By Team Learning Minds
Today’s work environments seem to be emotional roller coasters for all employees. But is stress always bad? Many people argue that sometimes stress is good for people. While some amount of stress is good, in this increasingly chaotic world, the workplace often leads to employee burnout. It damages their physical and emotional well-being and disrupts the overall organizational productivity.
A recent survey conducted by Korn Ferry on ‘Workplace Stress Continues to Mount’ indicated that overall employee stress levels “have risen nearly 20% in three decades”.
It is, therefore, essential that managers are trained to identify the source of employee stress and manage its levels. Moreover, managers must be aware of how they are also transferring their stress onto their employees. Managers need to ensure that they are providing their employees with a space that is stimulating, healthy, enhances efficiency and employee satisfaction.
We have a few pointers that managers can use to lighten the atmosphere for their employees, improve their wellbeing and motivate them to work diligently.
- Consult Your Employees –Ask your employees what makes work stressful for them. It could be lack of feedback in decision making, the workplace environment, uncertainty about tasks and procedures or increased workload. Use this information to find the root cause of the burnout and improve the working conditions for your employees.
- Listen To Your Employees –Effectively listen to their grievances and show them you empathize with their struggles. Make them feel heard and advise them on how to resolve their issues. This will lower their stress and anxiety and feel as if the workplace is their peaceful retreat.
- Set Clear Goals With Your Employees –It is vital that you are crystal clear about the goals of the business and how employees can achieve those goals. This will help employees create an action plan. Also, it is essential that you include your employees in setting and developing these goals so that they feel valued and feel a sense of ownership about their work.
- Encourage Employee Wellbeing –The demands of the job may mean that employees are not getting enough time to exercise and destress. Advise your employees to walk throughout the day rather than just sitting in front of their screens. Initiatives like offering subsidized gym memberships and healthy lunch items at your office cafeteria could actually go a long way in improving the overall wellbeing of your employees.
- Redesign The Workplace –Restructure the environment that your employees stay in for half their day. Change the color of the walls to calming pastels, fix the temperature and lighting of the room, add plants, and a room for relaxing and having coffee/tea. This will give them a peace of mind, calm their senses and improve their health.