Did you know stress levels in American workplaces are among the highest in the world? In a 2022 survey, 62 percent of workers reported having high stress levels. Only 5 percent of those surveyed said they had low stress levels.
As an employer, these figures are worrying (pun intended). Stressed employees aren’t productive, which affects your bottom line. Plus, workplace stress can lead to the development of a toxic workplace culture and increase the employee turnover rate.
This makes stress management in the workplace one of your biggest priorities. This guide will equip you with strategies and tips you can use to reduce employee stress.
1. Establish the Stress Levels in Your Organization
Like most small employers, you probably don’t know much about the stress level in your workplace. Perhaps you have seen a couple of employees looking visibly stressed, but that’s not enough to give you a clear picture of the stress level.
Yet, the first step to managing stress at work is to have a good understanding of how bad the situation is. This requires you to know how to measure stress.
The simplest method is to use anonymous questionnaires. This gives your employees an opportunity to give feedback on the level of stress they’re experiencing. Although questionnaires aren’t foolproof, you’ll have a general idea of whether the collective stress level is high, medium, or low.
You can also estimate the stress level by analyzing sick leave and productivity data. Look at the sick leave data for the past year, for instance. If you’re seeing a handful of cases involving anxiety, depression, or burnout, you need to act.
2. Identify the Stressors
Now that you know the level of stress among your employees, the next step is to set up what’s causing it.
Again, questionnaires are your friend. Your employers can anonymously indicate what’s causing them to feel so stressed.
While stressors vary from workplace to workplace, many stressed workers cite heavy workloads as the leading stressor. Other common stressors include people, lack of job security, and inability to balance life and work.
Take your time to research and learn about these stressors. That will put you in a good position to find the right solutions for dealing with them.
3. Offer Mental Health Support at Work
Whichever way you slice it, stress is part of life. And whether your employees are stressed because of work or their personal life, at the end of the day stress will affect their job performance.
It’s in your best interest to help your employees beat the stress, regardless of the cause. One way to do this is to provide mental health support services.
If your organization is big enough to hire an in-house mental health counselor, do it. Your employees will have access to a trained professional who can help them deal with stress effectively. Alternatively, you can strike a partnership with a local mental health facility where your employees access counseling or wellness coaching services at a discounted rate.
There are also organizations that give their employees a monthly wellness stipend. The employees are at liberty to choose whether to pay for fitness classes, massage therapy, or other services that can improve their mental health.
4. Ensure Your Workplace Policies Are Supportive
As an organization, you have policies that dictate how things are done. Zeroing in on the workplace, there are policies and procedures that outline how employees should conduct themselves.
Are your workplace policies employee-friendly or are they punitive and hostile?
For example, if your organization doesn’t hesitate to fine employees who clock in to work a second after the stipulated reporting time, you’re turning your workers into enemies. Of course, punctuality is essential, but being conservative with how you penalize latecomers can go a long way in making your workplace a friendly place.
As such, now is the best time to relook at your policies and make the necessary adjustments. Put yourself in the employee’s shoes for a minute. If there’s a policy that makes you feel intimidated, it’s better off scrapped.
As you embark on the policy review process, gather feedback from your employees on the policy changes they’d like to see. The goal is to have policies that enhance transparency and fairness in the workplace.
5. Help Your Employees Achieve Healthy Work-Life Balance
You already know that poor work-life balance is a leading cause of stress in the workplace. Instead of focusing on helping the individual employees who’re struggling to balance life and work, implement solutions that will benefit the team.
Offering flexible work schedules (allowing employees to work from home at least part of the time) will give your employees more time away from the office. They might get more opportunities to spend time with their loved ones and improve their social life.
To illustrate how remote work helps, think of an employee who relocated to NY for work but the rest of the family is in Arizona. The employee’s work-life balance can suffer simply because they don’t get to see family often. With remote work, it’s easier for the employee to schedule travel and be with family, all while attending to their work duties.
Encourage your employees to take time off and paid vacations, and review their workloads from time to time. You can also visit woliba.io for a digital solution that helps employers empower their employees.
Handle Stress Management in the Workplace the Right Way
Even in today’s modern workplaces, stress is still prevalent among employees. As an employer, you have to develop a plan for stress management in the workplace. With these tips, you now know where to start.
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