The knowledge and awareness gained from this column will help you to save money, increase productivity and profits as well as create a healthy, happy and high performing culture at work.
Is the wealth of your organisation slipping through your fingers? As a manager, are you facing additional pressure relating to the responsibilities of your role? Are you having to deal with employees experiencing mental health issues and stress?
Many organisations are unaware of the actual costs of stress to their business and of the dramatic savings that can be made by effectively managing stress at work at an early stage.
What managers may not fully grasp is that the health and wealth of their company is in their hands. Overwhelming evidence supports that healthy and happy workers are more productive. There is a growing empirical base which supports the notion that good health and resilience of a worker is closely related to increased productivity and innovation.
What are the signs of stress at work?
While employees can be stressed at work due to pressures at home, often the workplace can be their main source of strain. There are many causes of workplace stress.
Here is a summary of the main factors at home and at work that have been reported with some of the managers and organisations that we have worked with:
· Inadequate staffing
· Pressure to work at optimum levels constantly
· Fear of underperforming and high expectations
· Fear of being laid off, which adds more undue pressure on their work life
· Excessive workloads
· Poor peer support
· Limited prospects for growth or advancement
· Tasks at work that are not engaging or challenging
· Social factors such as loss of contact with colleagues and friends
· Mental conditions of anxiety and depression
· Safety issues to do with screens, equipment and other technology
· Lack of time for self-care leading to physical inactivity and fatigue
· Allostatic load, the wear and tear on the body caused by stress over a period, with the risk of burnout
· Circadian rhythm disruption caused by changes in routine, childcare or care of family members
· Conflict in domestic relationships caused by new and emerging needs or amplification of existing problems which may have been previously overlooked
· Lack of clarity of boundaries, at home and work, being challenged by new demands of home working.
As you can imagine, employees suffering from high levels of stress can become apathetic towards work, unproductive, and less engaged. Inadequate staffing places a considerable amount of pressure on employees tasked with completing more work with fewer resources.
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While it is good to have goals to help employees meet expectations, operating under a consistent level of strain can make it difficult for employees to become motivated if there is no increase in job satisfaction.
Naturally, the more employees feel helpless or out of control, the more susceptible they are to experience a spike in stress levels.
3 steps that managers can take to protect the health and wealth of their business is to watch out for the overt signs of stress, discuss the issue with their employee and negotiate reasonable adjustments to address the issue.
In summary, it is in the interests of your business to address stress levels before they escalate, causing sickness, low performance and missed deadlines.
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Hansa Pankhania is an acclaimed author and renowned coach and speaker on wellbeing, stress prevention and resilience. In this exclusive column, she will be presenting cost-free, simple, natural coping tips that can be integrated in a busy routine at home and at work to sustain a stress-free, joyful and successful life.
*Info: Hansa Pankhania’s Books