Reducing stress in the workplace encompasses a lot of effort. What causes stress can be highly subjective, what are stressors to one person can be another individual’s comfort zone. At the same time each individual can experience stress in different ways, some may bury themselves in their work whilst others might withdraw. As an employer,...
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Reducing stress in the workplace encompasses a lot of effort. What causes stress can be highly subjective, what are stressors to one person can be another individual’s comfort zone. At the same time each individual can experience stress in different ways, some may bury themselves in their work whilst others might withdraw.
As an employer, you have a legal obligation to your employees to ensure their well-being that falls under your duty of care, and failure to take action can result in being taken to tribunal. With workplace stress being such a broad issue, how do you tackle stress in the workplace?
The advisors at Employer Advice can offer expert support and advice on helping you to deal with HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety related issues in your business. Call today on 0800 470 3529.
The question “how long is a piece of string?” applies here. It depends on a multitude of factors, however there are some that are more commonplace and are obvious causations of stress.
Work might take up a significant portion of an employee’s day to day life, but the hours outside of work can often have a more significant impact on their mental wellbeing.
Life events like moving house, caring for an ill relative, dealing with a health condition themselves (physical or mental) and becoming a parent can all cause your employee’s stress levels to rise. Being only human, this can bleed over into their professional lives.
If the workplace is not a pleasant environment to be in then you can expect your employees’ stress levels to increase. Workplace conditions can essentially be split into two-parts; the physical environment and the workplace atmosphere and company culture.
An unmaintained and potentially unsafe working environment can cause employees a great deal of stress, especially if they are uneasy or even fearful of their safety whilst at work. Even things like poor facilities and cleanliness can cause employees stress.
This can include things like how employees are treated in the workplace. Is there a toxic work environment, where things like bullying are tolerated? Is there a blame culture? Is there low levels of trust in the company, from management to employees and vice versa?
This can be a major cause of stress for employees, if they feel that their well-being isn’t taken seriously and they don’t trust those in charge to do anything about it then it can lead to a lack of motivation, and can possibly lead to conflict as well as staff turnover and potentially end up with your business being taken to an employment tribunal.
If an employee is not onboarded properly or has their training kept up to date to allow them to fulfil their roles then it can cause them stress.
You should ensure that staff are properly trained to undertake their job, this will benefit both your business as your employees will be more efficient, and your staff as they will feel confident in their roles.
Sometimes having to make changes to your organisation is unavoidable, however employee stress relating to the changes is. Change in general can cause stress, be it physical, mental or emotional, however it can be mitigated in the case of a restructure, by clear communication and transparency.
The symptoms of stress can differ from person to person but there are some common ones you can be aware of as an employer.
If you spot someone in your organisation exhibiting one or more of these signs then you should offer the employee some form of support, this could be as little as a quiet, one-off check-in, regular catch-ups or offering them access to an EAP (employee assistance programme). If you do notice any of these signs in your workforce, then you should review your stress risk assessment.
Offering your support as an employer can be invaluable for employees experiencing work-related stress. It can help create a better working environment for employees and builds trust with and throughout your organisation. This has the added benefit of helping improve workplace productivity as well as reducing staff turnover.
Like most things it starts with a conversation. Regularly checking in with your employees will reveal if they are feeling the pressure and starting to exhibit the symptoms of stress.
If you have a reputation as an employer for listening to employee concerns and being open and approachable, this creates a culture of trust, which will enable employees to open up if they are experiencing issues due to stress.
Regular one-to-ones are a good place to start. They’re private and you can discuss both your employees’ work life as well how things are going in general.
This can be anything from setting reasonable expectations and realistic deadlines, to ensuring that employees don’t have too much or too little on their plate at any given time.
Your employee’s wellbeing falls under your duty of care so it should be one of every employer’s top priorities. A happy and healthy workplace is a productive one and an engaged workforce is beneficial for your business from both a monetary and reputational perspective.
You can utilise wellbeing tools such as an EAP to help employees with their general well-being as well as offering mental health support and counselling.
Carrying out a stress risk assessment can help identify potential stressors in the workplace. This can then help you begin to outline potential solutions and implement positive changes into the workplace.
Carrying out a risk assessment also has the added benefit of helping with your legally required health and safety obligations as an employer.
With over 40 years’ experience in helping employers with their employment law and HR needs, our expert team are on hand to help. Call 0800 470 3529.