“Stress” test your business this April

Whatever your views on stress, it has a massive impact on business. One trillion dollars is the cost the World Health Organisation puts on the impact of stress and burnout globally each year.

April is stress awareness month, so what better time to shine the spotlight on your own business and check that it is not causing undue stress to employees (and, importantly, you too). And that you are set up to manage stress effectively.

Causes and manifestation of stress

Not all stress is work related, and not all stress is bad. Some people thrive off a bit of pressure, and without it a workplace may feel flat, lacking creativity and flair – dull even. But it can quite easily go too far and here are some of the most common triggers for work-related stress:

• Poor working conditions
• Organisational change
• Too many or conflicting demands
• Being short staffed
• Being undertrained and thus feeling out of depth
• A lack of support and encouragement from managers
• The symptoms of a toxic workplace culture, like bullying

There are more.

On top of this, many triggers of stress may not be work related at all. But they could still impact employees’ well-being and productivity at work. Financial worries, bereavement, divorce and caring pressures are some of the most serious underlying factors here.

So how may you spot the signs?

They might, of course, be open and tell you directly – depending on you, them and your culture. But if it is not brought out into the open, there are several ways in which stress often manifests which you could pick up on.

These could be subtle like feeling blue, tired and keeping a low profile, to more obvious behaviour like being irritable, visibly upset, indecisive and lacking concentration.

Leading on from these you may notice attendance issues, poor productivity, costly mistakes or missed opportunities and deteriorating colleague relationships. And people experiencing stress are at higher risk of numerous health problems including very serious ones like stroke and heart attack.

How to address stress in the workplace

A must-have for businesses is a stress risk assessment. It is an exercise in predicting the particular causes of workplace stress in your business, so you can go about eliminating or reducing the risk.

This needs to be written down if you have five or more staff (including yourself), but it is helpful to have a written document even if you have fewer staff. The H&S Dept can help you with this if you would like it done professionally.

Beyond this, there are many things that you can do to manage stress in your workplace, depending on the circumstances. Here are some of the top ideas.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – This is a low-cost employee benefit that typically provides a range of expert, confidential helplines to support employees. It gives them the expertise they need, whilst shifting some of the burden from you.

Review your training – Sometimes stress occurs because staff feel ill equipped to cope in their role. Check you have offered them the right technical courses, and consider other courses like management training and time management. (See our training courses)

Flexible working options – It is not right for every business or role (or cause of stress), but in some circumstances, a change to working hours or some working from home may be a valid solution.

Train a mental health first aider – Mental health first aiders are intended to be the first line of defence against mental health conditions including workplace stress. They spot the signs, are a first point of contact, signpost professional help and act as mental health champions promoting a positive culture.

Recognition and reward – Improve your workplace culture and show support and recognition for employees by introducing a rewards programme for work well done. 

Further help

Our local offices are here to help you if you have a stress problem in your business. From running training (in-person or eLearning), setting you up with an EAP, or just having an initial consultation to understand your situation, we are at your service. Give us a call today.