Could your employees be struggling with stress? Have you noticed employees taking more time off than usual? Or has there been a drop in productivity? Or a dip in workplace morale? Perhaps one of your employees has told you outright that they are feeling stressed?
Many factors can trigger stress. Family commitments, relationship problems and illness are all popular causes of stress. But what if your employees are suffering from work-related stress?
Unfortunately, work-related stress is a growing concern. In the UK, more than 11 million working days are lost every year due to work-related stress. Plus, more than half a million people in the UK have experienced significant work-related stress that has affected their health.
The Impact Of Work-Related Stress
If your employees are struggling with work-related stress, it will impact their performance in the workplace. Prolonged work-related stress can also impact the physical and mental health of your team, leading to burnout and lengthy absences.
It can even lead to you losing valuable staff members and can increase your staff turnover. If an employee is suffering from stress, they may struggle to cope with their workload and lose motivation for their job.
They may also make mistakes frequently and struggle to concentrate. In addition, it is common for stressed employees to feel anxious, irritable, overwhelmed and even depressed. Ongoing stress can even cause physical ailments, such as stomach pains, headaches, fatigue and chest pains.
What Causes Work-Related Stress?
Several factors can cause work-related stress. In some cases, it can be just one cause. But in others, it can be a build-up of several factors that lead to work-related stress and in worst cases, burnout.
Here are the most common causes of work-related stress:
- Unmanageable deadlines
- Unattainable (and mounting) workloads
- Constant feeling of working under pressure
- Toxic work environment – this could be caused by a range of factors including unhealthy workplace relationships, bullying, harassment, micro-management and lack of communication
- Being in a job role not suited to employees skills and experience
- Lack of guidance and uncertainty surrounding job role
- Overworking – not “switching off”
- Lack of work-life balance
An employee’s personal life can also add to their stress. At times, it is a combination of work-life and home life that causes employee stress.
Top Tips For Reducing Employee Stress
As an employer, you are responsible for the wellbeing of your employees. As stressed employees can have such an impact on your business, it is in your best interest to prioritise the health and wellbeing of your team. Here are our key tips for reducing employee stress:
Provide Coaching
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the last year has been more stressful than most. If your team is feeling the burn of the past 12 months, it could be beneficial to provide coaching. Wellbeing training delivered by a professional business coach can help your employees better manage stress.
Through training, your employees can become happier and more resilient in the workplace. This can lead to better workplace morale, an increase in employee engagement and boosted productivity. It can also reduce the cost of absenteeism whilst helping you attract talent.
Offer Flexibility Where Possible
Before COVID-19 transformed the workplace, employees were beginning to understand the benefits of flexible working. It was growing in popularity and enabling employees across the UK to improve their work-life balance.
Since the start of COVID-19, even more businesses have realised that their employees can work remotely and flexibly. (It might just be the only positive that has come from the last 12 months).
A Health and Wellbeing at Work survey carried out by CIPD found that offering flexible working hours enables employees to manage their mental health and reduces stress. It also decreases absence rates and improves the work-life balance of employees.
Prioritise Communication
If you want a healthy workplace with happy employees, you need to highlight the importance of communication. Your team should feel comfortable communicating with you about their workload and deadlines. Plus, employees should be encouraged to communicate with others and collaborate on projects to reduce heavy workloads.
Regular team meetings, including one to one meetings, will allow you to discuss the wellbeing of your employees. Frequent communication also gives you the opportunity to offer help and support to those struggling with work-related stress.
Take Advantage Of The Cloud
Inefficient equipment and lack of organisation within the workplace can cause added stress to your employees. With cloud migration, your team will be able to work effortlessly and productively at any time in any place. Even if they’re on the go!
If you use apps such as OneDrive, Zoom, G Suite or Microsoft Teams, then you already use the cloud. But have you considered migrating your workspace to the cloud? Using G Suite or Office 365, you can create a simple and efficient digital workspace that allows you to seamlessly run your business.
Your employees can log in and access their emails, files, calendars, documents and contacts all in one easy platform. Plus, they can collaborate with each other, communicate with clients, work on projects and meet deadlines all through the digital platform.
If you migrate to the cloud, you will have an added layer of security for your business. And the built-in backups means your team doesn’t have to worry about losing important files ever again.
