My role: Research, analysis, outline, storyboard, script, voiceover, developer

Tools used: Google Docs, Articulate Storyline

Problem: Over the last couple of years, stress in the workplace has increased greatly, especially because of impacts from the Coronavirus global pandemic. According to the Gallup State of the Workplace Poll, employees’ stress levels reached an all-time high in 2020, with 43% of respondents stating they experienced stress “a lot” during the previous day. This was up from 38% in 2019. Additionally, “employees in the U.S. and Canada report the highest levels of daily stress in the world” (source). Furthermore, both women and younger employees seemed to shoulder the highest amounts of stress. Not only does stress affect individuals’ physical and mental health and well-being, but having a stressed workforce also lends itself to a less productive and negative workspace in general. According to the American Institute of Stress, it’s estimated that stress costs businesses $300 billion annually.

Management at Brightlight Financial (fictional company) has noticed that over the last couple of years, their employees seem more stressed and burnt out than in previous years. Employees are given an anonymous survey on their stress levels at work and the culture of the workplace to encourage honest results. After implementation of the management training, employees will be given the survey again to see if workplace conditions have improved.

Solution: After conducting research (and in a non-fictional scenario, I would interview current managers, interview employees, and administer the pre-assessment employee stress survey), I designed an eLearning course for management to learn steps they can implement at work to support employees’ well-being, lessen their stress, and foster a positive workplace culture. Management is motivated to support their employees and help reduce stress in any way they can. This eLearning course will be taken individually by each manager to learn some best practice techniques and garner information on resources they can make available to their employees when additional help is needed.

Results: After completing the course, I would have managers take an end-of-course reflection where they apply these practices to their own management style and reflect on how they will implement these in their own office. Additionally, employees would re-take the pre-assessment survey 3-6 months after managers complete the training to assess whether stress level and work culture have improved.