What are the main causes of stress in the workplace?
Everyone experiences stress differently. Some employees might be triggered by a stress factor that would not affect others. It is essential, when it comes to stress in the workplace, to ensure that an individual approach is taken and to understand that emotions are personal to each individual. However, there are some recurrent stress factors that employers should watch out for. Below are some examples that, once identified by a company, should be tackled:
Negative or poor relationships with colleagues or leaders
Employees spend a lot of time at work, usually surrounded by colleagues. Having poor relationships with others might lead to the employee feeling isolated. It may also happen that some employees have conflictive relationships that can cause stress and anxiety. Leaders and more generally the company culture should promote an environment of collaboration that is inclusive. Find out more about company culture here.
Lack of support from colleagues or leadership
Feeling overwhelmed by a new or complex task is not uncommon. When this happens, employees should be able to turn to their colleagues for support and their leaders for coaching and guidance. Ensuring that the employee feels supported will generate multiple benefits such as increased collaboration, accelerated professional growth and a healthy work environment. By creating a support system, leaders reduce their teams’ frustrations.
Heavy workload for a considerable period of time and long hours
Most employees are likely to experience a heavy workload from time to time. The challenge arises when the situation happens frequently and there are no down periods that would allow the person to recover. A high workload and long hours can have a significant impact on employee stress and should be avoided.
Frequent changes in the organisation creating a sense of instability
Change is necessary for a business to evolve. However, when change is not well managed or when it happens too frequently, it has negative consequences for employees’ stress levels. It is essential that change is implemented well and that its frequency is reasonable, allowing everyone to adapt and feel settled.
Not feeling valued or able to evolve in a poor work environment
Recognition matters. If employees do not feel that their work is valued, their morale is bound to be affected.
Job insecurity
A lot of employees have experienced job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being in constant limbo and not knowing what the future holds is stress generating. Employers should ensure that they communicate well throughout any crisis and invest in their people for the long term.
Micromanagement
Employees who are given a high volume of work without the freedom to organise themselves tend to become demotivated. Having some level of control over what they deliver is essential to ensure that they continue to be enthusiastic about their role.
Discrimination
There is no place for discrimination in the modern business environment. It has a long-term negative effect on the people who are its target, causing them significant stress.
Inappropriate tools and technologies
Not having the right tools or technology to perform their work is an additional and unnecessary challenge for employees. It slows down their productivity, and they may struggle to function in their role, which is likely to be a source of anxiety.
Unclear expectations from leadership
A role that is not well defined, in which the responsibilities and targets of the individual are hazy, will create doubts and uncertainty about the expectations. This information gap is likely to be a source of stress and may lead to deeper consequences for the worker’s mental health in the long term.
The above is not an exhaustive list. Leaders should aim to create a healthy work environment.
The impact of stress in the workplace and why employers should fight it
Feeling stressed is not viewed particularly negatively in today’s work environment. In fact, employees who appear too relaxed can be seen as not driven enough or not achieving enough. However, this perception and business mentality is outdated. Job-related stress poses a threat to a business’s performance. Below, we explore the negative impact of stress at work.
Decreased motivation
Stressed employees are likely to have low morale. There is a fine balance between challenging people to deliver to tight deadlines and keeping them motivated. If it is not well managed, employees will notice their motivation decrease and, ultimately, the company’s performance will be affected too.
Low employee retention rate
When employees are stressed out for an ongoing period of time, they are more likely to seek other opportunities outside the business. This ultimately leads to workers leaving the business, thus having a direct impact on the company’s employee retention rate.
Imbalanced mental health
Stress can generate depression and anxiety. Employees who are subjected to such a situation for a long period of time may go on to experience deeper mental health challenges affecting other areas of their lives.
Poor well-being
Stress has an impact on well-being. It influences sleep, weight, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, just to name a few of the potential issues.
Impact on personal relationships
Happy employees are better balanced in their personal lives and working relationships. Some individuals find it difficult to leave work-related challenges at work, and continue to feel stressed out at home in their personal lives. Having a healthy work-life balance promotes stronger relationships, both personally and at work.
Mediocre output and work quality
Focus requires well-being. Employees who suffer from excessive stress are not likely to deliver their best work and might not be as efficient.
Strategies for managing stress in the workplace
We have looked at the various influences of stress on a business and its employees. For the well-being of both, it is essential that organisations and their leaders implement actions to address stress at work. Below are some examples of action that can be taken to reduce it.
Flexibility
Offering flexibility eases the lives of workers, who benefit from a degree of freedom to organise their working hours as they see fit, as long as the work is done on time. In contrast, a strict work schedule can have a negative impact on employees if it causes conflict with aspects of their personal or family life.
Remote working
If the job can be done remotely, and the employee wishes to work from home full time or partially, the organisation might benefit from making a policy change to allow this. Their employee may feel happier and have fewer constraints related to commuting. Take a look at our article on remote work to learn about the other benefits of this.
Promote health and work-life balance
Encouraging employees to take care of their mental health by implementing programmes that support it will have a direct impact on stress levels. As an example, you can encourage your staff to take regular breaks during their working day, or have on-site activities such as mindfulness sessions to promote well-being at work. For more ideas, read our article on promoting work-life balance.
Seek feedback and ensure that the communication flows
Asking employees what they need and taking appropriate actions will reduce stress levels within teams. This can be done during team meetings, but also as part of employee satisfaction surveys. To know more about employees’ surveys, check our article here.
Understand the roots of stress at work
We often say that the first step towards addressing something is to be aware of it. In order to tackle stress in the workplace, leaders should educate themselves on the topic. Understanding the causes of work stress and the fact that it affects individuals differently will put leaders on the right path towards identifying stressful situations and addressing them effectively.
Validate the sources of work stress with employees directly
Knowing what the sources of stress are and what triggers employees is the first step in addressing stress at work. When the cause of stress has been identified, it should be tackled in a timely manner.
Involve professionals when and where needed
Offering a counselling programme within the organisation may help guide any employees suffering from high stress levels. Opening such a space, with employees’ assistance programmes supported by mental health professionals, can reduce stress overall and demonstrate to employees that the business cares about them.
Provide leadership training on compliance, management skills, and more
Leaders have a role to play when it comes to employee stress, so it is helpful to guide and train them to manage their team’s stress levels. A leader can be a mentor and, as such, needs to have the tools and skills to be able to support their team members, listen and provide guidance when it comes to stress at work.
High levels of stress at work are more frequent than we might realise. They have a direct impact on people and therefore on the organisation they work for. Addressing stress at work is essential in order to protect employees’ mental and physical health.
