individuals may develop a palpable fear reaction that can be seen in the workplace. This leads to behavioral issues that have to be dealt with in the workplace, especially because individuals are worried about losing their jobs in the present economic climate.</li> <li>Higher education leaders should not pathologize behavior, especially when there already is a performance baseline related to that employee.</li> <li>If issues emerge, they can be treated as a sudden onset of performance issues, a case of PTSD where the employee needs to be referred to the employee assistance program, or signs of adjustment disorder or extreme stress that developed over the pandemic’s long duration of time.</li> <li>Leaders need to cut employees a little slack and talk to them about what they need. Leaders also need to normalize the situation and become empathetic, especially in their spoken and written communication.</li> <li>Leaders also need to take care of themselves, which sets the example for others. This includes understanding that it is completely normal to have difficulty making decisions when under duress and through not pathologizing the current situation because the body will respond to what the individual thinks.</li> <li>The human body is very adaptive based on stress levels. By shutting down, it helps lower the stress levels. This can show up as depression and changes in sleeping patterns.</li> </ul> Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: <ul> <li><a href="https://mays.tamu.edu/center-for-executive-development/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Texas A&amp;M University’s Center for Executive Development</a></li> <li><a href="https://mays.tamu.edu/directory/tmarrs/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tom Marrs, PhD</a></li> </ul> Guests Social Media Links: <ul> <li>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/</a></li> </ul> The Change Leader’s Social Media Links: <ul> <li>Website: <a href="https://thechangeleader.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://thechangeleader.com</a></li> <li>Website: <a href="https://changinghighered.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://changinghighered.com</a></li> <li>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/</a></li> <li>Twitter: @thechangeldr</li> <li>Email: <a href="mailto:podcast@changinghighered.com">podcast@changinghighered.com</a></li> </ul> Keywords: #crisesrecovery #higheredemployees #university #highereducation #educatio

COVID Psychological Impact on Higher Ed Institutions with Tom Marrs | Changing Higher Ed 066

Stress from the pandemic as well as other major societal issues is taking its toll on higher education institutions. The effects can be seen across college and university campuses as students, staff, faculty and leaders try to deal with rapidly changing circumstances. While students have access to counseling services, many higher education employees are feeling intense stress levels – and their job performance is suffering. This podcast, which focuses on employee stress levels and what leaders can do, features Dr. Tom Marrs, a clinical psychologist and assistant director for client engagement for the Center for Executive Development at Texas A&amp;M University’s Mays Business School. A Continual Accumulation Rather than adapting to change, people are finding that their stress levels continue to get higher as the pandemic continues. They are having difficulty dealing with so many challenges at one time; these challenges include isolation and problems that come with that, fear of illness and death from the pandemic, financial stress, political unrest, social discord, the overall lack of resources, and increased work demands. These various emerging and pressing issues are creating a bottleneck of stressors. Additionally, people are getting tired from dealing with the continued stress, especially stress from unknowns. If something is stressful but there is a known end (as seen in a natural disaster such as a hurricane or wildfire), you know that you’ll be able to recover in the near future, even though going through the situation will be stressful. The pandemic, however, is so open-ended that people can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. This makes it increasingly difficult to function since humans have a low tolerance for ambiguity, which also leads to stress. The confluence of all of these stressors at the same time is especially challenging. Colleges and universities are dealing with so many situations that couldn’t be predicted. Administrators are having to make hard decisions that have an effect on students, staff and faculty. Additionally, so many institutions have a large influence on the quality of the economy in their community. Higher education’s financial impact is wide-ranging and includes tourism, research, an area’s economic development and student expenditures. Therefore, making decisions to send students home, such as what happened in the spring, have far-reaching ramifications that can lead to increased stress. Survival Mode Stress consists of physical, psychological and/or emotional demands that are placed on an organism. People have a set amount of bandwidth to use to deal with demands; however, if the stress of the demands being faced exceeds that bandwidth, the individual locks up and shuts down. Individuals often go into survival mode when facing extreme stress. Maslow’s Hierarchy showed that people become very task-focused when under stress, leaving no room for higher order thinking and envisioning the big picture of where we’re going. Instead, individuals’ focus gets myopic, narrowing to issues relating to survival as well as those they can control. The problem is that being in survival mode over a long period of time leads to burn out. The Yerkes-Dodson Human Performance Curve shows that people don’t perform well when they have no stress and also when they are under extreme stress. It’s only when people are in the sweet spot in the middle that they do their best work. Currently, we’re fully in the far tail of the curve, which is marked by continual high stress. The repercussions can be seen in workplace behavior, employee performance and decision-making. While people have a compensatory mechanism that can handle stress, they can only compensate up to a point, and once a certain threshold is reached, people start to de-compensate through burnout and stress behaviors. This can result in a low tolerance for frustration, even in minor situations – they can develop a hair trigger and become more rigid and on edge. They look for potential threats in the environment and develop a tall antennae that is sensitive to perceived slights. If someone is perceived as causing problems, that person is labelled as a trouble maker. There also can be increased forgetfulness, which is a direct result of being stressed. Leaders’ Next Step Not surprisingly, leaders are reporting having to deal with more difficult behaviors in the workplace, more infighting among teams, as well as more problems between the leader and team members. These behaviors are predictable. The real challenge is determining what can be done about the situation. Higher education leaders are primarily focused right now on the students. Fortunately, students have access to the student counseling center, and this generation is utilizing campus counseling services more often than previous generations. A report published about 15 years ago noted this increase is a result of the destigmatizing of mental health issues.  Dr. Marrs pointed out that he has seen studies showing a 300% increase in utilization in college student counseling centers over the years. But … what are leaders doing to help the faculty and staff? As a first step, leaders need to consider every option that is available to help employees lower stress levels. The challenge becomes how to financially make these resources available when budgets are being drastically reduced. Dr. Marrs encourages leaders to use empathy when assessing how faculty and staff are functioning in the workplace. Leaders should be aware of their own as well as everyone’s stress levels and monitor their own expectations for performance. As people come under more stress, those closest to them bear the brunt of their anxiety and fear. Therefore, if an administrator is stressed, his or her emotions will roll downhill as part of the decision-making process. This leads to increased demands on the team while the administrator may not have any understanding of the increased stress that the team is under and how the team is functioning. One challenge facing higher education is that many college and university employees have not had a chance to release their stress. For example, most have not taken vacations since the Christmas holidays. On top of that, many employees are facing other issues such as on-going child care issues or their own health issues, issues that have further increased their stress levels. Gauging Ourselves Higher education leaders are not immune to the increased stress—and the resultant behaviors are having an impact on how some administrators lead their institutions. Dr. Marrs believes leaders need to focus on increasing their levels of understanding and empathy, but this requires the administrators to be self-aware. Administrators need to develop grace in working with people during these difficult times. Leaders need to apply emotional intelligence to themselves to be able to lead during the current chaos. Most MBA programs in the United States now teach emotional intelligence because it brings tangible results; it is no longer considered a soft skill. Emotional intelligence becomes critical during times of extreme stress and uncertainty. Leaders also need to pay attention to where the institution and employees are, e.g., they need to identify when they are being reactive to situations.  Having a high level of self-awareness, an awareness of others, and then being able to control our own reactions to both unfolding situations and others, will make more of a difference in the current environment than anything else we can do. And the best part is that these approaches are all free. A Pandemic of Burn-out People need to talk about and face the stigma related to burn-out. Many are experiencing burn-out, which is very predictable because of the large quantity of change present in our society. Humans are not wired to handle this much change this quickly. We have had to change so many things and learn and adopt many new processes, such as moving immediately to online learning. Leaders need to recognize that people are doing the best that they can in these situations. Leaders need to monitor their own expectations and cut employees some slack. Leaders also need to consider simplifying what they are doing in leading their teams. In order to try to maintain a sense of normalcy, many will try to find things they can do to feel they are still in control. This could mean that a leader might decide to roll out a new program or operating procedure. It might make the leader feel better temporarily, but will add to the already-high stress level of his or her team. Research shows that when people are physically tired, they tend to make good decisions but those decisions are made more slowly. However, when faced with extreme stress, people make terrible decisions with a great deal of speed. Leaders need to consider this before reorganizing departments or rolling out new programs in the current environment. The high level of stress across the college campus is difficult to deal with. When focusing exclusively on the needs of students, leaders often ignore the needs of their team--as well as their own needs. Having this much stress opens the door to bad behaviors. Leaders need to understand how to recognize these bad behaviors and identify the appropriate actions to take in these stressful times. This is where emotional intelligence comes in and why it’s important to consider what we’re reacting to. Working from home also has become especially difficult. All employees—but especially members of Millennials and Gen Z—are experiencing a lack of boundaries separating work life and home life. Employees don’t know how to unplug and are often working during their “off” time. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to honor team members’ days off by not sending an email or text with something to do when they return to work. More often than not, the employee will respond that day, even though it’s their day off. This means they won’t experience the full break they need to reset and recharge. Three Recommendations for Higher Education Leaders Dr. Marrs suggested three takeaways for higher education leaders:  Take care of yourself. You are of no use to anyone if you are stressed out. You will be making decisions based on fear. Have empathy for others. Be aware of your own emotional intelligence. Monitor the engagement and burnout of people who work for you. Give them time off or find other ways to compensate to help them regain their balance. This is not a time to make unnecessary decisions that result in change. When in doubt, consult with others. Have a sounding board.  Bullet Points  Higher education institutions are facing huge amounts of stress in the current environment. These stressors include the pandemic, race relations, financial issues, the upcoming election cycle, and the institution’s own challenges of making changes. While much—if not all--of the focus has been on helping students through these current issues, many faculty, staff and administrators are struggling with handling the current high rates of stress. Being in survival mode over a long period of time leads to burn out. Once a certain threshold of stress is reached, people start to de-compensate through experiencing burnout and exhibiting stress behaviors, such as frustration, rigidity, being on edge, and having a hair trigger. They start looking for potential threats in the environment and become overly sensitive to what they perceive as slights. Leaders need to use empathy when assessing how faculty and staff are functioning in the workplace. They also should be aware of their own as well as everyone’s stress levels and monitor their own expectations for performance. A leader’s emotional intelligence is critical during the current chaos. The current situation is not the time to start a new program, process or initiative. It’s far better to simplify than to add complexity. It’s important to talk about and remove the stigma around burn-out. When faced with extreme stress, people make terrible decisions with a great deal of speed. Leaders need to focus on controlling their own reactions to both unfolding situations and others. This will make more of a difference in the current environment than anything else. Employees have difficulty setting boundaries separating work life and home life. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to honor their team’s off-time and not text or email them with future to-do’s that might derail their recuperation time.  Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview:  Texas A&amp;M University’s Center for Executive Development Tom Marrs, PhD  Guests Social Media Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/  The Change Leader’s Social Media Links:  Website: https://thechangeleader.com Website: https://changinghighered.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com 

Stress from the pandemic as well as other major societal issues is taking its toll on higher education institutions. The effects can be seen across college and university campuses as students, staff, faculty and leaders try to deal with rapidly changing circumstances. While students have access to counseling services, many higher education employees are feeling intense stress levels – and their job performance is suffering. This podcast, which focuses on employee stress levels and what leaders can do, features Dr. Tom Marrs, a clinical psychologist and assistant director for client engagement for the Center for Executive Development at Texas A&amp;M University’s Mays Business School. A Continual Accumulation Rather than adapting to change, people are finding that their stress levels continue to get higher as the pandemic continues. They are having difficulty dealing with so many challenges at one time; these challenges include isolation and problems that come with that, fear of illness and death from the pandemic, financial stress, political unrest, social discord, the overall lack of resources, and increased work demands. These various emerging and pressing issues are creating a bottleneck of stressors. Additionally, people are getting tired from dealing with the continued stress, especially stress from unknowns. If something is stressful but there is a known end (as seen in a natural disaster such as a hurricane or wildfire), you know that you’ll be able to recover in the near future, even though going through the situation will be stressful. The pandemic, however, is so open-ended that people can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. This makes it increasingly difficult to function since humans have a low tolerance for ambiguity, which also leads to stress. The confluence of all of these stressors at the same time is especially challenging. Colleges and universities are dealing with so many situations that couldn’t be predicted. Administrators are having to make hard decisions that have an effect on students, staff and faculty. Additionally, so many institutions have a large influence on the quality of the economy in their community. Higher education’s financial impact is wide-ranging and includes tourism, research, an area’s economic development and student expenditures. Therefore, making decisions to send students home, such as what happened in the spring, have far-reaching ramifications that can lead to increased stress. Survival Mode Stress consists of physical, psychological and/or emotional demands that are placed on an organism. People have a set amount of bandwidth to use to deal with demands; however, if the stress of the demands being faced exceeds that bandwidth, the individual locks up and shuts down. Individuals often go into survival mode when facing extreme stress. Maslow’s Hierarchy showed that people become very task-focused when under stress, leaving no room for higher order thinking and envisioning the big picture of where we’re going. Instead, individuals’ focus gets myopic, narrowing to issues relating to survival as well as those they can control. The problem is that being in survival mode over a long period of time leads to burn out. The Yerkes-Dodson Human Performance Curve shows that people don’t perform well when they have no stress and also when they are under extreme stress. It’s only when people are in the sweet spot in the middle that they do their best work. Currently, we’re fully in the far tail of the curve, which is marked by continual high stress. The repercussions can be seen in workplace behavior, employee performance and decision-making. While people have a compensatory mechanism that can handle stress, they can only compensate up to a point, and once a certain threshold is reached, people start to de-compensate through burnout and stress behaviors. This can result in a low tolerance for frustration, even in minor situations – they can develop a hair trigger and become more rigid and on edge. They look for potential threats in the environment and develop a tall antennae that is sensitive to perceived slights. If someone is perceived as causing problems, that person is labelled as a trouble maker. There also can be increased forgetfulness, which is a direct result of being stressed. Leaders’ Next Step Not surprisingly, leaders are reporting having to deal with more difficult behaviors in the workplace, more infighting among teams, as well as more problems between the leader and team members. These behaviors are predictable. The real challenge is determining what can be done about the situation. Higher education leaders are primarily focused right now on the students. Fortunately, students have access to the student counseling center, and this generation is utilizing campus counseling services more often than previous generations. A report published about 15 years ago noted this increase is a result of the destigmatizing of mental health issues.  Dr. Marrs pointed out that he has seen studies showing a 300% increase in utilization in college student counseling centers over the years. But … what are leaders doing to help the faculty and staff? As a first step, leaders need to consider every option that is available to help employees lower stress levels. The challenge becomes how to financially make these resources available when budgets are being drastically reduced. Dr. Marrs encourages leaders to use empathy when assessing how faculty and staff are functioning in the workplace. Leaders should be aware of their own as well as everyone’s stress levels and monitor their own expectations for performance. As people come under more stress, those closest to them bear the brunt of their anxiety and fear. Therefore, if an administrator is stressed, his or her emotions will roll downhill as part of the decision-making process. This leads to increased demands on the team while the administrator may not have any understanding of the increased stress that the team is under and how the team is functioning. One challenge facing higher education is that many college and university employees have not had a chance to release their stress. For example, most have not taken vacations since the Christmas holidays. On top of that, many employees are facing other issues such as on-going child care issues or their own health issues, issues that have further increased their stress levels. Gauging Ourselves Higher education leaders are not immune to the increased stress—and the resultant behaviors are having an impact on how some administrators lead their institutions. Dr. Marrs believes leaders need to focus on increasing their levels of understanding and empathy, but this requires the administrators to be self-aware. Administrators need to develop grace in working with people during these difficult times. Leaders need to apply emotional intelligence to themselves to be able to lead during the current chaos. Most MBA programs in the United States now teach emotional intelligence because it brings tangible results; it is no longer considered a soft skill. Emotional intelligence becomes critical during times of extreme stress and uncertainty. Leaders also need to pay attention to where the institution and employees are, e.g., they need to identify when they are being reactive to situations.  Having a high level of self-awareness, an awareness of others, and then being able to control our own reactions to both unfolding situations and others, will make more of a difference in the current environment than anything else we can do. And the best part is that these approaches are all free. A Pandemic of Burn-out People need to talk about and face the stigma related to burn-out. Many are experiencing burn-out, which is very predictable because of the large quantity of change present in our society. Humans are not wired to handle this much change this quickly. We have had to change so many things and learn and adopt many new processes, such as moving immediately to online learning. Leaders need to recognize that people are doing the best that they can in these situations. Leaders need to monitor their own expectations and cut employees some slack. Leaders also need to consider simplifying what they are doing in leading their teams. In order to try to maintain a sense of normalcy, many will try to find things they can do to feel they are still in control. This could mean that a leader might decide to roll out a new program or operating procedure. It might make the leader feel better temporarily, but will add to the already-high stress level of his or her team. Research shows that when people are physically tired, they tend to make good decisions but those decisions are made more slowly. However, when faced with extreme stress, people make terrible decisions with a great deal of speed. Leaders need to consider this before reorganizing departments or rolling out new programs in the current environment. The high level of stress across the college campus is difficult to deal with. When focusing exclusively on the needs of students, leaders often ignore the needs of their team--as well as their own needs. Having this much stress opens the door to bad behaviors. Leaders need to understand how to recognize these bad behaviors and identify the appropriate actions to take in these stressful times. This is where emotional intelligence comes in and why it’s important to consider what we’re reacting to. Working from home also has become especially difficult. All employees—but especially members of Millennials and Gen Z—are experiencing a lack of boundaries separating work life and home life. Employees don’t know how to unplug and are often working during their “off” time. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to honor team members’ days off by not sending an email or text with something to do when they return to work. More often than not, the employee will respond that day, even though it’s their day off. This means they won’t experience the full break they need to reset and recharge. Three Recommendations for Higher Education Leaders Dr. Marrs suggested three takeaways for higher education leaders: <ul> <li>Take care of yourself. You are of no use to anyone if you are stressed out. You will be making decisions based on fear.</li> <li>Have empathy for others. Be aware of your own emotional intelligence. Monitor the engagement and burnout of people who work for you. Give them time off or find other ways to compensate to help them regain their balance.</li> <li>This is not a time to make unnecessary decisions that result in change. When in doubt, consult with others. Have a sounding board.</li> </ul> Bullet Points <ul> <li>Higher education institutions are facing huge amounts of stress in the current environment. These stressors include the pandemic, race relations, financial issues, the upcoming election cycle, and the institution’s own challenges of making changes.</li> <li>While much—if not all--of the focus has been on helping students through these current issues, many faculty, staff and administrators are struggling with handling the current high rates of stress.</li> <li>Being in survival mode over a long period of time leads to burn out. Once a certain threshold of stress is reached, people start to de-compensate through experiencing burnout and exhibiting stress behaviors, such as frustration, rigidity, being on edge, and having a hair trigger. They start looking for potential threats in the environment and become overly sensitive to what they perceive as slights.</li> <li>Leaders need to use empathy when assessing how faculty and staff are functioning in the workplace. They also should be aware of their own as well as everyone’s stress levels and monitor their own expectations for performance.</li> <li>A leader’s emotional intelligence is critical during the current chaos.</li> <li>The current situation is not the time to start a new program, process or initiative. It’s far better to simplify than to add complexity.</li> <li>It’s important to talk about and remove the stigma around burn-out.</li> <li>When faced with extreme stress, people make terrible decisions with a great deal of speed.</li> <li>Leaders need to focus on controlling their own reactions to both unfolding situations and others. This will make more of a difference in the current environment than anything else.</li> <li>Employees have difficulty setting boundaries separating work life and home life. Therefore, it’s important for leaders to honor their team’s off-time and not text or email them with future to-do’s that might derail their recuperation time.</li> </ul> Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: <ul> <li><a href="https://mays.tamu.edu/center-for-executive-development/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Texas A&amp;M University’s Center for Executive Development</a></li> <li><a href="https://mays.tamu.edu/directory/tmarrs/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tom Marrs, PhD</a></li> </ul> Guests Social Media Links: <ul> <li>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-marrs-42b30a31/</a></li> </ul> The Change Leader’s Social Media Links: <ul> <li>Website: <a href="https://thechangeleader.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://thechangeleader.com</a></li> <li>Website: <a href="https://changinghighered.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://changinghighered.com</a></li> <li>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/</a></li> <li>Twitter: @thechangeldr</li> <li>Email: <a href="mailto:podcast@changinghighered.com">podcast@changinghighered.com</a></li> </ul>

How Universities Avoid Employee and Faculty Burnout with Dr. Tom Marrs | Changing Higher Ed 057