In the previous blog, we were discussing about workplace stress and the methods employees could adopt for alleviate the same. Like we said in that article, the workplace is an important source of both demands and pressures causing stress, and structural and social resources to counteract stress.

Also, we discussed about the major causes of workplace stress in the previous article. Let’s recall it.

“Lack of clarity in the roles, under promotion, lack of training, and job insecurity can be stressful. There are two other sources of stress, or buffers against stress: relationships at work, and the organisational culture. Managers who are critical, demanding, unsupportive or bullying create stress, whereas a positive social dimension of work and good team working reduces it.”

And we concluded it with the statement:

“The prevention and management of workplace stress requires organisational level interventions, because it is the organisation that creates the stress.”

Yes, it is the organisation who ultimately creates the stress; so here let’s discuss what preventive measures could employers take to manage workplace stress and keep your employees calm and relaxing.

In the workplace, employee-environment should be the primary focus. If it's a good match, the employee is likely to be relaxed. A poor fit increases tension and stress. As managers and companies, we need to examine our employees and the environments we create for our employees. We need to make sure we are providing an office that fits our employees' definition of “not stressful”.

Effects of Stress on an Organization

Let’s look how workplace stress impacts an organisation. The major impacts include:

• Frequent absenteeism
• Lower productivity
• Increased expenses

This makes it clear that relationship between stress and job performance is not a positive one. And if stress becomes a huge issue and a business starts to experience the issues mentioned above, it can even make it hard to acquire new talent.

Causes of Stress in the Workplace

If you feel like stress is affecting your organisation’s overall performance, it’s a good idea to start searching for the cause of workplace stress inside the office.

• Poor company culture
• Long hours & excessive workload
• Issues related to job security
• Poor management, including both under and over-managing
• Lack of communication or transparency about business changes
• Workplace harassment

If you recognize any of these issues within your organization, now it’s the time to start identifying ways to reduce stress at work for your employees.

Advantages of Stress Management in the Workplace

You may be thinking that eliminating stress at work as an organization isn’t feasible, but that doesn’t mean that your company shouldn’t be invested in stress management. Below points will make you understand that how stress will benefit your organization.

• Strong organisational culture: Employees have a major role in a company’s culture. Healthier employees operating under manageable levels of stress will be happier and more positive, helping to maintain a strong, healthy workplace culture that’s conducive to creativity and productivity.

• Higher Productivity: A stress free workplace will keep the employees healthy both physically and mentally; and thereby lowering the absenteeism among the employees. Rather, this will make the employees more productive and enthusiastic; and thus, contributing to the organisation’s overall growth.

• Employee retention & talent acquisition: Employees who aren’t overly stressed are much more likely to stick around, and prospective employees are much more likely to work for an employer that promotes a low-stress work environment and takes the initiative to help keep their employees healthy.

• High Morale values: Actively working to reduce stress through measures like stress management programs and policy shows that you care about your employees and their health and happiness. This will in turn keep the employer’s morale values high among the employees, and it will reflect outside the workplace also as positive reviews.

What measures could employers take to reduce workplace stress

Being an employer, you could contribute a lot for keeping the workplace positive. There are several stress management techniques that can work for your business. Some of them are listed below:

• Address known issues or conflicts: Reasons for conflict may include promotion opportunities, salary disputes, feeling underappreciated, and personal differences. If there is conflict between employees, address it quickly, possibly through the use of mediation. Give managers appropriate conflict resolution training and resources.

• Balanced workload: Design employees’ roles and schedule their shifts in such a way to allow them for a work-life balance.

1. Keep the workload suitable to the employee’s ability.
2. Allow employees to have control over their tasks as much as possible.
3. Keep job demands reasonable by providing manageable deadlines.
4. Have reasonable work shifts and ensure sufficient rest before shifts.

• Open up communication: When employees are able to communicate problems, it reduces much of their stress.

1. Discuss problems with your employees one-to-one.
2. Arrange small group meetings for employees to voice concerns and interact with each other.
3. Communicate openly about any potential changes in your organisation.

• Encourage and recognise employees: High employee engagement can improve productivity and happiness levels.

1. Recognise and reward good performance.
2. Set targets and reward employees for achieving those targets.
3. Establish a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.

• Create wellness programs for employee: Exercise and a healthy lifestyle plays an important role in reducing stress.

1. Consider offering employees discounted gym membership.
2. Provide employees with wearable technology devices that measure steps, heart rate and activity. Have competitions, with prizes for the most active.
3. Encourage employees to go for five to 10-minute walks during lunch breaks.

Stress cannot be eliminated completely from a workplace, and a healthy amount of stress leads to productivity and creativity. But there’s a fine line and when employees become overly stressed, it takes a toll on them personally and, also on the overall health of the company. To ensure you have happy, healthy, and engaged employees, stress management in the workplace is a must.

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