Managing Employee Stress

With all of the negative aspects associated with stress in the workplace, an effective strategy to combat stress has become a necessity for organizational success.

Action Items

1. Get Feedback – Conduct employee satisfaction surveys, and ask employees to list any causes of workplace stress. Potential issues may include commuting, job-security, lack of training, work-load, managerial problems, team-based communication issues, inter-office politics, scheduling conflicts, salary and benefits, and personal issues.
2. Identify and Address the Cause – You may not be able to do anything about international market forces, the credit crunch or the employee’s mortgage, but in the event that workplace related stress is indicated, you absolutely must address these issues. Use employee feedback to assist in the creation of stress-reduction solutions.
3. Provide Training and Supervision – Many workplace related stress triggers are brought on by a feeling of workplace inadequacy – employees may worry they don’t have the required skills to perform their job duties, or that their work is off the pace. By providing your employees with on-going training and supervision, they receive the education required to complete their work effectively, and boost productivity. On top of that, they gain an increased sense of job-security as they are better prepared to handle their work duties. Heavy workloads are easier to handle when you know how to perform the tasks. Stress will be decreased through supervision as employees receive feedback on the work they perform, and helpful direction when they need it.
4. Have an Open-Door Policy – The best way to alleviate workplace stress is by giving your employees a chance to voice their concerns. By offering them an open-forum, an employee suggestion box or the chance to speak directly to their management staff regarding workplace issues, they can decrease stress by knowing that they have done their part by tabling the issue. Your organization will also gain valuable insight and be able to implement changes, policies and programs that will combat stress and workplace problems in the future.
5. Create Programs – There are a myriad of possible solutions to alleviate workplace stress. Many organizations have turned to wellness programs, working under the impression that physical activity can lead to decreases in stress levels, while others have implemented the use of subsidized massages. If benefits and salary are an issue, consider re-evaluating your salary structures to compete with your competitors. This will decrease turnover, and hopefully alleviate many salary-related stressors. It may be as simple as offering flexible schedules to help employees balance work and personal needs.
6. Collect Metrics – Once programs are fully established, collect and analyze productivity, profit and employee satisfaction data to determine the gains as a result of stress-reduction techniques and programs.

Final Thought
Workplace stress may be unavoidable, and certainly some stress may be beneficial (helping employees complete tasks on time and under deadline), but when employees are inundated with stress from every angle on a daily basis their performance can be negatively affected.  Your organization can help to alleviate employee stress with the implementation of effective programs, and see quantifiable results for the effort.