Benefits Beat - a new blog from Business Insurance editor Joanne Wojcik. See her recent post on the cost of depression in the workplace.

Minding the Workplace - blog by David Yamada, a law professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston and founder of the New Workplace Institute, a research and education center promoting healthy, productive, and socially responsible workplaces. Common blogging themes: dignity at work, workplace bullying, and psychologically healthy work environments.

World of Work - insight and commentary on labor and employment law from attorney Dennis Westlind.

Sloan Work and Family Research Network Blog - blog by Boston College's Alfred P. Sloan Work and Family Research Network, dedicated to providing resources and building knowledge for academics and researchers, workplace practitioners, state public policy makers, and interested individuals.

Minding Our Elders - blog by author Carol Bradley Bursack which focuses on support for caregivers and seniors.

Comp Time - another blog from Business Insurance, this one by Roberto Ceniceros, focusing on issues related to workers' compensation.

Prevention Matters - blog by Partnership for Prevention, an organization of businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies dedicated to improving the health of the nation through policies and programs that prevent disease and promote health.

The Mayo Clinic reports that in rare cases, people who suffer from RSAD can experience symptoms of mania or hypomania, a less intense form of mania, rather than the depressive symptoms that plague those suffering from winter SAD.

Because this condition is not as prevalent as winter SAD, there is less information on causes and treatment. Sara Ivry wrote an excellent article about Summer SAD a few years ago in The New York Times. She notes that:

As with depression generally, more women than men appear to suffer from this condition, at a ratio some estimates put as high as two to one. It is most common among women in their reproductive years, but its onset sometimes comes as early as childhood. Researchers think it may also have a genetic component; more than two-thirds of patients with SAD have a relative with a major mood disorder.

The symptoms of the two forms of the disorder often vary, heightening the confusion. People with the more common variety typically feel lethargic in the colder months, crave carbohydrates, gain weight and sleep excessively. Those afflicted during the summer often experience agitation, loss of appetite, insomnia and, in extreme cases, increased suicidal fantasies.

While winter SAD seems to be linked to low light levels and the body's melatonin level, the cause of summer SAD is less clear. As near as research can pinpoint, it seems to be linked to heat and tends to be more prevalent in hotter regions. "Epidemiological data in the United States have shown a higher proportion of people in the South depressed in the summer. The proportion rises as the latitude diminishes."

From an employer view, it is important to note any mood or behavioral changes in workers that affect performance, but diagnosing the reason for that change is not something that an employer should undertake. It's helpful if supervisors can be trained to be alert for common symptoms of depression and changes in work performance that might signify a problem, but leave the diagnosing and treatment to your organization's EAP or medical professionals.

"Let's not fool ourselves: the best case scenario is your exit interview actually provides new information because your company management is inept at figuring out what should already be known. That’s the best case scenario!"

He makes the case that exit interviews are more of a feel-good device than a strategy that will yield fresh insight or actionable information to curtail turnover. This is partly because because many departing employees aren't open - they often don't want to say anything negative that will get back to the manager and burn a bridge. Also, he sees that because management training will rarely be cited as a problem, it will rarely become part of the solution.

The real solution?

"You need real managers. Ones that know their employees well, that have open lines of communication, that have some basic investigation and analytical skills, and don’t need an exit interview to be told why people are leaving."

We'd file exit interviews under the category of "retrospective management" and this just isn't a management style that cuts it. We sometimes see a similar dynamic with referrals to our EAP. Astute managers who make an EAP referral early on - either when they first observe a pattern of problematic work behaviors or when they see the manager-employee relationship breaking down - can often salvage the relationship with a strategic referral. More often than not, we are able to help the employee identify the root cause of the problem and develop coping strategies or problem resolutions - sometimes the underlying problem isn't even work-related, but simply spilling over into the workplace.

Unfortunately, all too often, the troubled employee isn't referred to us until the problem behavior has festered unaddressed for a period of time, frustration on all sides is high, and the situation is not salvageable. The good managers that we see have open communication with their employees, they spot problems early, they address problems frankly, and they know when to look for outside help. The less-than-ideal managers are the ones who are frequently trying to close the barn door after the horse has escaped ... problems aren't addressed until they are huge, often reaching a level of toxicity that makes it difficult or impossible to resolve. Cue up the exit interview.

• Find a local park with the State Parks Map Locator and the National Park Service
• Explore more than 15,000 museums
• Locate a US Children's Museum
• Find a Zoo or Aquarium
• Search the USA Beach Guide

Summer work perils
Summer is also a time that many of your employees face different job hazards - particularly if they spend any time working outdoors or in settings where heat can be an issue. Here are resources to ensure your employees stay safe this summer:

• Summer Hazards for Workers
• Summer Occupational Hazards
• Working Outdoors: Skin Cancer and Workers Comp
• Summer Safety Training for Working Teens
• Heat Stress Resources for Workers
• Beath the Heat (and Avoid Any OSHA Citations)
• Summer Driving Safety Tips

Wellness: Eye exams can save money - June 27 to July 5 is Eye Safety Awareness Week and July is Eye Injury Prevention Month. Besides addressing your work exposures, another way to commemorate might be to encourage employees to have their eyes checked. HR World reports on a study showing that regular eye exams can save healthcare dollars because eye exams can often detect chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Here's another wellness resource for eye safety: Protecting Your Eyes: At Home, At Work, At Play

If indeed we are seeing a spike in employee theft, there may be other reasons to account for the increase than the economy and there may be other solutions to loss prevention than the traditional ones. For another perspective on employee theft, see Bob Sutton's recent post on an innovative employer approach to stopping employee theft . While there are various root causes of theft and need may certainly be one of them, Bob notes that, "The most extensive and impressive stream of research on employee theft has been conducted by Jerald Greenberg, who has done a host of laboratory and field studies (e.g, in manufacturing plants and retails stores) that show stealing is driven, in large part, by employees' desires to "get even" with companies and managers who treat them in cold and unfair ways."

While "the economy" and "getting even" may well be motives for theft, Bob goes on to cite a fascinating case of employee theft at a sawmill in which the underlying motive was largely "for the thrill of it." At this particular plant, organizational consultant and researcher Gary Latham worked with management to institute some creative measures to stop theft. The company introduced a "library system" where employees could borrow the type of equipment that was being stolen. Management also launched an amnesty campaign, during which employees could return any stolen goods under a no-fault, no-questions-asked system. The results of both measures were dramatic, with theft being virtually stopped in its tracks. This approach reminded me of a similar measure I witnessed a number of years ago when working at a manufacturing plant that assembled popular household goods and toys for large corporate clients. To mitigate employee theft, the employer sponsored a "company store" where employees could purchase the goods they produced at wholesale prices. This served the dual purpose of being a great new low-cost benefit and reducing theft significantly.

While we haven't witnessed too much in the way of for-the-thrill-of-it theft, revenge against perceived unfairness is certainly something we're familiar with - it surfaces as a motive for many work behavioral problems that our counselors deal with daily. And beyond specific grudges against specific employers, there is a more generalized sense of anger and outrage brewing, stoked by the daily barrage of headlines about corporate malfeasance and greed at the highest "leadership" levels of large corporations. It's pretty difficult to imbue high ethical standards when the people at the top are widely disrespected or engage in criminal behavior themselves.

Whether it be employee theft, runaway workers' comp costs or some other costly work problem, all too often we find that the problem is a symptom of a toxic work environment where mutual respect and trust have broken down. Prudent employers can and should enact preventive measures, but as we've previously stated, that may not be enough.

Our experience shows time and again that employers who communicate often and well with their employees and who work diligently to maintain a healthy work culture experience fewer workplace behavioral problems than their mistrusting, suspicious counterparts. Keep things in perspective. Dishonest employees are in the minority so don't cast a pall of suspicion over everyone. Set the policy and the expectation, ensure that risk control measures are in place, and be fair and consistent in the way policies are enforced.

To tweet or not to tweet? - Melanie Holmes of Contemporary Working has some interesting statistics about the prevalence of social networking tools. But should we be concerned about the ubiquity and 24/7 nature of work communication that these new tools afford? Are social networking tools addictive? Jeffrey Hirsch of Workplace Prof Blog raises the issue of whether employers could have any liability for technology addiction. Related: Charlotte Huff has an excellent article that discusses Staying Afloat in a Digital Flood at Workforce.

Wellness incentives - Fiona Gathright of Corporate Wellness Insights looks at a recent study on the use of incentives in wellness programs. She also reports that there is some political support for incenting employers to enact wellness programs, but notes that it will be important to set the right tone for such programs. David Williams of Health Benefits Blog talks about the flip side of the coin in his post on the ethical considerations of financial penalties for unhealthy behaviors.

Gender identity - Michael Fox of Jottings by an Employers Lawyer posts about transgendered workers in the mainstream press, citing a statistic that 322 major companies have added gender identity to their diversity programs.

Work-life balance - Thoughts from Training Time reports that a fear of layoffs is affecting employee vacation plans - many are deferring because they fear a temporary absence from the workplace could lead to a permanent one. The post suggests several tips for managers to help their employees allay their anxiety and avoid burning out. Related: Freek Vermeulen makes the case for work-life programs in Harvard Business.

Longevity - There are about 250,000 centenarians alive today, including several hundred "supercentarians" aged 110+ years. Find out your chances of reaching 100.

When Dr. Pausch, a popular computer science professor, husband and father of three small children was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, he decided to take charge of the situation by preparing a last lecture that would draw from his life experiences. His goal was to leave a legacy not only for his students but also for his children who would soon be fatherless. Some notable excerpts:

• People are more important than things: While still a bachelor, Pausch enjoyed the company of his sister’s young children. When he showed up in a new convertible to take the kids for a ride, his sister sternly warned them to "Be careful in Uncle Randy’s new car. Wipe your feet before you get in. Don’t get it dirty." As his sister was outlining her rules, he slowly and methodically opened a can of soda and poured it on the cloth seats in the back of the convertible. His message was delivered with a dramatic flair that amazed his niece and nephew and no doubt shocked his sister! (Chapter 15)
• Emphasize the positive whenever possible: When he asked his oncologist, "How long before I
  die?" the physician framed the answer positively: "You probably have three to six months of good health." This reminded Pausch of the time that he and his sister visited Disney World as young children and asked a worker, "What time does the park close?" The response: "The park is open until 8:00PM." (Chapter 12)
• Negative feedback is still very good feedback: When his football coach rode 12-year-old Randy
  particularly hard one day, an assistant coach later commented, "When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you." (Chapter 7)
• Obstacles need not be barriers to success: "Brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop other people!” (Chapter 16)
• Don’t obsess over what other people think: "I’ve found that a substantial fraction of many people’s days is spent worrying about what others think of them. If nobody ever worried about what was in other people’s heads, we’d all be 33% more effective in our lives and on our jobs." How did he arrive at that 33% figure? "I’m a scientist. I like exact numbers, even if I can’t prove them. So let’s just run
  with 33%." (Chapter 34)
• Effective leadership requires empathy not just intelligence: "Just because you’re in the driver’s seat doesn’t mean you have to run people over." (Chapter 4)

Some books provide "a good read" while others can help reorder one’s life. The Last Lecture does both in a highly entertaining way! Also, see our September 2007 post for a link to a video presentation of his last lecture, Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

As part of a push to support family-friendly workplaces, The EEOC has recently been focusing on caregiver discrimination and has issued a technical document giving guidance to employers on best practices related to caregiving employees. Melissa Turley of Human Resource Executive notes that although caregivers are not a protected class, "Discriminating against caregivers, however, could result in Title VII, FMLA or ADA claims." She offers a summary of best practices.

Mark Toth at Manpower Employment Blawg also offers a great summary of the EEOC's Caregiver Best Practices. After polling readers, he learned the the number one employment law headache was identified as medical leave. In response to this, he is developing a series of cheat sheets on various laws relating to medical leave. This week, he issued an FMLA cheat sheet.

Additional Resources
State-by-state Family Care Navigator
The Family Caregiver Alliance
Caregiver resources
The high cost of caregiving
Caregiving employees at heightened risk: how employers can help

The Top Five Innovation Killers - "Innovation has never been more important to companies as it is now. The recession is creating new needs and new forms of value are needed to fulfill them. Yet there remains a yawning gulf between business leaders’ rhetoric on innovation and the reality on the ground. So what holds our companies back, and why is breakthrough innovation so rare?"

Diabetes pilot program yields big cost savings - Joanne Wojcik of Business Insurance tells us that the results of the "10 City Challenge" pilot were so promising (average reductions in per-patient health care costs of $1,079 a year, for example) that the program will be extended to employers nationwide.

10 Worst Employees of 2008 - we offered a few suggestions for 2009 earlier in the week - CareerBuilder gives you their list from 2008.

A twitterable Twitter policy - Jay Shepherd of Gruntled Employees offers a sensible Twitter policy in 140 characters or less.

Social Media for HR Professionals Beyond LinkedIn - Jennifer McClure, aka CincyRecruiter offers a great overview of a recent presentation she made on harnessing social media for HR.

BlackBerry Tips From The Top - "Secrets from CEOs for whom the little hunk of hardware is the life breath of work efficiency."

Reinventing the conference call - Seth Godin has a suggestion that might help to improve your next conference call.

Cardiovascular risk calculator - estimate your chance of a cardiac event, dying from heart disease, and your overall chance of dying in the next 10 years. This might be a good tool for your employee wellness program since some portion of the risk can usually be ameliorated by lifestyle changes.

Apparently, the aggregate online tolerance for the idea of having food tainted with bodily fluids was low, but the disgusting videos spread virally, logging more than a million viewers before a shell-shocked management team at Domino's sprang into action a few days later.

Domino's had a harsh initiation to the world of user-generated content. At first, the management team thought they should just let the incident die down of its own accord. That's an old print tactic for handling PR - don't make a problem bigger than it needs to be through repetition. But the company quickly learned that in the online world, things can be harder to contain. Within a few short days, the videos managed to dominate Google search results and any online conversations about the company. They realized they had to act.

Domino's management team got some unexpected help from the online community. Commenters at consumerist.com used their sleuthing skills to help identify the offending employees, who were quickly fired. The two employees now face a variety of criminal charges for violating board of health standards and delivering tainted food. And the company faced the daunting task of rebuilding confidence in a badly damaged brand.

Domino's quickly posted a YouTube video apology and statement about what the company is doing to respond to this incident (re-examing hiring practices, beefing up auditors, etc.) by company president Patrick Doyle, and assigned staff to respond to viewer comments. (Reader alert: if you've never ventured into the YouTube comment area, be prepared for a bit of a culture shock. Comments are unedited, raw and generally "not safe for work.") They also launched a company Twitter feed to join the online conversation and engage their customers directly.

So far, the management team is getting high marks for its response to the crisis. The incident should serve as virtual seminar for other companies in the importance of being knowledgeable in and poised to manage an organization's online reputation. This incident certainly wasn't something the company could have predicted and management was forced into a crash course in online social media to respond to unfolding events. How ready is your organization should some unexpected and unflattering information hit the viral online circuit? In today's world, online reputation management is an important issue for organizations. It's equally important - if not more so - for individuals. A job-seeker may not have the same resources to deploy if they suddenly find themselves in the public eye.