Responses to stress

The work of Lazarus and Folkman has strongly influenced our thinking around stress since the mid-1980s (Biggs et al., 2017). Called the "transactional theory of stress and coping", the idea is that we have two way "transactions between an individual and their environment; therefore, it is neither the individual nor the environment alone that produces stress but a complex transaction between the two" (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 351). When we become stressed, our "reaction is influenced by" a "cognitive process through which" we ascribe[ meaning] to events/stimuli" (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 352). Our stress response is a reaction to perceived harm of some type (Biggs et al., 2017). Lazarus and Folkman appear to have focused their research on two key elements: those who manage stress via doing; and those who manage stress via emotional regulation (Biggs et al., 2017).

At the 2023 Cannexus presentation by Borgen et al., William Borgen spoke briefly about how we respond to stress, exploring a triple reaction theory (2023, 13:43), drawing on the work of Lazarus and Folkman, where we tend to do one of three things, to: get task-oriented and deal with our source of stress; get emotional about it; or become passive and ignore it, as follows:

1. "Problem-Focused Coping: Dealing directly with and acting on the source of the stress" (Borgen et al., 2023, 13:43; emphasis added). In this situation, our "coping is process-oriented and dynamic, rather than trait-based", involving "conscious, purposeful actions employed" when we perceive a 'harmful' stressful situation, and we take action to "directly manage the stress" (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 353). Then we check to see if our strategy worked, or "cognitive reappraisal" (Biggs et al., 2017). This is considered a "Type A" response (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 122).
2. "Emotion-Focused Coping: Dealing with and controlling their stressful feelings and emotions" (Borgen et al., 2023, 13:43; emphasis added). Here too, where we perceive a 'harmful' stressful situation, we act to "regulate emotions arising as a consequence of the stress" (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 353). While emotional coping seems to be considered a "maladaptive" strategy - if it works, why not? - we act, then again pause to check for effectiveness (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 354).
3. "Avoidance-Focused Coping: Passively avoiding having to deal with underlying source of stress" (Borgen et al., 2023, 13:43; emphasis added). There is a time component, which - I think - has us thinking about whether we need to do something NOW, or if we can postpone it: "future-oriented coping [or] avoidance coping" (Biggs et al., 2017, p. 358), or "denial" (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 138) or "automatized adaptive" behaviours (p. 140). Postponing coping strategies long-term is not considered ideal (Biggs et al., 2017).

Something I find fascinating about how Borgen et al. (2023) presented Lazarus and Folkman's work is how much it appears to shadow the behavioural work of the Iowa Studies, headed by Kurt Lewin. The researchers found that there were three behaviours of leaders: that of autocracy where a leader centralises authority, deriving power from their position, control of rewards, and coercion; democracy, where a leader delegates authority to others, encourages participation, relies on staff knowledge to get tasks complete, where influence comes from staff respect, and favours empowerment; and laissez faire where a leader is largely hands-off, MIA, and staff get on with the job according to their own lights and goals (Daft, 2008; Jackson & Parry, 2018).

Is it just me who sees that?

Sam

References:

Biggs, A., Brough, P., & Drummond, S. (2017). Chapter 21: Lazarus and Folkman’s Psychological Stress and Coping Theory. In. C. L. Cooper, J. C. Quick (Eds.), The Handbook of Stress and Health: A Guide to Research and Practice (1st ed., pp x-x). John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Borgen, W., Luke, J., & Borgen, R. (2023). Older Workers: Well-being and Career Engagement [video]. CANNEXUS23 Conference. https://cannexus23.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/xdLoCLMG2xzHy8q2o

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer Publishing Company.

Daft, R. L., (2008). The Leadership Experience (4th ed.). Thomson-South Western.

Jackson, B., & Parry K. (2018). A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying leadership (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

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Reframing VUCA

Human Resource Management (HRM) may be defined as "the strategies, policies, plans, processes and practices which an organisation uses to attract and engage, manage, develop, and reward its workers, and to encourage, maintain, and improve their performance and contributions" (Rudman, 2017, p. 13). HRM may also be termed the management of people and work in organisations (Bryson & Ryan, 2012). 

HRM comprises a set of organisational activities, designed to improve organisational performance within a highly dynamic organisational, social, economic and environmental context... or within a 'VUCA' world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014b). Dealing with our VUCA world's impact on today's workplaces requires the use of strategic HRM and HRD.

Reframing - or cognitive reframing as it is now more commonly known - was the work of Aaron Beck in the 1960s. Working with clients with clinical depression, Beck found that if clients could recognise negative thoughts, they could then shift or challenge themselves into a more positive mindset which lessened or halted their depression (Beck, 1997).

How does this relate to VUCA? If we reframe VUCA from the negative into a more positive HRD perspective, we can consider the counters to volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity: vision, understanding, clarity and caring, and agility. We can use these concepts as proactive strategies as we plan our counter-approaches, instead of passively having the world avalanche on us (CANNEXUS, 2023).

• Vision: seeing further. What is coming towards us in this wild world. Regularly using tools such as SWOT, Porters and audience analyses, as well as wide reading, will help us to stay alert
• Understanding: gathering knowledge so we understand the impact. Collecting both internal and external LMI
• Clarity and caring. Being clear about responsibility and tasks. First getting our organisational 'house' in order through good quality processes, instructions, onboarding, job analysis and performance. Then being compassionate about caring for all the people in the organisation so that they care for the organisation in return
• Agility. Being as flexible as we can so that when everything goes pear-shaped, everyone can move quickly. Planning for crises. Practicing the plan. Sharing technology and ideas. Assuming - particularly in a post-Covid world, that a crisis like Covid will happen again and being prepared for it

Let's stay awake out there.

Sam

References:

Beck, A. T. (1997). The past and the future of cognitive therapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 6(4), 276-284. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3330473/pdf/jp64276.pdf

Bennett, N. & Lemoine, G. J. (2014b). What VUCA Really Means for You. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

Bryson, J., & Ryan, R. (2012). Human resource management in the workplace. Pearson Education.

CANNEXUS. (2023). Old VUCA to New VUCA [image]. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNQk16EAHKZYvsaGX35kBYX05ZzCrM6s_yyczL8fiPxKGg7Uax-5Pe6wqYUjWcfyA/photo/AF1QipM3ggRHEXg8-3H4TCKKwiln7MdguW2unb2tlPWd?key=NElTVWhRQy1BZXdkS3VZX1BHVlFGQlotR0FJeWZR

Rudman, R. S. (2017). Chapter 2: Human Resources Management today. In HR Manager: A New Zealand handbook (2nd ed. pp. 37-56). Wolters Kluwer/CHH New Zealand.

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Canadian career development research

Having attended the CANNEXUS conference earlier this year, I took part in an interesting session which - while it was not directly applicable to my practice - did expose me to a couple of Canadian reports which I had not yet encountered (Vandegriend, 2023).

Firstly a great report focusing on labour market information (LMI) and how Canadian adults engaged - or did not engage - in career development services during the early stages of the pandemic. It was fascinating that men were nearly a quarter more likely to seek out services than women; that those with tertiary qualifications, OR new Canadians, OR those who were unemployed, were nearly a third more likely to use career services. What was also interesting was that many reported LMI gaps in their career interaction. A result of the research was that there are under-served sectors of the population who would benefit from career development (CD) services, but who are not yet engaging. The data from this survey would have provided the Canadian government with some really valuable information (LMIC, 2021).

Secondly, a report on the benefits of career development, and how it is "critical for both continued labour force attachment and for supporting sustainable economic growth" (Irwin et al., 2021, p. 2). Again, this report shows that those in under-served sectors are those possibly least likely to access career development services. This work identifies some of the access barriers and provides some potential solutions (Irwin et al., 2021):

1. CD needs a "whole-of-person" approach
2. More awareness of the benefits and greater visibility of CD is needed
3. Use technology more
4. Results must be measured for the Government to see actual payback over time

The latter point reminds me of what a lecturer of mine used to say: "what we measure is what we get". We need good measures. We need a measurement tool to trap our data. We need an EASY way to get sensible information out of the tool which stores our data without lots of additional manipulation. Otherwise we are garbage in for garbage out (Von Bertalanffy, 1968).

And that brings me to some other work: a tool for measuring the impact of career development services developed by a consortium of Canadian researchers (Bezanson et al., 2022). This tool, called PRIME, is a database which stores practitioner notes of client employability outcomes over time: a "employability assessment tool developed by the [Canadian Career Development Foundation] to collect and analyze data on a wide[...] and [...] diverse set of client outcomes" (Irwin et al., 2021, p. 39). This is such a good idea.

We need something like this here in Aotearoa: a way to capture and store our client's progress, based on our client's goals, and on what they see as being success.

Sam

References:

Bezanson, L., Pickerell, D., Hopkins, S. (2022). Career Services: Impact, Proof & New Evidence [video]. CANNEXUS22 Virtual Conference 25 January - 5 February 2022. https://cannexus22.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/rqzQwjg2CvrC4TnYF

Irwin, J., Lipsey, A., Coronel, S. (2021). Breaking Down Barriers to Career Development [report]. Future Skills Centre. https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5f80fa46a156d5e9dc0750bc/619541ed3bd3e372f26a21d9_FSC-RCP-Barriers-Nov17-BL.pdf

LMIC. (2021). Are Adults Making Use of Career Services in Canada: An Insight Report from the Labour Market Information Council and the Future Skills Centre [report]. Labour Market Information Council. https://fsc-ccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Are-Adults-Making-Use-of-Career-Services-in-Canada-LMIC-FSC_EN.pdf

Vandegriend, K. (2023). Why Communicating What You Do Matters [video]. CANNEXUS23 Conference 23-25 January 2023. https://cannexus23.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/aHL5uvYwxuY7Dtvx3

Von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. George Braziller.

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Career challenge card sort

Anyone who wants to try a digital card sort might enjoy the SparkPath offering at McMaster University: via a set of digital challenge cards. I encountered this when attending the CANNEXUS conference earlier this year (2023), in a presentation from the authors of a new book, Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education (Buford et al., 2022). One of the chapter authors detailed the use of the digital challenge cards, which was very interesting (Chapter 12; Stebleton & Franklin, 2022).

After watching the presentation I was quite keen to check out the cards, and found the digital resource online here (McMaster University, 2023). Students can go online, sign up so they get their results, then work through the cards. Their results will provide some ideas for discussion. The 'challenge' element of the cards comes in when users select their favourite cards in the card sort using emojis, as all the cards are focused on solving a problem, not on doing a job. This is really a form of interest inventory. 

The idea is that we go through the SparkPath card sort and select not interested, interested, or very interested for each card. Then we chose our first, second and third most loved cards at the end. We can download a personal report based on our choices. We can also download a workbook to continue our exploration.

However, having tried this myself, I found some negatives in the widespread use of this digital card sort: 

1. Age. Even though the card design is bright and cheerful, the language targets secondary school students; potentially younger secondary school students. I would not recommend this as a tool for adults as I think adults may get impatient and feel condescended to. 
2. Code. A paid access code is needed to even access the card sort. I used "macssccareers" to sign up, so you could try that. 
3. Personalisation. The resulting reports are extremely simplistic and the personalised report is not really personalised at all. It is a standard report containing three pages detailing our three main choices. For an adult there is simply not enough depth. The workbook might be helpful, but this contains absolutely no personalisation whatsoever.
4. Simplicity. I am not convinced that there is enough underlying complexity in the number and range of challenge cards, the resulting information, or the reporting to make paying for access to this card sort worthwhile.
5. Cultural alignment. Some of the cards I chose didn't fit my expectations due to language differences. Terms we use in New Zealand are not the same as those used in North America. Further, this was a very Western-centric card sort, being quite individualistic. There was little which focused on the collective, or the relational. 

Overall, while this is a great idea - for a monthly subscription model - I am unconvinced that there is enough value to warrant purchasing this card sort. If I was working with large numbers of 11-13 year olds I might. But otherwise, no.

I am glad I explored it though. 

Sam

References:

Buford, M. V., Sharp, M. J., & Stebleton, M. J. (Eds.). (2022). Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education: Equitable Career Learning, Development, and Preparation in the New World of Work. Taylor & Francis.

CANNEXUS. (2023). Stebleton, M. J., Franklin, M., Michel, J. P., Mapping the Future of Career: A New Textbook [video]. CANNEXUS23 Conference 23-25 January 2023. https://cannexus23.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/jfn4JNM26uHoB8Xra

McMaster University. (2023). The Digital Challenge Cards. https://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/digital-challenge-cards/

Stebleton, M. J. & Franklin, M. (2022). Chapter 12: Applying Narrative Approaches to Support Undergraduate Career Decision-Making. In M. V. Buford, M. J. Sharp, M. J. Stebleton (Eds.), Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education: Equitable Career Learning, Development, and Preparation in the New World of Work (pp. 183-199). Taylor & Francis.

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Should we cite each sentence?

TECHNICALLY, when using APA, we are supposed to cite each sentence. Practically, however, where an entire paragraph is solely based on the work of a single author, we are probably 'safe' to simply cite at the end. Doing so is less repetitive, so is easier to read. An example:

Self-report inventories can "be a form of self-talk", as while we may be reporting "what [we] believe is true about [our] situations [, what we report] are perceptions and may not be reality". We can delude ourselves via our internal narrative. Further, perception becomes our own reality, as "regardless of how real the barrier is, [our] self-talk can have a dramatic impact on how [we] view [our]selves, as well as on [our] options and how [we] make career decisions" (Osborn & Zunker, 2016, p. 133).

However, writing a paragraph from a single author source is not considered 'good' academic writing, nor is using lots of quotes. As academics we need to be careful about encouraging this, because it means that our students are are not being encouraged to create a synthesis of their own ideas evidenced by multiple authors/sources, but are being 'derivative' (McConnachie, 2022). We would be better to construct a paragraph from more sources, trimming quotes, as follows:

Self-talk has been defined as a “dialogue [through which we interpret] feelings and perceptions, regulates and changes evaluations and convictions, and [give ourselves] instructions and reinforcement” (Hackfort & Schwenkmezger, 1993, p. 355). Self-report inventories can be categorised as self-talk (Osborn & Zunker, 2016). When we undertake self-reporting tools, we may think we are reporting who we truly we are, but our perceptions are likely to be skewed through a level of either conscious or unconscious self-delusion (Osborn & Zunker, 2016), reminiscent of the JoHari Window (Luft, 1982). Self-talk as an internal, personal narrative may critique us more heavily than outside voices (Billan, 2022), which can negatively skew our self-view. Our perception IS our own reality; our self-talk impacts how we see ourselves, our choices, and our personal career decision-making processes (Osborn & Zunker, 2016).

Lastly, we also need to remember that we should not give away our power; so we should avoid leading-off a paragraph with the author name, such as "Osborn and Zunker say that self-report inventories are "a form of self talk" (2016, p. 133)"... which places the author at the centre, instead of our own ideas being the primary focus.

Sam

References:

Billan, R. (2022). Keynote Address | Allocution: Redefining Resilience [video]. CANNEXUS22 Virtual Conference 25 January - 5 February. https://cannexus22.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/prczg7FhBvbNczsYn

Hackfort, D., & Schwenkmezger, P. (1993). Chapter 14: Anxiety. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphey, & L. K. Tennant (Eds.). Handbook of Research on Sport Psychology (pp. 328–364). Macmillan Publishing Company.

Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1961). The Johari Window: a graphic model of awareness in interpersonal relations. Human Relations Training News, 5(1), 6-7.

McConnachie, J. (26 May 2022). Using quotations effectively. https://rlfconsultants.com/using-quotations-effectively/

Osborn, D. S., & Zunker, V. G. (2016). Using Assessment Results for Career Development (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

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The meh meh meh voice

We all get that voice in our heads from time to time: you know, the "Meh meh meh" voice with a nasally whine which tells us we 'shouldn't', 'don't deserve', are 'over-reaching', or are 'getting above ourselves'. This voice has theoretical construct; "self-talk", defined as a “dialogue [through which we interpret] feelings and perceptions, regulates and changes evaluations and convictions, and [give ourselves] instructions and reinforcement” (Hackfort & Schwenkmezger, 1993, p. 355).

A friend of mine thinks of the meh meh meh voice as a little goblin that sits on his shoulder. He is allowed out for a major complain from 8am. Then at 8.05am he has to go back in his box. That's control!

However, for we mere mortals who find ourselves unable to wrestle the meh meh meh goblin back into his box, I have another idea to try.

This particular solution is for when things have gone pear-shaped. This is when the meh meh meh goblin is usually in full cry, wailing that "we should have known', we 'are a fool', we 'knew it wouldn't work'. Instead of beating ourselves up, we could imagine that we are debriefing a client who has done what we have done. We ask them a couple of questions, aiming to lower our internal voice of self-criticism (Billan, 2022):

• How could you have improved the result?
• What could you have improved?

We answer them as if we are our own client. As we get practiced, we can ask them of ourselves:

• What could I have done better?
• How could I have improved the result?

And hopefully this helps us, over time, to quieten our meh meh meh voice.

Sam

References:

Billan, R. (2022). Keynote Address | Allocution: Redefining Resilience [video]. CANNEXUS22 Virtual Conference 25 January - 5 February. https://cannexus22.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/prczg7FhBvbNczsYn

Hackfort, D., & Schwenkmezger, P. (1993). Chapter 14: Anxiety. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphey, & L. K. Tennant (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Sport Psychology (pp. 328–364). Macmillan Publishing Company.

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Internet metaphors

It is always great to attend a conference. I think one of the most valuable things is that we get to hear people who don't think about the world in the same way that we do, who tell our stories from a different perspective.

I attended the CERIC (Canadian Education and Research in Career Counselling) CANNEXUS conference earlier this year, and listened to a session by Tristram Hooley and Tom Staunton (Hooley & Staunton, 2022). Their presentation was based on their book chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Career Development (Robertson et al., 2021), which outlined a number of things about the pros and cons of technology use in career development.

They outlined that the internet is not inherently good or bad. It is simply a thing. Our construction - and our client's construction - is what colours our view. An element within the presentation that was really sticky for me was their metaphor approach for the internet. They outlined six (Hooley & Staunton, 2022):

1. Library. Collectively the internet is an information store that we - and our clients - can use for good quality career decision-making. While what is found on the web is not necessarily accurate, complete, or unbiased, it is available; providing we can give our clients appropriate tools to "interrogate, critique, and assess the value" of it (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 301).
2. Media channel. Help clients to narrow-cast their narrative/identity meaningfully so they keep "control their self-presentation online" to their own level of comfort (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 301). Guide clients in narrative-development to build a positive, not negative, career identity (Hooley & Staunton, 2022).
3. Surveillance camera. Check in to ensure clients understand traceability and permanence online. All "online [...material] can be used in a selection [, ...] management process", education, or in government records (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 302). Further, just the idea of visibility may change our behaviour "to conform to what [we] imagine employers and others would want" (p. 302).
4. Marketplace. The web is a virtual career opportunity market, created through interactions with employers, educators, recruiters, and online professional profiles such as Linkedin. It also provides volunteer project involvement to showcase skills (such as Wikipedia, Ubuntu, etc) or to advertise piece work on platforms such as Fiverr (Hooley & Staunton, 2022).
5. Meeting place. The web enables us to have conversations with others and find our digital tribe, "build[ing] and maintain[ing] a career-relevant network (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 302). This is not limited to professional networking (i.e. LinkedIn), but may include vloggers on YouTube, Facebook groups, or any of the myriad of other platforms and spaces (including the dark web for some fields).
6. Arena. The internet enables "norms [to] be established or challenged" (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 302), which is a pretty powerful idea. It also allows those in power to deny public access to the channel (such as in Syria, Myanmar, and - at times - China). The internet may be either "a place of play and exploration [or] a place of protests and critique" (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 302). From the "hashtag activism" of #MeToo to "us[ing] the crowd as a form of protection", the internet is allowing us to evolve the idea of work, and to spread new ways of working and connecting (Hooley & Staunton, 2021, p. 302-3).

Quite a useful list to consider client's points of view from, and to provide useful redirect where an overly positive or negative view is taken.

Sam

References:

Hooley, T., & Staunton, T. (2022). The Role of Digital Technology in Career Development [video]. CANNEXUS22 Virtual Conference 25 January - 5 February. https://cannexus22.gtr.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/9WtH6q3KTzhfGw44R

Hooley, T., & Staunton, T. (2021). Chapter 21: The Role of Digital Technology in Career Development. In P. J. Robertson, T. Hooley, P. McCash (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of Career Development (pp. 297-311). Oxford University Press.

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