Stress in the Workplace

What is stress?  Stress is the body’s physiological reaction to a perceived (real or imagined) threat that puts us into fight or flight mode.  For example if confronted by a lion while walking to your car in the parking lot, you may notice your adrenaline spike, blood sugar levels rise, and your heart begin to pump more blood to your muscles to prepare you for flight (or fight I guess if you are willing to go head to head with a lion).

While small amounts of stress can be beneficial, see lion example above, I think we can all agree that prolonged or chronic stress in the workplace can cause harmful effects to our physical and mental well being.  According to Dr. Rudy Kachmann, over 50% of adults in the United States report feeling high stress on a daily basis.  This is not only harmful to ourselves, but can be a huge cost to corporations, who the CDC say are losing profits by the millions due to higher medical expenses and premiums as well as lost productivity and absenteeism in the workplace.

So what can we do to manage stress in the workplace?

Controlling stress is vital to a person’s long-term health and wellbeing. Learning to manage stress can reduce your chances of developing long-term health issues such as heart disease and cancer. The first step in combating stress is recognizing you are in a stressful situation or becoming self-aware (a word we love here at THG).  Education, understanding the six dimensions of wellness, and putting a plan of action in place to combat stress and achieve balance are also essential to stress management.

To learn more about the six dimensions of wellness and how you can use this tool to manage your stress, please visit http://www.nationalwellness.org/index.php?id_tier=2&id_c=25

Also, if your company already has a successful Corporate Wellness program, feel free to leave tips below in the comments section.

Written By: Karen Schutte & Tammy Mitchell

Cinco de Mayo

Tomorrow is May 5, and even if you are not of Mexican heritage, you may be anticipating the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.  Though its origins are a mystery to most, the holiday is more than just a spirited excuse to brush up on your salsa lessons before raiding the local taco stand. Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico's surprising victory over the French -- then said to be the world's most powerful army -- at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Still, the holiday is often confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is actually Sept. 16, and receives limited recognition throughout much of Mexico, despite acknowledging the country's heritage.
The Hagerman Group thought it would be fun to help you in your celebration, so we have come up with 5

Things To Do on Cinco De Mayo. 

1.       Wear a Sombrero and wave the Mexican Flag.

2.       Go to your favorite Mexican restaurant and enjoy a taco, enchilada, or burrito.  Cap it off with an ice-cold marguerita (after-hours, of course!)

3.       Take your sweetie out for a night of Salsa dancing.

4.       Spend the day enjoying one of the many parades around town.

5.       Dress the part – wear a costume/find colorful clothes that have become part of the celebration.

Even if you don’t choose to celebrate as we have suggested, we hope that you enjoy this wonderful holiday in your own way.  “Feliz Cinco de Mayo!”

Linda Cauger
Receptionist

Rebuilding Together

For more than 43 years, Versie Perkins collected experiences and memories in her family home at 2714 N. Olney Street in Indianapolis. She raised four children here, including two sons who were part of the first African American class to graduate from Perry Meridian High School in the 1980s.

Now, at age 75 and suffering with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Versie is unable to do the necessary repairs to the home she’s loved for more than four decades. Her toilet had been broken for three months, her 30-year-old washing machine had quit working, the landscaping around the house and become overgrown, the brickwork needed repairs…among several other issues.

Just a few blocks away, at 2618 N. Parker Street, 71-year-old Willie Walker has always enjoyed fixing things up around his house “to make them look pretty.” But with a limited income, Willie has been unable to add and improve the landscaping around his home.

So, thanks to The Hagerman Group and many others who volunteered for this year’s “Rebuilding Together” project, Versie’s home got the updates it needed, and Willie received the “pretty” landscaping he’d dreamed of.

Nearly 15 Hagerman employees, friends, and family, participated in the project last Saturday, despite rain, storms, and cold temperatures. “We are all blessed to have our health and the ability and skills to help others who need it,” said Greg Delagrange, Hagerman Group’s House Captain. “There’s a sense of pride in helping out the elderly and disabled by providing our services.”

Greg’s been involved with Rebuilding Together for four years, but this is his first year as House Captain. In this new role, Greg invested many hours in the project. Some of his responsibilities included collecting all the tools, equipment and materials needed; meeting with the homeowners over a four-week period to do a needs analysis to put together and present a plan; and coordinating Hagerman volunteers.

Hagerman employees who volunteered were Mike Blount, Jeremy Denton, Kent Foreman, Dave McMath, Jeff Schroeder, April Simmons, Kim Spry, and Evan Sutton. Each spent hours doing whatever was asked of them, from tuckpointing bricks, painting, and landscaping, to building a new fence and replacing door hardware.

Rebuilding Together preserves and revitalizes houses and communities, assuring that low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and disabled and families with children, may continue to live in warmth, safety and independence.

The homeowners are deeply appreciative of the efforts and accomplishments of all the volunteers. Willie says “The volunteers are wonderful, taking time out of their lives to do something for others. He says he wants to give all the volunteers a “big hug.”

Stephanie Torr

Director of Business Development

Defining Sustainability: Triple Bottom Line

Too often I hear companies making the statement that “being green is too expensive.”  Well of course it is too expensive when you take the stance that in order for a corporation to be “sustainable,” it must focus solely on conserving natural resources regardless of costs.  Let’s take a look at a different approach for defining sustainability:  The Triple Bottom Line. 

                                            

Sometimes referred to as TBL, 3BL, The Three Pillars, or The Three Ps (People, Profit, Planet), it all boils down to the same basic concept:  success should be measured using economic, ecological, and societal criteria rather than profit alone.  Therefore, a sustainable business is one that operates at the intersection of Economic Growth, Social Equity, and Environmental Stewardship.

The Triple Bottom Line is a powerful business philosophy.  A corporation that is sustainable by this definition enjoys profits while improving the lives of the people it is connected to and protecting the environment.   With this kind of forward-thinking, a sustainable business is set up for long term success.    

For a wonderfully detailed explanation of TBL that describes the ‘Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How’, read The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work?, an Indiana Business Review article.     

Sustainability Coordinator, Karen Schutte, and I use this approach to work toward THG’s sustainability goals; we believe that it aligns with our core values of profitability, client focus, safety, innovation, and embrace change as well as our corporate citizenship strategy. 

Laura Bailey

Sustainability Director | Estimator

Productivity Gets You Paid Safety Gets You Home

“The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed.  When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.” 

-President Theodore Roosevelt.

I am sure that after reading that quote you immediately thought of someone who could fit that bill.  Do you also wonder who may have thought of you?  How is your safety record?  Your attitude and preparedness play a huge role in your personal safety and that of your surroundings. 

The attitude that says “Just let me do my job,” implies that the “job” is to build a form or pour concrete or install equipment.  In Reality, workers are compensated for doing their work, doing their work efficiently, and doing their work SAFELY.  When efficiency outweighs the focus of safety, accidents are likely.  It is also important to actively identify who is working in the area, as well as the type of work being performed.    Being unaware of what is going on around you puts you at risk for things that may go wrong above. 

Communicating with other trades in the work area and securing a safety plan for the job can ensure that everyone leaves the site without incident.  Even one worker with the wrong attitude can negatively affect the entire crew.  That is why it is extremely important to stay focused, not just on your own work but the work around you as well.  Don’t be the one who shows up with his “ends” in the wrong place!

There are many reasons for practicing safety in the workplace.  If avoiding injury is not reason enough, consider the other losses that come with an accident; lost wages, lost time, possible loss of the job itself; loss of material and tools, and the loss of your personal health.  These are great motivators for working safely, but the four most important motivators in my life are my two young boys, my little girl, and my beautiful wife, all of whom expect to see me walk through the front door every evening.

Aside from the quote by former President Roosevelt at the beginning of this article, I heard another good quote when I was working through school.  “We work to live, but we don’t live to work.”  Enjoying your work is important because it is where you spend much of your time.  I love my career, but I also want to enjoy the fruits of my labor.  Injuries make it less enjoyable and in some cases, impractical.  We have to make it safely through the week in order to enjoy the weekend.  Stay focused at work; go fishing on Saturday!

Tom Whitaker

Here Comes Peter Cottontail………But Where Did He Come FROM?

As Easter quickly approaches, we thought it would be fun to explore the origins of the Easter Bunny and how he came to be an Easter symbol for so many.  In order to gain access to this information, I ‘hopped’ on the Internet and found a website created by Arlene Wright-Correll, an “Easter Historian” of sorts, who offered the following facts: 

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.  The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America.  The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. These first bunnies were not made of chocolate; they were made of pastry and sugar. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter by itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time. As I mentioned, the Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good, the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs. The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread to other areas.  From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers. German settlers believed a white hare would leave brightly colored eggs for all good children on Easter morning.  Early American children built nests of leaves and sticks in their gardens for the Easter Hare to fill with colored eggs.  By the 19th century in America, the Easter Hare had become the Easter Bunny, delighting children with baskets of eggs, chocolates, candy chicks, jelly beans and other gifts on Easter morning. If this information has piqued your interest and you would like to learn more about Easter and its origins, please visit Ms. Correll’s website at www.learn-america.com.   Linda Cauger Receptionist

Organizational Structure of The Hagerman Group

Although The Hagerman Group has recently undergone some corporate reorganization, the roots of the company, founded in Indiana in 1908, remain the same.  More importantly, our employees, and the core values that were established from the start, are the main reason for our continued success.

Today, we consist of two separate entities, both operating side-by-side under The Hagerman Group umbrella.  On one side is our “trade contractor,” also known as Hagerman Construction Corporation (HCC).  HCC self performs all types of concrete work, masonry, and carpentry.  With these capabilities under our roof, HCC usually serves in one of two roles:  subcontractor or prime contractor.  Among our successes, HCC was the concrete and masonry subcontractor for the team that poured the foundations and laid the block for Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008, and we are currently a prime contractor for the University of Notre Dame Stadium Drainage Tunnel project, performing the concrete and masonry work.

The second “arm” of The Hagerman Group is Hagerman Inc. (HI), can offer significant deliverable diversity, depending on the needs of the client.  Typically, HI is the general contractor, construction manager, or design builder for a project.  Currently, HI is the general contractor in charge of building the new $30 million Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington.  In addition, HI is the design builder managing construction at the new Hamilton Southeastern Junior High School, scheduled for completion later this year.

Having the unique capability of serving in a variety of roles allows HCC and HI to provide clients with an invaluable service.  As we manage, design and build various construction projects, The Hagerman Group provides our clients with a superior product and unequaled service.   Though we pride ourselves on these accomplishments and the client relationships we have forged throughout the years, the strength of The Hagerman Group will always be our employees and the core values they demonstrate on the job and in the community each and every day! 

John Kilbury, Estimator