As seen in our article, stress is one of the main causes of absence from work. But what can employees and employers do about it? We have put together a short list for you.
Luckily, there are plenty of little things you can do to make your employees happier and more productive. Here are ten ideas to get you started.
1. Set clear goals for your employees
People are most productive when they know exactly what they're working towards. A lack of clear goals can lead to a lot of anxiety about roles and responsibilities and consequently makes employees more stressed.
2. Listen to your employees
It’s always important to ensure your employees don’t have too much on their plates, and raising concerns about too much stress at work should be encouraged.
3. Research and promote the productivity benefits of rest
Many of us might think that working ourselves into the ground increases productivity, but there’s always a point of diminishing returns.
4. Become a monotasking evangelist
Multitasking is another productivity myth that also happens to be a cause of stress at work. Email is one of the biggest temptations, so consider encouraging your staff to check email just a couple of times a day and to change their email signatures to say that they’re available by phone for anything genuinely urgent.
5. Implement an email ban outside of office hours
You can't get the benefits of rest if half your brain is in work mode.
6. Focus more on deliverables and less on hours
Not only will this make your employees’ lives easier when they need to leave a little early or arrive a little late; being trusted to get things done will also make them feel more engaged and less pressured.
7. Refurbish the office
Bland decor and harsh fluorescent lighting won’t help those stress levels.
8. Provide a healthy and efficient 'working-from-home' environment
Certain situations see people and entire teams working from home or remotely. Educate yourself and your employees on how to work from home efficiently while at the same time maintaining a good work-life balance. A quick Google search will help you find useful tips on the topic.
9. Encourage off-site meetings
It’s amazing what a little exercise, fresh air and a change of scenery can do. If your team is working from home, develop a communication routine that is not only about work. Schedule off-work group calls once a week to maintain a good relationship within your team at times when everyone can't just meet casually.
10. Offer free or subsidised meditation app subscriptions
And if you incentivise regular use of the app, your employees will soon start to see the lasting benefits of practising meditation.
11. Lead by example
If you don’t practice what you preach, your staff are unlikely to change their ways. But if you do, you’ll be less stressed – and that can’t be a bad thing!
Stress is one of the biggest worries in modern office life. Protect yourself with suitable countermeasures. Find the right course for you and your team in our prevention catalogue.
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