There’s no denying that their job is the main cause of stress for most working adults today. And while certain levels of stress in the workplace might be expected, especially in more dynamic work environments, heightened levels of employee stress can take a significant toll on their physical and mental health while damaging business finances, efficiency, and success as well. Clearly, management needs to minimize employee burnout and stress as much as possible in an effort to create a more productive and thriving workplace, and here are some simple ways you could achieve just that:
Providing remote work options
With novel global situations disrupting the workforce and workplace trends continuing to evolve, working from home has become the new norm in many companies. If your business still hasn’t implemented this concept, consider offering remote working opportunities to your employees, and make it a point to destigmatize this working model by turning it into a fair and common practice.
The main benefit of remote work is that it saves both employers and employees valuable time and money by avoiding commutes, while demonstrating trust in the workforce. But working from home can provide additional advantages as well, helping to eliminate common stresses related to scheduling and time-management for most employees, especially those with medical issues and family responsibilities.
Monitoring workloads and scheduling
Managers also have to ensure their employees aren’t tasked with workloads that are too unreasonable or schedules that are too long and rigorous. While it’s natural for workloads to increase during certain periods and situations, workers simply can’t be expected to maintain demanding schedules and heavy workloads for longer time periods.
For instance, monitoring a worker’s business travel itinerary might encourage managers to offer a week or two in-office or remote work to allow the employee to decompress. In case certain departments are dealing with a particularly high turnover, this can point to scheduling and/or workload issues as well.
Identifying common causes
In order to reduce stress in the workplace, knowing the main causes of employee burnout and the most effective ways to eliminate them could also be of great help. This can include impossibly high job demands, lack of employee recognition, poor rewards, toxic work environments, isolation and boredom in the workplace, etc.
To focus on these issues, consider educating your workforce about burnout, ensuring everyone knows what it is, how to recognize it, and how to seek help. Being a more attentive leader could also be of help, prioritizing the behaviors, needs, and demands of your employees. In addition, ensure that channels of communication are established between management and employees, and that communication can flow freely, openly, and honestly.
Prioritizing workplace wellness
When it comes to reducing stress and preventing employee burnout, making wellness a priority might be the most effective method. In many cases, this means creating a more pleasant work environment with calming design, a focus on ergonomics, plenty of plants and the availability of outdoor spaces, as well as quiet areas for workers to unplug and decompress.
However, it might be even more beneficial to ensure a better work-life balance for your employees. Along with remote working opportunities and less strict scheduling, this can also mean providing more flexibility in the workplace, encouraging vacations and PTO, offering better benefits, holding regular walking meetings, and highlighting the importance of healthy lifestyles, for example.
Offering career opportunities
While it might come as a surprise to many employers, the lack of career advancement and personal growth opportunities is one of the main workplace stressors for employees. In a changing technological environment, encouraging employees to build new skills can allow them to adapt to dynamic landscapes more easily and improve their growth opportunities.
Helping workers to see stressful situations more as a challenge instead of a threat could encourage them to rise to the occasion. If you set clear and specific goals with your employees, this can help to ensure your workers know exactly what to expect, while possibly boosting productivity and engagement in the process.
Even though employee burnout and stress are common, they can easily be reduced with the right techniques, ensuring a better relationship between management and the workers. And once that is established, you can drive innovation and create new growth and success opportunities.