Employee-Health Books

Corporations often don't like to expose how workers are treated. That can make it extremely difficult, if you are seeking a job at a particular company, or looking for a job in a new career.

Labier, unexpectedly, uncovered damning evidence of what the modern work world can be like.

As a psychiatrist treating people in white-collar professionals who were bothered by their jobs, he used standard psychological tests as a quantitative tool. He hit upon the idea of going to the companies where these people to find out, using the same psychological tests, what the people who liked their jobs were like.

The results floored him. There was a significant difference but not in the direction he had expected: on a dominance-submissive scale, people who liked their white-collar corporate jobs tended to either be significantly more dominant or significantly more submissive.

Labier apparently made an effort to call this state of affairs to the governments attention. If you are an individual bothered by your white-collar job, it's possible you are facing the kinds of dominant or submissive co-workers Labier uncovered. When you throw in the downsizing, belittlement and growing gap between worker and executive compensation seen in the 1990's and 2000's, it isn't that hard to believe what Labier found, is it? So which comes first, do the corporate practices attracts the dominants and submissives or is it the other way around? Best to be as much out of the way as possible, perhaps.

At the least, it can be helpful to understand how psychologically unhealthly a corporate atmosphere can be - as confirmed using standard psychological tests by a psychiatrist testing inside corporations.

This book was a recommended text in my Organizational Behavior class. I'll need a new copy because I have underlined and highlighted so much of the text! Dr. LaBier has deftly identified theoretical and practical "gaps" in the fields of clinical psychology, organizational psychology, organizational development and management consulting. The Big Question ... What type of organizational context/environment are individuals being encouraged to adapt to? The personal costs of so-called healthy adjustment to one's work environment often include suffering from symptoms of value conflicts, negative coping and overadapting? These symptoms are exacerbated if you are a healthy well-adjusted individual. They are significantly diminished if you are an individual whose daily interactions are already rife with maladaptive behaviors! Have you discovered that many managers and leaders seem to make others sick? Then you've been exposed to the individual that Dr. LaBier describes in great detail. The workplace winner could be a very disturbed individual whose mental aberrations are valued as strengths in our workplaces. Unchecked, these individuals spread malaise, low morale, mistrust and other damaging workplace dynamics.

One of the key paradoxes illuminated in this book... what are the implications for individuals and society when the maladaptive individual can adjust and flourish in a corporate (disturbed) environment and the healthy, adjusted person is depleted mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually by the same (disturbed) environment? What are the responsibilities of organizational experts whose primary task is to develop or "fix" individuals or teams so they may successfully "adjust" to their disturbed work environments? There are positive and negative repercussions to the pursuit of career success, Dr. LaBier encourages his readers to question the assumption that adaptiveness equates to healthy functioning.

Balance, balance, balance! We all talk about it but what have you done to balance your life this week? Here's the best answer between two covers.

Suzanne and Krista have done a fabulous job of providing all of us a practical guide for renewing and rejuvenating our bodies, minds, and spirits, not to mention also revitalizing relationships, creativity, and commitments.

Experienceing a lack of energy? Lost your motivation at work? Wondering what life is all about? Suzanne and Krista have given us a gift with Running on Plenty at Work. They provide us with not only a roadmap, but a calendar for what to do every week, and resources for every month of the year. They've thought of everything! And that makes it easy for you to find the balance you are looking for.

The book is jam-packed with tips, exercises, and practical advice. It offers new ideas and ways to look at your world, and it will remind you of all those things you already know but haven't found the time to do. Each of the 100+ ideas is worth the price of the book alone.

Don't hesitate putting this book in your shopping cart. You'll be the winner.

Last Saturday, I sat with a coffee on a bench outside Quatermaine's and enjoyed about an hour and a half of reading Running on Plenty. That morning break was followed by regular respites of reading time during the following week. I confess to have skipped around and not even attempted to read front to back. Not my way. Yet, it didn't take long for me to run out of pages that had none of my highlighted markings on it.

This book is a solid contribution to my professional and personal life. The visuals are friendly and effective -- the key points, inspirational quotes, road to renewal signs, spaciousness, tailor-made graphics, soulful writing, practicality, and page after loving page of simple wisdom -- all satisfying and nourishing.

I appreciated how this book began, with both authors telling personal stories of learning first-hand about the importance of balance and renewal. Each story was poignant and something that anyone can identify with, I would imagine. It's a friendly, friendly book -- from colors to typeface to spacing to mixing of many inspirational and helpful lines from endless sources & resources. There is so much good work & research supporting what has been assembled and written, which is immediately apparent to the reader, that it had the effect of relaxing me --I knew I was in good hands, and that I was being enriched in ways that I needed.

One final observation that has stayed with me...when I closed the book and went to my car to drive home, and on the way home I noticed a very good, rich, dynamic energy in my solar plexus. It wasn't the caffeine because I'm strictly on decaf now. So, I know it was the stirring from the tone and gentle massaging of the stories, insights, resonance, and spirit of your book. That was a wonderful gift. It surprised me to have had an effect on my energy simply from the reading. I think that happens in the presence of beauty, goodness, and truth, which has been masterfully conveyed and honored.

This book has become an important companion, helping me to care for myself so that I can care more effectively for others.

Dr. Flannery provides an illuminating analysis of the dynamics of workplace violence. The conceptual framework he developed continues to assist policymakers in negotiating the ever growing number of incidents. This unique text is the culmination of years of Dr. Flannery's own research designs and scientifically validated data in which he presents a threefold approach to preventing workplace violence and its aftermath. This text demonstrates Dr. Flannery's usual academic excellence. It is, moreover, written in a style that makes it accessible to the person who needs it most - the employer. VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE confirms Dr. Ray Flannery's status as one of the leading experts in the field.

I recently needed to research the topic of preventing violence in the workplace with emphasis on site employees. I found Dr. Flannery's Violence in the Workplace presents scientific findings in clear non-technical language and offers practical suggestions. Other books I've surveyed, have focused primarily on the disgruntled employee and how to possibly identify such employees. These authors largely appear primarily to use their own experiences in suggesting intervention strategies, with fewer other references. Flannery's book identifies the six most common types of assailants and a detailed three-fold, research-based, risk management approach, including the process of post-incident support services that he has designed and empirically tested. This book is now recommended in the Occupational and Safety Health Administration's guidelines for violence prevention in health care and retail industrial settings. It gives an understanding of the psychological sides of the issue and dovetails usefully with the federal guidelines. It has stood the test of time and I recommend it highly.

We worked several years on an outline for this book. We wanted to follow up the 1992 AFB Worksite HP Guidelines book with content that "moved the field" forward. The Association for Worksite Health Promotion was becoming financially challenged because of infighting and poor management at the organizational level. But those of us that worked on this book believed in worksite wellness / health promotion and also understood that there needed to be more books about our field written by practitioners.

This book is different for it not only offers a view of the theories and models that drive our programming forward, but also provides many good chapters on "how to do it". These "how to" chapters have been written by practitioners that have many years in the trenches. Practitioners that represent many different models, work environments and philosophes. The diversity of the authors in this book is one of its major strengths. Lots of good ideas that still have meaning in worksite programming today.

I can't imagine a worksite professional not having this in their library.

William B. Baun, EPD, FAWHP

I first met Dr. Mayes during one of my visits to USA, and I had the honor to get in touch with his book "Dental Benefits" when it was still being prepared in his office in Hershey,PA. That time he told me the book will focus also the Dental PPOs, considering the exploding grow on the last years. When finally the book came published, I could confirm not only that PPOs were there, but the were many other interesting subjects related to all the business of Dental Plan in USA. The book is so completed that we invited Dr. mayes to visit Brazil and share your temendous knowledge and experience in Dental Benefits with our local market key executives. The firt Seminar of Dental Plans Management took place at American Chambers of Commerce of São Paulo, 26th and 27th of September 2002 and his book "Dental Benefits" were included for each participant of the Seminar. Since then the wook is largely used for many people, including the Agencia Nacional de Saúde Suplementar(ANS), the federal government agency for dental and health plans regulation. A significant part of Dr. Mayes book was also translated and used by ANS in the Referral Material in their first publication on Dental Plans - "Planos Odontológicos: Uma Abordagem Economica no Contexto Regulatório".
This and many other facts prove that Dr. Mayes book is not applicable for the "American Dental Benefits" , but for "World Dental Benefits" . Certainly it has a great value for the brazilian Dental Market at the present "growing" moment.

I never thought I would be able to pass a drug test but the information in this book made it easy. It is loaded with valuable information on drug testing and describes several ways to pass any type of drug test. Well worth the money. Highly recommended.

To learn more about the root causes of the lingering shortage of certain specialists in the healthcare field, I bought 7 books from Amazon.com.

This book is by far the best book in explaining key reasons for the healthcare staff shortage and strategies/tactics to help retain the staff you have.

Because healthcare has become a politicized issue, some books take on a partisan tone, but fortunately this book is NOT a partisan diatribe. This book is both an excellent, academic style study, written in a readable format. (But it is dense with facts. I've had to read it slowly because there is so much information to absorb.)

Ms. Numerof and Mr. Abrams, the authors of this text, have not only researched and written an excellent book, the authors are also making a profound contribution to clarifying pressing healthcare staffing issues, which may be a catalyst to future governmental, institutional and societal decision making, helping to shape a better healthcare system in the future. (And we will all benefit from that.) Great job. Thanks for your good work.

I hope the author of this book reads this review, because he's probably just some regular guy who doesn't write a bunch of books and as such has no particular reason to believe he's some great writer. So I would like to tell that guy he has done a really nice job with this book.

I happened on this in a bookstore (not exactly the kind of place that carries NY Times bestsellers prominently displayed) and was interested in it as a political scientist, wanting an in depth treatment of the American policy process with more verisimilitude than Schoolhouse Rock's "I'm Just a Bill." The book nicely shows the sometimes surprising relationships between administrative agencies, the White House, Congress, and lobbyists in what was supposedly the apex of "iron triangle" government. The great depth provides fertile ground to spin lots of stories about the key moving parts in the policy process, which to me is one of the most valuable aspects of case studies in the research process. Agenda setting, expertise and information, legislative attention to issues, etc.: a lot of stuff familiar to contemporary political scientists is well illustrated in this book. I was secondarily very interested in the book's demonstration -- as a bonus, I think, rather than something the author set out to do -- of the effects of non-selfish preferences of individual actors in the policy process, for things resembling equity and fairness on the policy agenda and ultimate policy outcomes.

While (aside from the content of this book) I know next to nothing about pension policy except what one might learn by paying sporadic attention to statements from a (fully vested, I might add) TIAA-CREF account, I will confidently aver that the book will also be valuable to the most sophisticated audiences interested in public policy related to retirement, the aged, and pensions.

The book could not unjustly be accused of being ever so slightly repetitive, especially in the first couple chapters, but it's not so bad and the review is actually helpful in spite of the feeling of deja vu. It could probably come in about 25 pages shorter than it is, and that's not terribly inefficient in the end.

Despite the insurance industry's tendency to tout integrated disability and medical management plans, there remains a dearth of available information to guide the interested business manager through the process. The Executive's Guide to Controlling Health Care and Disability Costs: Strategy-Based Solutions provides an excellent overview and in-depth treatment of why companies should pursue an integrated approach toward disability and health care management, and how exactly they should do it

When it comes to federal employment law my company wants to comply. Buying this one poster to cover all six laws saved me so much time. Simple. Job done. By the way, I believe federal law says you need to display these notices in every 'employee location', whatever that means. To be safe we have posted on every employee noticeboard where company notices are placed.