Stress Management Strategies

Stress Management Strategies: Why Your Employees Need Them

Workplace stress affects many workers in both Canada and the United States on a yearly basis. Without putting the right measures in place to lower stress levels in your company, your employees are at risk of developing chronic mental health concerns and in some cases, will make the decision to leave and look for other opportunities.  

In order to create a positive and healthy workplace environment, stress management strategies and techniques are vital. Learn why your business should be including stress management as part of ongoing professional training and development.  

Managing Stress In The Workplace: A Downfall Of Many 

The workplace offers many challenges and obstacles. There is no denying that. Depending on the industry that you work in, dealing with stress might be an everyday necessity. However, when chronic stress persists among your employees then something needs to be done about it. 

A little bit of stress isn’t always bad. In fact, it helps to keep you focused, energized and prepared for new tasks. Yet, in today’s hectic world, long hours and tight deadlines are contributing to high levels of anxiety and worry among employees which ultimately leads to burnout. When stress levels exceed the ability to cope it has a direct impact on your employees’ productivity and job satisfaction.  

Many employees are struggling to manage their stress levels in the working environment. Increasing demands to perform optimally at all times and a decreasing sense of control over workload has caused employee turnover to increase over recent years.  

Without access to adequate resources, there are many employees and employers alike that have noted workplace stress as their downfall.  

Why Stress Is The Leading Factor For Reduced Employee Engagement 

When employees are highly engaged in their roles they show enthusiasm, are willing to take on new challenges, show signs of performance growth and report high levels of job satisfaction. The underpinning factor that this outcome relies on is how well they are coping with stressors in the workplace.  

Let us paint a picture. A loyal employee of yours that has been with the company for years has recently been promoted to a managerial role. In their previous role, they displayed great initiative and consistently high-performance levels. However, recently you have noticed that they’ve been making more mistakes and aren’t as efficient as they could be. The new factor in the equation here is that they have more responsibility and a much heavier workload.  

This is not to say that they aren’t a good employee. You already know that they have the ability to perform well. The fact is that they are now dealing with extra stressors in the workplace that they may have never come up against before and may be struggling to cope with. And when employees are stressed they are more likely to: 

• Get distracted in the jobs
• Make mistakes 
• Fail to meet deadlines 
• Show up less to work and take more sick leave 

All of these result in reduced employee engagement.  

Everybody handles stress differently. Some people thrive in high-pressure environments while others tend to experience increased levels of anxiety and panicked behaviour. That is why it is important as a business owner to recognize the signs of decreased employee engagement and identify what stress management strategies need to put in place to help those employees who are struggling.   

Equip Your Employees With Stress Management Strategies & Skills 

The destructive power of workplace stress can’t be overstated. Yet, the good news is that it is preventable and putting proactive measures in place that allow the company to identify potential sources of stress and ways of dealing with them is the first step.  

As a leader, you need to equip your staff with the tools and skills that they need to mitigate any factors which may impact their professional development. This includes stress management strategies. Having a high functioning and positive work culture means creating a safe space for your employees, after all. 

Do this by having an open-door policy, increasing time resources of completing specific tasks, providing more flexibility, hiring temporary staff or being clearer in your expectations. All of these strategies can help to lessen stress for your employees.  

However, the best way to equip your employees with the tools they need is through stress management training. Many professional training courses offer employees the skills they need to understand stress, identify it in the workplace and the techniques to cope with it effectively. Not only will this improve their lives from a mental and physical aspect but it will also mean that your business can be more productive.  

Ignoring stress in employees is never the answer. If you are interested in learning more about the employee training courses that we provide, get in touch with us today.