1. Southern Assignments
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Email: suesouthern13@hotmail.com
23 November 2015 © Southern Assignments Page 1 of 1
Service Management Stress vs Performance
As a result of many years’ experience as a service
manager/management consultant, I have seen and felt the
effect of the stresses of the job. I have also noticed that
happy, healthy and confident people tend to be good at
their work, are rarely on sick-leave and manage stress
without ill effect. Being supported by efficient and effective
processes and the right tools for the job help a lot but these
are not enough for sustainable success. Business and home
life throw challenges at us on a daily basis; so does the environment. We can be bombarded with
many factors that cause stress and negatively impact our ability to perform.
Sickness absence is a significant burden on UK business which is widely reported to cost billions of
pounds each year. In some organisations it has become endemic in the culture; where some
consider it their ‘right’ to take their ‘allocation’ of sick leave each year. It is undisputed that a healthy
workforce leads to a healthy business. Naturally, healthy staff members have lower absenteeism
which in turn increases productivity, morale and retention. Against fierce competition and strict cost
management, businesses need dependable staff more than ever.
However this topic isn’t just about absenteeism. My interest is in increasing the
performance of people including those who are in the workplace; I have routinely
observed countless people who are under enormous pressure and stress. It can
manifest itself as mistakes, poor or no decisions being made or friction between
staff members and/or customers. Stress resides in the physical body not just the
mind and it is a significant contributor to many illnesses and symptoms such as back pain,
headaches, digestive problems, extreme fatigue and phobias.
My interest in helping people to perform at their best has led me beyond the standard service
management arena. I am also a practitioner of natural healing techniques that are highly effective at
relieving stress and its associated symptoms and at clearing the blocks that can hold people back
from performing at their best – once cleared they can make improvements in their performance and
allow physical symptoms to disappear. Issues such as self-doubt, lack of confidence, fears of many
kinds including giving presentations or public speaking in general and many other forms of common
work-place stress. The resolution of these problems allows people to enhance their performance.
While on service management assignments, I have, in just a few minutes, discretely helped
individuals with many issues such as clearing neck/head pain, significantly reduce an intense peak of
stress after a vehicle collision and resolved a difficulty with a woman’s leg that had been troubling
her for many years.
For problems that are best dealt with outside the workplace, I have my private therapy room where I
practice Kinesiology. This natural method uses the feedback mechanism that we all have via our
muscles; this body language shows me what and where corrections are needed to support the mind
and body to heal and be well.
Having seen the damage caused by the stress and pressure of service management, I am pleased and
relieved to be able to provide constructive help that supports people to perform at their best.
These methods are so effective for the recipients and so satisfying for me that I have switched
my career path. My business is Total Body Harmony; find me on LinkedIn and Facebook. I still
have the same levels of integrity, professionalism and high standards that
used as a service manager – I just use them in a different direction nowadays.