Employee Stress: Why It Matters
Employee stress has long been thought of in terms on an individual’s problem that can also lead to health related issues for the individual dealing with the problem. There has been the feeling that stress is an inevitable side-effect of work life and that every employee has to learn to cope with it. More recently there has been a growing understanding that employee stress does not have to be a given and that work-life balance can help in reducing stress. There has also been the acknowledgement that the whole work-place suffers when employees have to deal with stress.
What is the fall-out of employee stress?
It is important to reframe the issue of employee stress in terms of what it means to the corporate entity rather than see it as an individualized problem. A stressful employee is in essence an employee who is not able to give his or her best to the company. The physical, emotional and intellectual toll that stress takes on a person makes them less effective. There is also the matter of morale in the group surrounding a stressed out employee. In many ways stress work like a contagious disease and a case of employee stress tends to affect groups rather than just single employees. Given all this it is in the best interest of corporations to understand the wide impact area of employee stress and to take active measures to reduce this problem.
Is employee stress inevitable?
There are many management experts and senior executives who are likely to say that stress is an inevitable part of modern work life. The pressure of deadlines, financial targets and stock holder expectations are a constant and job loss seems imminent in many a work environment. While these are all indisputable truths, the extent to which a person feel appreciated for their contribution can help with alleviating the sense of stress. Work-life balance in terms of managing time for work deadlines and other life priorities can also go a long way in balancing life’s pressures.
It is also critical that employers and managers treat each case of employee stress as distinct and not lump it all together and treat it as a generic problem. While the broad category may be the same, the triggers in each case differ considerably. So, while having a broad policy in place to handle the problem at the corporate level, each supervisor should be creative in addressing the needs of individual scenarios.
Coping with employee stress
It is important to stay alert to signs of an employee who is feeling the pressures of the work place with increased intensity. The impact is usually felt in the person’s productivity and their ability to think creatively. Their intellectual output and interactions with fellow workers will all be of lower caliber than their usual standards.
Such signs should not be just treated with impatience and dismissed. It is in the long-term interests of the organization to take the time to sort through the immediate source of stress. It is important to realize that by being responsive at an early stage, it is possible to save a lot of money and time down the line. Human resources personnel should make this obvious to all levels of management. It should be a part of corporate culture to acknowledge and respond to employee stress. There should be no question about the fact that the organization takes the issue seriously and gives it the weight it deserves.
So, while in a sense employee stress is a part of many workplace scenarios, appropriate response and support can make the impact on workplace productivity minimal and greatly reduce the impact on the employee’s long-term well-being also.