Stress is a very common thing in modern society. It may have various causes, such as lack of sleep, personal failings, health problems, worries about the financial situation or the career and professional life. Recent studies have shown that workplace is a very common factor of stress in contemporary society. When other factors, such as those mentioned earlier, interfere with work-related stress, mood may worsen, affecting productivity.
In addition to financial costs, there are also effects caused by low productivity, absenteeism, changing jobs and disengagement the workplace. The effects of job stress on employees are reflected in the smooth running of the business. Thus, the concern to reduce stress and anxiety felt by employees should be a priority for employers. However, how do we realize that a strategy is needed in this regard? And what are the causes that produce stress among employees?
Many Hours of Work, Inappropriate Leaders and Inflexible Working Environment
Prolonged or too demanding work schedules are among the most common causes of work-related stress. They are also combined with poorly trained managers, unfriendly colleagues, or difficult working conditions. Employers can periodically evaluate employees’ mood through internal surveys, if possible anonymous, in order to find out whether the level of stress within the organization is high or not. If these evaluations lead to the conclusion that employees experience a high level of stress, it is the moment fort the leaders of the organization take action in this regard.
And because we mentioned the leaders, it is good to remember that they are often an example for the people within the teams. This is especially applicable for young employees who want to evolve in their career and who believe that following the example of their superiors who spend many hours at the office, will move forward faster. In even more unfortunate cases, some people who have coordination positions have the wrong perception of how to delegate duties to team members and deliver a wrong message about what leadership really means.
Encouraging Breaks and Promoting Healthy Values, the Recipe For a Stress-Free Work Environment
Encouraging breaks at the workplace is also a good way to avoid work-related tensions. According to the studies, in the absence of breaks, especially when talking about office work, the ability to concentrate decreases, at the same time the productivity will decrease. Setting up a relaxation space or a quiet area is a method that more and more employers are using. At the same time, it is not enough for this facility to exist, but its use needs to be promoted, especially among new employees who have no way to know about it.
Beyond that, employers should not neglect the fact of building a healthy organizational culture, promoting values based on empathy, respect and fairness, and effective communication. Encouraging feedback and socialization between teams or members of the same teams also plays an important role in eliminating the stress that sometimes work environment can cause. At the same time, when it is possible, it is good for employers to provide a flexible work schedule or the chance to work from home.
Multitasking vs. Monotasking
Last but not least, another thing that we should keep in mind is that people are not computers and that they can’t be very effective doing more things at the same time. The modern idea of "multitasking" is often misunderstood and pushed to the extreme, and it becomes a stress factor at work quite frequently. Of course, no one says that employees should know to do only a single thing, but experience has shown that employees are more productive when doing things successively, not under pressure and at the same time.
BIA HR TEAM