Workplace stress is costing the Australian Economy $14.81 billion a year, equating to 3.2 days of lost productivity per worker[1]. Often used as a catch-all term to describe any perceived difficulties in the workplace, excessive and consistent stress, whether perceived or real, compromises day to day employee engagement, health and productivity.
Most people in the corporate world would acknowledge this to be a somewhat conservative estimation of the impact of stress. In the US, 48% of Employers believe that stress caused by extended working hours and doing more with less is affecting business performance[2]. Add to this the impact of mobile technology, and there is no question that this is a serious concern for Australian Employers.
What triggers Stress in today’s workplace?
· Unreasonable expectations and deadlines given resources available,
· Concerns about the security of their own employment,
· Concerns about the security of others employment within the organisation and the impact it may have on their own role,
· Limited or poor communication about the direction of the company, particularly in uncertain economic times,
· Limited flexibility and autonomy as to how roles are performed,
· Poor relationships with team mates, colleagues and management,
AND the list goes on.................
How does the body react to Stress?
When you perceive a threat, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rouse the body for emergency action.
Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus – preparing you to either fight or flee from the danger at hand.
Signs of stress may be cognitive, emotional, physical or behavioural. As employers, it impossible to address every possible cause of stress for every employee. And your employees do not expect you to!
Small and simple initiative can make a huge difference in encouraging or helping employees manage external factors that trigger stressful situations or develop skills to handle these sources of stress.
6 Tips for Employers to facilitate Stress Management in the workplace
1. Facilitate flexibility within the working week. This may mean staff finishing at 3pm on a Friday but start half an hour early the other days of the week. A few spare hours to get things done outside the workplace or perhaps the opportunity to get away early for a weekend break can enhance focus throughout the week.
2. Develop support networks within the business through informal morning teas or team meetings. A stronger supportive environment makes people feel like they are not alone and facilitates communication ensuring serious issues can be identified and addressed before they have significant consequences.
3. Mandate a clean desk policy and actively monitor it- a messy desk will induce stressful states much quicker and reinforce the lack of control.
4. Develop a Priority Protocol with staff eg Priority 1 means drop everything and action ASAP, Priority 2- requires 24 hour turnaround etc. This will ensure clear expectations are communicated and the employee can re-organise themself accordingly for a win-win result.
5. Ensure all employees have the opportunity to speak privately with their manager, one on one to facilitate conversation and clarification around issues that may be the source of stress. Sometimes a problem shared is a problem halved and being heard may be enough.
6. Annual leave planner- Ensure all employees have at least one consecutive 2 week holiday booked each year .
