5 Ways You Can Help Your Staff Towards Reducing Stress In The Workplace

By Natalie Wilson

Stress is considered one of the main underlying factors impacting employee engagement in the workplace. According to studies, around 25% of employees find it difficult to be productive at work when they are experiencing stress. The influence this can have on mental wellbeing and overall business success can be significant and yet it's reported that only just over half (55%) of workers feel as though their companies put measures in place to help tackle the problem of stress in the workplace.

As a manager or business owner, it's important to care for your employees when they're feeling stressed and it should be considered in high regard when running your company. You can even put in place procedures that help to overcome or prevent the prospect of stress occurring with your workers.

There are a few broad ideas that you can put in place to help tackle the problem, but be sure to adapt the tips to your particular workforce. Some may work better than others or they may not be suitable at all. It's all about ensuring the ones you put in place are effective for you and your team.

Consider a redesign

The majority of worker's time is spent in the workplace, so you'd need to ensure that it's a pleasant place for everyone to enjoy. Consider every little detail in your work environment, from the colour choice that you have, to little things like whether you have a coffee machine. These large and finer details can make a big difference to the engagement of your employees.

Wherever you can, if you have room to update the office and give it a little makeover. Could you brighten up the colour scheme? Add a few plants to the interior? Could you include some lunch break entertainment like a foosball or pool table? Any such items can help your employees to steer their mind away from work for a little while and think about things that aren’t making them stressed.

Promote workplace wellness

Promoting a healthy lifestyle is one of the best ways to relieve stress for individuals. Exercise, in particular, can be a great way for employees to get their mind off work and improve their mood. This is because burning energy can help to release endorphins which encourages the feeling of being happy. There are a few things that you can incorporate into your business that can help employees in the short and long term:

• Pay for gym memberships as a work perk
• Provide a yoga instructor to perform yoga classes for workers
• Offer healthy snacks in the office
• Encourage employees to go outside during their lunch breaks

Allow flexible working

You hire employees due to their skills, expertise and trust that they can get the job done to the highest standard within the hours they're contracted to. An office should be considered a place that facilitates workers in order to get their work completed. Therefore, encourage flexible and remote working so they can manage their work around their lifestyle. As long as you trust your employees to get their work done to a high standard, the work office shouldn't be seen as a restricted cell where they need to babied.

Provide on-site support

Professional help is also another way to support employees when they’re going through a time of stress. There can be unique situations where expert advice is required in order to help reduce or resolve the situation the employee might be in. Disputes are a common workplace topic that occur which can be one of the many reasons why workplace stress is caused. One solution that businesses have found successful of recent is introducing mediation solicitors as a form of dispute resolution that can be beneficial for the company and work employees. This is a great example of how businesses are taking great steps to ease the pressure off workers.

Highlight recognition

In high-intensity situations where there can be uncertainty on whether an employee is performing well, recognition can go a long way to help improve morale and building confidence in your employees. Highlighting recognition can be a proven way to achieve as it makes the employee feel valued and reassure them that they're performing well in their current role. However, be mindful about how you praise employees as personalities can differ with how they prefer to be praised. Some may like to be praised company-wide, whilst others may prefer a more reserved approach.

Manage stress accordingly

If you’re witnessing employees looking relatively stressed and concerned about work, there are several ways that you can help them to reduce any further issues moving forward. These are a few of the many approaches that you can try in your workplace, showing your employees that it's more than just the money that you worry about as a business owner.

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