How Employers Can Reduce Workplace Stress
Stress in the workplace is a significant issue that most employees deal with at some point in their career. Prolonged exposure to high levels of workplace stress can impact an employee's overall health and wellbeing.
The impacts of prolonged and intense stress on employees can be far-reaching, affecting both physical and mental health. Issues that can arise include high blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety, depression and burnout. This can further translate to decreased engagement, productivity and decision-making abilities. Supporting employee wellness is imperative.
As an employer, you have an obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment for your staff. There are various simple yet effective measures you can take to help alleviate employee stress in the workplace. Here are some tips:
Utilise Office Design Strategically
The layout, noise levels, lighting and other environmental factors in your office space can actually play a significant role in either contributing to or alleviating employee stress. Consider these office design strategies:
- Create quiet spaces for focused work
- Use colours shown to be calming
- Ensure proper ventilation and airflow
- Provide natural lighting where possible
- Play relaxing background music
- Design with movement in mind – walking meetings
Simple tweaks to your office design can make for a much more relaxing workspace for employees. This can work wonders for lowering stress. If your office is ready for a revamp, look at biophilic office design from ninfastudio.com.
Make Workloads Manageable
In many cases, the root cause of stress at work is simply taking on more than one can reasonably handle. Checking in on workload capacity and making adjustments where necessary is key. Some tips:
- Conduct regular reviews to determine if employees are under or overworked
- Redistribute tasks if any team members are struggling to cope with assignments
- Prioritise critical tasks and reassess deadlines if needed
Facilitate Flexible Working Arrangements
Allowing for some flexibility in working schedules can greatly help reduce workplace stress. Consider implementing options like:
- Flexitime – Employees choose their start and end times around core hours
- Work from home/hybrid arrangements – Working remotely can provide a better work-life balance
- Generous family-friendly policies – Options for adjusted schedules for family needs
Be Supportive of Time Off Requests
While time away from the office won’t make stressors disappear, it gives employees a necessary break. Make sure people are able to properly utilise annual leave and other time off allowances without feeling guilty for requesting them.
Hold Stress Management Workshops
Employees may feel more equipped to manage their stress if they are given the right tools. Consider organising sessions that teach:
- Resilience training
- Mindfulness techniques
- Relaxation response methods
- Healthy work-life balance habits
Provide Access to Outside Support
Sometimes external help is required. Look into offering benefits like:
- Free short-term counselling through an employee assistance programme (EAP)
- Coverage for longer-term therapy through health insurance plans
- Onsite visits by therapy animals during high-stress periods
By implementing changes like these, employers have the power to create a much healthier and happier workforce. The investment is well worth the benefits of boosted retention, engagement and productivity!
