Stress Kills Productivity, So Kill Stress Instead

The last thing your business needs is for good workers to suddenly quit on you. So it could be said that you should be doing everything you can to stop that from happening. And no, I’m not talking about physically restraining people so they can’t leave the office when they want to quit. That will just result in you being physically restrained. With handcuffs. By the police.

The most common reason that people leave their jobs is that they’re simply not happy there anymore. A lot of the time, they get bored with their job. But most of the time, they simply find that the job is too stressful. And if the stress isn’t worth it, then they’ll be looking for another job as soon as possible.

So you should be looking into ways that you can decrease the stress your employees experience in the workplace. You may not think this is possible, that stress is an unavoidable part of any job. Sure, some stress is to be expected. But there’s a limit – and there are always ways in which you can reduce that stress.

Find out if there are problems. The reasons that many workers become stressed are often known to everyone except the person who can do something about it! Workers tend to talk among themselves about the various stresses they experience every day. People don’t tend to bring it up to management for fear of getting into someone’s bad books. You could send out anonymous surveys – but these aren’t perfect solutions. It might be best to talk to your employees more often and to encourage them to be honest. Read more about the problems of work surveys at www.hbr.org.

Streamline the work processes. Mismanagement is a common cause of employee stress. The fact is that people tend to get less stressed when things are in their control, even if things go wrong. But if a problem occurs that they couldn’t do anything about, then they could end up feeling powerless and despondent. A lot of employee frustration can be blamed on a failure of project management. When not enough time has been given to complete tasks, that increases stress. When tasks are handed out in the wrong order, that increases stress. Sort it out! You can read more about improving project management online at www.avaza.com/project-management-and-collaboration.

Lighten the atmosphere. You know what really increases employee stress? When their employer gets stressed! Employers, of course, often get stressed for the same reason the employees are stressed. So a vicious circle of stress perpetuation can often be created! This is why you need to take steps to lighten up the workplace. Remain calm, even when things go wrong and get intense. Remember to be friendly and to put on a smile. This may sound like trite advice. But it really can work wonders for the office atmosphere. And when employees are feeling less stressed, they’ll be more productive as well as healthier. Read up on some more ideas for office brightening at www.chron.com.