Stress in the Workplace Affects Employers and Employees

Summary: Employers and employees experience different kinds of stress at work, but both affect each other and the satisfaction gained from the job.

Having a productive and efficient workforce is vital for any company to survive. If the employees are stressed, they are more likely to miss or skip work. With employees gone, the employer becomes stressed because the necessary work is not getting done, handing down more stress to the employees and continuing the cycle.

Most stress in the workplace comes from disconnect between the boss and the workers. This disconnect causes the diversion of precious time and resources to fix the wrong problems. Employees can be left feeling alienated, resulting in missed days and a higher turnover of employees.

The top three causes of workplace stress from an employers view are a lack of work and life balance, inadequate staffing, and expanded technology. The top three causes of stress for an employee are inadequate staffing, low pay, and unclear job expectations. When the economy struggled, companies were required to downsize their number of employees while still needing to complete the same amount of work. Employees were expected to complete more work but with the same pay, leading to unclear expectations.

In order to combat stress and the problems associated with it, companies need to show employees that they care about their general well being and that they are valuable to the company. A company can employ devices to entice employees such as fun challenges and activities to motivate hard work. Giving employees the opportunity to have more say in their schedule will help decrease stress for some that have complications with when and where they work. Most importantly, a company needs to establish support systems that they actively encourage employees to participate in and benefit from. Just starting a program to quit smoking is not enough if there isn’t encouragement from employers and managers to join.

The amount of stress management will depend on the industry. Healthcare workers have to deal with stress of the job along with the stress of sick and dying patients. Call center workers have to deal with emotional stress from customers that are impatient and sometimes aggressive. Employers need to be open with their employees so that both can understand why there is stress and how to battle it.

Tell us some of the ways your company fights stress in the comments below the article.

Photo: nextgeneration.com.au