Managing your Wellness while On-Call

You know that being “on-call” is necessary for your travel business. 

During peak season, your staff is in the field 24/7. They are constantly working to support participants’ wellbeing, perhaps operating in an unfamiliar environment, handling crises on the ground, and ensuring all the hard work you’ve spent planning your programs is delivered as designed. They’re likely stressed, looking to you for guidance on a variety of issues, and don’t “get away” from the group for personal time nearly enough. 

As the business leader, being responsible for their wellbeing is even more of a challenge. Not only do you want the best for your staff, but it’s crucial that you help them make tough decisions when unexpected situations arise. In addition, you may be simultaneously supporting the vendors, participants, participants’ families, and the business itself. 

Never is this responsibility and challenge more clear than during an on-call period. Despite all your careful planning, it’s inevitable that things will go wrong. 

While on-call availability is a necessary business objective, there’s no doubt that being on-call takes a toll on an individual's physical and mental health. 

That’s probably no surprise to you! However, rather than exhaust yourself (or support an exhausted team) and put your health on hold until the end of the season, it’s key to take an active role in supporting mental health now to avoid the side effects of prolonged stress. 

How? Well, let’s start by addressing the issue head-on. 

What’s the deal with being on-call? 

As it turns out, being on-call creates mental health challenges across a variety of professions. 

On-call burnout exists beyond the stressful events themselves - being on-call affects your sleep and rest periods in between incidents. 

According to The Science of On-Call, “the painfully unappreciated scenario is actually what happens every other night when your rest gets ruined by the mere anticipation of getting a call. Studies repeatedly show that on-call employees experience disrupted sleep and poor quality rest regardless of whether or not a call is actually received.” 

These findings are echoed by a study reviewed by Inc.com, in which they determined “it didn't matter whether the participants had actually dealt with any work demands during their on-call period … simply the anticipation of having to handle work issues that affected their mood and stress levels.”

Essentially, it’s not the actual emergencies that make you feel run-down during an on-call period, but rather the anticipation and lifestyles adjustments that lead to mental health challenges. 

And we’re not simply referring to feeling “tired” or “sluggish.” On-call work can actually lead to considerably more serious mental health challenges. According to a study published by National Library of Medicine, Review of On-call Work and Mental Health, “It was determined that both anxiety and depression were associated with the amount of on-call duties undertaken.”

So, let’s face it - your business will require you to be on-call. However, you also need to protect your own mental health. Beyond preventing burn-out, you need to be your best self to function in a crisis scenario. An increased cortisol level from stress and lack of sleep ensures you won’t be performing your best. Finding some coping strategies to make stress manageable during on-call periods is paramount to delivering top-notch programming support when your stakeholders need it most. 

How can I protect my mental health during an “on-call” period? 

Practicing Detachment: Work on post-call detachment. 

“Given the present knowledge of stress’s long-term effects on our health, we have two options to consider. We can reduce job stress or maximize recovery afterwards. But so long as we are jumping to answer the phone when work calls, there is little chance of either happening.” (Scientific American, The Strain of Always Being On-call).

Let’s recognize that reducing job stress during on-call shifts isn't a possibility (yet). However, we can focus on maximizing recovery through post-incident detachment. Advocating for staff to take periods of uninterrupted rest between inbound calls might be a start. Also consider reducing workloads, redirecting urgent tasks, or loosening project deadlines during peak on-call periods help to support your team’s recovery during this critical time. 

Clear Communication & Confidence: Pair role clarity with crisis response confidence. 

Practice makes … well, almost perfect. By training yourself and your staff to handle anticipated and unanticipated situations, you set them up to handle crises with confidence. Back that up with continued validation and positive review/debrief of nicely handled on-call incidents. With increased confidence in their role, combined with the knowledge and resources to handle inbound calls, will greatly reduce anticipatory stress. 

Redundancy: Limit your points of failure. 

As stated in the Science of On-Call, “For example, how well do you sleep when you’re anxious about missing an alarm? Chances are, you’re subconsciously hesitant to enter into deep sleep, and instead, you drift in and out constantly glancing at the clock… [Building in] redundancy allows for peace of mind, which allows you to detach: worry less, sleep more.”

So, how do you build in redundancies to remove “single points of failure?” Ensure your emergency phone has an appropriate voicemail setup and the inbox is emptied frequently (a full voicemail inbox creates a disastrous situation). You might have the emergency phone forwarded to a secondary number if your initial responder doesn’t answer. Whatever approach you might take, consider making sure there are multiple opportunities for information to find the right individual if someone misses “the call.” 

Awareness & Addressing: Normalize and support burnout. 

Do you and your staff know that you have resources available to you when you’re on-call? Or does on-call stress continue to surprise you season after season? Perhaps it’s time to vocalize and include on-call stress coping mechanisms in your staff training or protocol. 

Acknowledging that this strain does exist and giving yourself permission to feel it and cope with it can actually ease some of the anxiety. It’s not just you! This is hard work, but worthwhile, and there are solutions available. 

Looking for additional support? 

Reach out to Cornerstone for training, on-call support, and help setting up your call structure. We’re in this together!