miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

Index

3. RESULTS TSA THURSDAY 17TH APRIL 2008

USEFUL LINKS

NEWSLETTER

FACT SHEETS

John Miller conducted a Health Management program for The Group on April 18th 2008.

20 people, 15 men and 5 women completed the following profiles: -

■ Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

■ Elite Force Fitness

■ Diet

■ Chemical intake

■ Stress risk

■ Career satisfaction

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary.

Click here to read what the assessments are all about

HEALTH, FITNESS AND WELLBEING PROFILE

The Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile provides people with a very good idea of how well the various systems of the body are functioning, particularly the

• the mind

• autonomic nervous system

• immune system

• digestive system

• circulatory system

• elimination system

• musculo-skeletal system.

	Symptom	None		Not much			A fair bit			A lot
1.	Headaches including migraines	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
2.	Lack of energy and vitality	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
3.	Candida - jock itch, thrush, tinea ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
4.	Poor sleep. If on tablets score 10	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
5.	Snoring &/or sleep apnoea. Score 10 if using mask	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
6.	Crook back, stiff neck, sore shoulders, knees, RSI	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
7.	Frequent colds, flu, sinus	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
8.	Unsettled stomach, reflux (Score 10 if on medication)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
9.	Overweight - 1 point for every 2Kg	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
10.	Irritable bowel, constipation	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11.	Asthma	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
12.	Low level of aerobic fitness	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
13.	Chest pain, palpitations	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
14.	Rashes, itchiness, skin outbreaks, psoriasis ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
15.	Mouth ulcers, cold sores	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
16.	Elevated blood pressure. Score 0 on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
17.	Elevated blood cholesterol. Score o if on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
18.	Elevated blood glucose. Score 0 if on medication	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
19.	Shakes, nervous ticks, mannerisms	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20.	Grinding teeth	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
21.	Alcoholic drinks per day (2 pts/drink)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
22.	Smoking. (1 pt/cigarette/day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
23.	Caffeine (1 pt/cup per day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
24.	Anxious about life, insecure, apprehensive	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
25.	Sad or depressed (On medication, score 0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
26.	In wrong job for now	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
27.	Under-appreciated at work	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
28.	Have poor work/life balance	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
29.	Unhappy with family life	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
30.	Unhappy with financial status	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Score

The score of a normal, fit and healthy human being is less than 20

Higher scores are symptomatic of dysfunction of one or more body systems.

People with high levels of stress usually score well over 100.

For people with a score of more than 80, the ‘background noise’ of their life is becoming louder and louder. It is hard to concentrate on your work when body systems are dysfunctional.

We know a fit and healthy group when we see the majority of scores below 40. This was not the case with this group. By and large higher scores are usually a reflection of

• low levels of fitness

• an inability to deal with what life and work are serving up to people.

Remember, it is not what happens, but how we deal with what happens that determines our level of stress.

Classification of average scores: Excellent - less than 40. Good - 41 - 50. Fair 51-60. Poor - over 60.

This profile is described as poor. The average score was 66. Anyone scoring more than 80 is putting up with a lot of 'background noise'.

HEALTH CLIMATE SURVEY

Based on scores received in the Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile we've compiled a Health Climate Survey. Scores on each item have ranked - the higher the score the worse the problem. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

Symptoms/ issues / concerns	% of people scoring over 5	People scoring 10 on the profile
Overweight	55
Musculo skeletal dysfunction	45
Low level of fitness	45
Under appreciated at work	45
Snoring, sleep apnoea	35
Poor sleep	30
Elevated blood pressure	25	0
Wrong job	25
Work-life balance	25
Unhappy with financial status	25
Elevated cholesterol	20	0
Elevated glucose	20	0
Alcohol	20
Smoking	20	0
Lack of Energy	15
Anxious	15
Headaches	10
Candida, thrush, tinea	10
Reflux, unsettled stomach	10
Irritable bowel, constipation etc	10
Itchy, rashes, psoriasis	10
Grinding teeth	10
High caffeine intake	10
Frequent colds, flu, sinus	5
Shortness of breath from asthma	5
Chest pain, palpitations	5
Mouth ulcers	5
Shakes, nervous mannerisms	5
Depressed	5	0
Unhappy family life	5

We registered those scores of 5 and over as being a symptom, issue or concern, the most pressing of which have been highlighted.

Perception

Based on people's perception (where they gave a particular symptom a score of 5 or more) the key issues are highlighted in the table above. Below are some comments about the most frequent, high-rating scores in the people we survey.

•	Poor Sleep A lot of people in our community don't sleep well. Some are anxious - the first casualty of anxiety is poor sleep. Some aren't physically tired. People who are physically fit and physically tired sleep like logs. Some want to sleep too long. Some need to 'wake up to themselves', get up and get on with life... To read more about it click here.

•	Snoring The recipe for a good snore is to be male, over 40, 20 kilos of more over weight, stressed out of your brain, have a few drinks and sleep on your back. It's a good measure of metabolic dysfunction. It doesn't get better by wearing a gas mask or having your sleeping partner dig you in the ribs! It's telling you to get fit and lose weight. This is not rocket science.

•	Musculo-skeletal dysfunction Some staff are groaning and travailing in pain. Musculo-skeletal dysfunction goes with low levels of strength and flexibility. Those are greatest risk need encouragement to attend a strength and flexibility training program several times a week.

•	Headaches Caused by - a diet high in wheat flour and sugar - caffeine withdrawal - lack of oxygen getting to the head - a sluggish elimination system - a head out of alignment due to tight and weak muscles - beating your head against a brick wall - ...

•	Over-weight Having extra fat around your body is a symptom of metabolic dysfunction and relates to high energy diets and low energy lifestyles. It's suggestive of elevated levels of insulin floating around the body, which is a precursor of all manner of body system dysfunctions - elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, elevated blood glucose. The recommendation, people need to get out and exercise at lunch time and eat from the top of the Hourglass. It's stimulated by eating too much high density food - too much of fat and too much of the garbohydrates - and too little vigorous physical activity. Plus, you can't satisfy the inner hunger by eating. Find out why you're eating too much. A good counselor could help. The recommendation, 50% of people need to get out and exercise at lunch time and eat from the top of the Hourglass. It's stimulated by eating too much high density food - too much of fat and too much of the garbohydrates - and too little vigorous physical activity. Plus, you can't satisfy the inner hunger by eating. Find out why you're eating too much. A good counselor could help.

•	Fitness We recommend staff be given the greatest encouragement to leave the office at lunch time and get in some physical activity. One organisation we work for gives staff an hour and a half off for lunch, providing people exercise during that time. Fitness has a significant bearing on the scores for low levels of energy, poor sleep, snoring, depression and headaches.

•	Blood pressure Blood pressure is a symptom of body system dysfunction relating directly to - lack of aerobic fitness - being over-weight - being stressed.

•	High caffeine intake Drinking too much coffee is an easy trap to fall into. It's a drug. It can become a habit. Maybe a couple of cups a day, before lunch is about a reasonable dosage. As your mum used to say when you said you were thirsty, 'Go and have a drink of water.' Check the colour of your urine to see whether you are getting enough water. If it's clear you're in the clear. If it's dark yellow you're dehydrated. Drink more water.

•	Lack of energy Low levels of energy come from many sources, including: - - lack of a good aerobic fitness training program - a diet high in wheat flour and sugar - dullness - ...

•	Rashes and itchiness Can be caused by a range of things: - - a body that's stressed producing too much cortisol - a toxic diet - a sluggish elimination system - itching to get away from something - itching to get on with life - ...

•	Colds and flu Symptom of a depressed immune system, one which can be strengthened by eating from the top of the Hourglass and getting plenty of aerobic exercise.

•	Under-appreciation at work This is a course for concern and managers need to take note and put in train a series of measures to improve this score in say, 3 months time. This factor certainly needs addressing in more detail and re-evaluation. There is a high and positive correlation between people not being in the right job and people saying they are under-appreciated at work.

•	Being in the wrong job There is a high and positive correlation between people being in the wrong job and people saying they are under-appreciated at work. There is evidence that a career development program may be needed in this workplace and/or people given strong encouragement to have a few sessions with the employee assistance program people - or me!

•	Diet A diet high in flour and sugar and low in fruit, vegetables and fibre leads to irritable and bowel, reflux.

•	Depression and anxiety There is an epidemic of depression in our community. This epidemic relates to poor health generally and will, of course increase at the same rate as the epidemic of all other body system dysfunctions. The mind is just another part of the human ecosystem - an ecosystem under threat from low levels of health, fitness and wellbeing. It is important that people who are depressed or a risk of becoming depressed be encouraged to have regular counseling - through the EAP or other counselors - and be given encouragement to do the things that unstressed people. In particular it means encouraging people to exercise at lunch time. It means taking their holidays, eating wisely, not working too many hours and ‘getting a life’. Stress, anxiety and depression can be a high price to pay for achievement. As the population becomes less physically active, eats diets high in flour and sugar and low in omega 3 fats, selenium and B group vitamins, lacks resilience, drinks too much alcohol and caffeine, has difficulty managing the internal and external conversations going on inside their head and/or live lives devoid of meaning and purpose, we can expect rates of anxiety and depression to increase. Whilst not wishing to make light of the true ‘black dog’ of clinical depression, for some people the symptoms of stress, unhappiness, sadness, grief, hopelessness, disappointment, despair, vacuity, anger and anxiety are being treated as if they were the symptoms of clinical depression. The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

•	Smoking 4 people smoked. Now lets move heaven and earth to assist those people to give it away altogether.

MUSCULO-SKELETAL RISK FACTOR

Our musculo-skeletal risk factor profile looked at a range of parameters including mobility, strength and flexibility and whether people are training to keep themselves strong and flexible.

The musculo-skeletal risk factor profile is comprised of a mix of 9 objective and 3 subjective assessments.

• Current musculo-skeletal condition

• Age

• Closeness to ideal weight

• Abdominal strength test

• Upper body strength test

• Flexibility

• Functional mobility – the ability to sit down and stand up with ease.

• Shoulder function

• Dominant hand grip

• Non-dominant hand grip

A score of 70% is attainable by those who have a regular and systematic training program.

Those scoring less than 70 are not doing sufficient in the way of strength and flexibility exercises. They are therefore exposing themselves to a high risk of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. (It would be bizarre for a workplace to offer to pay the rehabilitation costs of people who were not keeping themselves strong enough or flexible enough to do their job without succumbing to musculo-skeletal dysfunction, wouldn't it?)

This risk to The Organisation is high. This is a poor result.


	Not a particularly good result. A lot of people are experiencing pain and discomfort. Those scoring less the 6 need to be required attend a prehab/rehab program, for their own benefit and that of the organisation.	Age is probably wearying them and the years condemning.

	The people who scored 6 were about 10Kg over weight. Those to the left of them are even heavier; a score of 3 is 16kg over weight and 1 is 20Kg overweight.	This is a very poor result. A score of 7/10 requires an achievement of 17 situps in 30 seconds. 20% of people couldn't do one sit up. Those scoring less than 7/10 are at risk of dysfunction because their trunk muscles are not strong enough to hold their body in correct alignment - crook back waiting to happen.

	This result can only be described as fair. It's patchy and those scoring less than 7 are at risk of shoulder and arm dysfunction.	Too many people have difficulty touching their toes. When calves, hamstrings and buttock muscles tighten up you can be certain that backs, necks, shoulders and wrists will soon start to experience pain. Can't blame the pick and shovel or the mouse and monitor for that!

	When you can't get down and up off the floor 7 times in 30 seconds you've got a mobility problem. Fix it! Part of the secret is getting back closer to your ideal weight and strengthening your leg muscles.	Generally speaking shoulder function was good. Good for those who scored 7 or more, but not good for those who scored lower. Can't blame the shovel or the keyboard for that.

Its always the case, few people have a regular strength and flexibility program. The organisation needs to put in train a regular and systematic training program, on site, that includes 1. specialist prehab and rehab sessions for those at serious risk and those already dysfunctional and on compo. 2. daily 'health huddle' stretch and strengthen sessions in the workplace.

Average score: 52. Not particularly good. This graph show why people are experiencing pain. They are not in particularly good shape. Low levels of strength and flexibility. There is a strong case of the organisation to implement an obligatory strength and flexibility program for those who scored less than 60 in this profile.

Lack of strength and flexibility is something that The Organisation needs to take seriously and monitor carefully and put in place an organisation-wide strategy to improve musculo-skeletal function. By far and away a high proportion of people do not have a strength and flexibility program. As a result they are getting weaker and tighter by the week, thereby exposing themselves and the organisation to risk.

When push comes to shove and people become dysfunctional, it will be The Organisation that ends up paying the high cost of an avoidable musculo-skeletal complaint. Click here to read the article from injury to dysfunction. Click here to read about swifties and fallacies.

In our opinion musculo-skeletal dysfunction caused by lack of a regular and systematic strength and flexibility program cannot be classified as an injury. Responsibility for musculo-skeletal dysfunction needs to be sheeted home to individual employees, though it’s unlikely to happen without the establishment of a culture within the organisation that supports, values and understands strength and flexibility.

We recommend a range of strength and flexibility classes that are readily available Australia-wide: -

•	Posture and Flexibility
•	Yoga
•	Crookback Clinic
•	Tai Chi
•	Pontius Pilates

The Organisation would place itself in the forefront of OH&S practice if it took the musculo-skeletal risk seriously and moved heaven and earth to educate all staff about this risk and encourage them to take part in a regular strength and flexibility program. Maybe The Organisation and its worker's compensation insurer could invest in a pilot program to increase staff strength and flexibility!

Whilst we rate the score as 'poor', the lack of strength and flexibility training and the results of the people who already report being dysfunctional, together with those who scored poorly in abdominal strength, upper body strength and flexibility is a cause for concern and needs the attention of individual staff and managers.

Recommendation

We strongly recommend that the people who are in current poor musculo-skeletal condition, and who lack abdominal strength, upper body strength, flexibility, shoulder function and functional mobility, in particular those who scored less than 60 on the profile, be obligated to attend regular, in-house strength and flexibility classes.

The pressure on the organisation's workers' compensation costs is such that to do otherwise would, in our opinion be to abrogate a responsibility for the prudent management of the organisation's finances.

See the generic list of recommendations.

DIET PROFILE

The diet profile is designed to assist participants to check out whether they are eating wisely and also one which has appropriate amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat. It also looks at various eating habits, eg eating too much, eating for comfort ...

• Closeness to ideal weight?

• Do you eat a decent breakfast?

• Do you eat a high fat diet?

• Do you eat a high starch diet?

• Do you eat from the top of the Diet Hourglass?

• How much water do you during each day?

• Do you supplement your diet with essential micro-nutrients – vitamins,

minerals, essential fats (omega 3) and glyco-proteins - and

nutraceuticals - ginko, aloe vera, Echinacea ...?

• Do you eat too much?

• Are you ruled by your addictions to fat, sugar and starch?

• Does the back end of your system work like a charm?

We use the Hourglass Diet as out eating model.

Low scores are usually symptomatic of high fat, high starch, low fibre diets. The results: - people become over fat and constipated.


	The people who scored 6 were about 10Kg over weight. Those to the left of them are even heavier; a score of 3 is 16kg over weight and 1 is 20Kg overweight.	Not bad by Australian standards. Most people fill themselves up on flour and sugar. The 'fat police' have just about stripped a cooked breakfast out of existence.

	If you're over weight you've either got a fat guts ...	or a starch guts.

	The nature of our culture is that it's too easy to eat junk food.	Most people don't drink enough water. We're too affluent - we can afford to drink coffee, fruit juice and carbonated drinks to slake our thirst; anything but water.

	There is a good case for supplementing one's diet. Our food lacks vitamin and mineral.	Not only do I fail to eat from the top of the Hourglass, I also eat too much.

	I'm addicted to chocolate, cola drinks, cake, biscuits, ice-cream ...	Back end function depends on eating less fat, flour and sugar and more fruit. vegetables and fibre. Psyllium husk works like a treat.
Patchy. Average score 60. It's too easy to eat a high energy dense diet of manufactured food - particularly foods containing large amounts of fat, flour and sugar - food that comes in packets, tins, cans, bottles, cardboard boxes and plastic bags. This is a group that needs to design strategies to get more fruit and vegetables down their throat.

Australia is in a grip of obesity and body system dysfunction generated by too much of the wrong food on the one hand, and too little of the right food on the other. It is our opinion that diets high in refined, cereal-based carbohydrates and sugar (the garbohydrates) are the reason for this epidemic. Too few people seem to be aware that their level of body fat is affected by the amount of flour and sugar they take in each day. The high starch diet has replaced the high fat diet, with the same consequences.

One thing that we observed was that not many people are aware that they may be allergic or intolerant of some foods, particularly wheat flour, milk, deadly nightshades, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, preservatives ...

Most people have a flour and sugar breakfast, attributed to the kelloggification of the Australian diet. You don't eat biscuits for lunch and dinner so why are you eating them for breakfast? The breakfast eating behaviour of Australians is dreadful. Few people have fruit. Even fewer have vegetables, or adequate protein and fat.

Few people take vitamin and mineral supplements. I believe there are good reasons to do so. If you don't believe me, I recommend you buy the book, What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition May Be Killing You, by Ray Strand, MD.

By their own recognition a small number of people said they over-ate and were ruled by their addictions to junk food.

The operation of the back end of the system was only fair – low scores being reflective of a diet that lacks sufficient fibre.

CHEMICAL INTAKE PROFILE

The chemical profile focuses principally on the mix of culturally acceptable stimulants and depressants.

• Do you smoke?

• How many alcoholic drinks do you have a week?

• How much caffeine do you drink each day?

• Do you persistently feed a sweet tooth?

• Do you persistently feed a salt tooth?

• How many hours a week do you spend watching TV?

• Do you have a high intake of food additives?

• How do you rate your reliance on headache and pain-killing tablets?

• Are you on sleeping tablets or anti-depressants?

• Are you on diabetes or blood pressure mediation?


	No smokers. An excellent result.	Overall a good result. As people become fitter the need for alcohol declines.

	Pretty good.	A few addicts. Time to stop putting it in tea and coffee.

	No need to have extra salt on your food. We're getting enough out of packaged food as it is.	Not particularly good. A lot of time is flashing away in front of the rectangle.

	A good result.	A good result

	A good result.	A pleasing result.

Average score: 81. Compared with other groups, (and with one exception) this is a good result.

It is usually the case that fit and healthy people don’t drink to any great degree. In fact they only have one or two drinks per week.

However, we’ve well and truly entered the junk medical age when the medical priesthood is encouraging their clients to wash down an Aspro each day with a couple of glasses of claret, all in the name of good health! The people we see who are fittest and healthiest have very low intakes of alcohol and coffee.

Depression

As the population becomes less physically active, eats diets high in flour and sugar and low in omega 3 fats, selenium and B group vitamins, lacks resilience, drinks too much alcohol and caffeine, has difficulty managing the internal and external conversations going on inside their head and/or live lives devoid of meaning and purpose, we can expect rates of anxiety and depression to increase.

This epidemic will, of course increase at the same rate as the epidemic of all other body system dysfunctions. The mind is just another part of the human ecosystem - an ecosystem under threat from low levels of health, fitness and wellbeing.

There is an epidemic of 'depression' in the community, and whilst not wishing to make light of the true ‘black dog’ of clinical depression, for some people the symptoms of stress, unhappiness, sadness, grief, hopelessness, disappointment, despair, vacuity, anger and anxiety are being treated as if they were the symptoms of clinical depression.

I believe it is appropriate for the Organisation to encourage those people with an unhappiness, anxiety or depression problem to make full use of the counselling services of the EAP and encourage them to do the things that unstressed people do - like keeping themselves fit, having a lunch hour outside, taking their holidays, eating wisely, not working too many hours and ‘getting a life’. There could be a high price of achievement for those who can't keep lives in balance.

It is frequently the case that those people on anti-depressants are not doing the things that unstressed people do to keep their bodies and minds in good shape.

The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

STRESS RISK PROFILE

Participants completed a simple stress and relaxation profile designed to assist them in making an assessment of how they were affected by stress. It is based on the habits of unstressed people.

If you do what unstressed people do you are less at risk of becoming stressed. I’m yet to see someone who said they were highly stressed or depressed who got a high score on this profile. A good score is over 70.

• How would you rate your current stress level

• Do you get a good night’s sleep?

• Do you take your holidays?

• Are you keeping yourself fit and healthy?

• Is there balance in your life?

• Do you take time off at lunch time?

• How many hours a week do you work?

• Are you good at giving back to your Self?

• Do you meditate?

• Are you happy with your family (and romantic) life?

The matter of stress always needs to be addressed by organisations as part of a personal development thrust, and aimed at all staff. If stress management type programs are to be conducted, all staff need to be involved, otherwise those at most risk and those who are currently most stressed (and too wrapped up in their own busyness) will not attend.

For those who spend long hours at work, I often wonder whether the behaviour is externally or internally driven. I suspect the latter. No body on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'

SCORING GUIDELINES

Excellent, scoring 8 or more

Good, scoring 7 or more

Fair, scoring 5 or 6

Poor, scoring less than 5

‘Pass mark’ on all parameters 7/10.


	This is a good result.	A fair result. But the tail is a worry. The first casualty of anxiety and low levels of fitness is sleep.

	Poor. Paul Pearsal in his book Superimmunity' said you need a 21 day away from home holiday every year.	Not particularly good. A lot of people are not keeping themselves in the shape they'd like to be in.

	This is a good set of numbers. Those who are and those who aren't.	A patchy result. Too many people don't take time off to switch off and get outside in the fresh air. T

	This is a good result. No one on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.' The people who scored poorly are probably women doing 3 shifts.	A poor result. Too many people are too busy to look after and nurture their Self.

	Very few people meditate. The reasons to do so are compelling.	Family life satisfaction is good for most people, but not for a few. All organisations need to encourage staff with family problems to go to the employee assistance program for advice and support.

Average score: 59. This is a very average sort of a score. People could do more to look after their Self. Being fit and setting aside time to keep the body in good shape is a key indicator of an ability to give back to the Self. It's about respect for Self. I recommend that people scoring less that 50 spend time with a counselor or life coach, or go to a personal development weekend to get themselves centred and grounded on looking after their Self.

CAREER SATISFACTION PROFILE

The parameters in the profile relate to a mix of factors influences by the participant, management and their colleagues.

• How close are you to doing the job you’d really like to be doing?

• Are you in the right job for now?

• Is work giving you life or sucking life out of you?

• Are you focused on your career options?

• Do you get good feedback from your manager?

• Do you receive an appropriate financial reward?

• Do you feel you and your work are valued and appreciated?

• Do you work for an organisation that cares about people?

• Do you enjoy the company of the people you work with?

• What’s the level of morale like in your work group?

Normally, when results on the overall career profile are less than 70/100, people agree that they’re not in the right job. Certainly those scoring less than 60 have sufficient issues relating to career management as to seriously consider going somewhere else.

SCORING GUIDELINES

Excellent, scoring 8 or more

Good, scoring 7 or more

Fair, scoring 5 or 6

Poor, scoring less than 5

‘Pass mark’ on all parameters 7/10.


	On the whole, a good result when compared to other groups we have surveyed. 2 people didn't know what they wanted to do when they grew up! My encouragement to people who scored less than 6 is to move heaven and earth to work out what it is they really want to do - and develop a plan to get there as soon as they can.	Compared with other groups this is an excellent result. A good proportion of people are in the right job for now. But managers need to find out who the person is who scored l3/10 and assist them to move to the job they'd really like to be doing.

	This is a pretty good score. Work is probably about as stressful as you want it to be. Walk away. Each morning when you get to work, set an alarm clock for 30 minutes before you want to leave. Make appointments for your Self that allow you to get on with your work unhindered by interruptions.	With only a couple of exceptions, a very pleasing result. If you're not focused, you're going to have to put up with whatever comes your way; it could be a tsunami!

	With the exception of the 5 people who scored less than 6/10, this is a good result. Of all our profile questions, this one is usually the worst answered. In this organisation there's some extra work for managers. For staff our recommendation is always to manage up. A lot of managers are too busy getting on with their work to spend time managing down. So, take your manager out for morning tea once a month and talk about yourself and your work. Get some regular feedback. Don't wait for the big one at the end of the year. If you manager doesn't have time for you, get another one!	This one's a bit patchy. It could be time for the organisation to bring out the cheque book. These people love their jobs; it would be a pity to lose them in the wilds of Western Australia. If you're not happy, you're selling yourself short. Log onto Seek and get your suit dry cleaned!

	With a few exceptions, this is a good result. In the main work is valued and appreciated.	It's a pretty good score but the aim is to have all staff recording a score of 7 or more. A good result. could be turned into a great result with a bit of tweaking.

	This is a very good score. Most people enjoy the company of their workmates.	Compared with other groups this is a good score - perhaps just a little bit off the pace. It's generally the case that our morale is good when my morale is good.

Average score: 72. Compared with other groups, this is a good result. For people who score less than 70, there is the whiff of a suggestion they're not in the right job; the situation is certainly redeemable. For people scoring less than 60 the smell is becoming distinctly stronger and below 50 it is very strong. Being in the wrong job sucks all vitality out of you. Based on this graph there are 14 people (who scored less than 60) who need to rethink their career options.

The Buddha and Confucius both said, 'Find the job you'd love to do and you won't have to do another days work in your life.'

RECOMMENDATIONS

See the generic list of recommendations that cover all our profiles.