Employee stress is a problem. For every employee. At every company.
Stress naturally occurs in the workplace. When left unchecked, it can wreak havoc on employee health and productivity.
In fact, stress has been associated with physical problems like a weakened immune system, stomach aches, high blood pressure, hair loss and headaches. It can also cause problems with concentration and teamwork—and ultimately productivity.
So what can you do?
This Forbes article offers 25 tips to reduce stress and increase productivity in your workplace. We share with you 8 highlights:
1. Walking Groups – Exercise is an age-old stress buster. Organize groups to take short walks throughout the day at work. You might have one group that heads out for a stroll over the lunch hour—or maybe a group that fights the afternoon slump with a walk around the block. Regardless of when, where or how long, offering employees the option to take a short walk during the workday can be an excellent break, as well as the exercise boost they need.
2. Open Door Policy – You’d be surprised at the amount of stress that stems from a lack of communication. Many people aren’t stressed by the work they’re doing, but by the uncertainty regarding the project as a whole—or by the work of those they’re partnering with. Encouraging employees to approach their supervisors and leadership teams with questions and concerns helps to ease that uncertainty. It provides an effective method for voicing frustrations and getting questions answered.
3. Positive Messaging – The words you choose in the workplace play a huge role in the overall corporate culture. Happier words lead to a happier culture and happier employees. So choose positive messaging. Positive messaging means using words and communication that bring about positive interactions. It involves being personal, encouraging, passionate and empowering in your interactions.
4. Flexible Scheduling – Two huge sources of workplace stress are work-life balance and a lack of control over daily tasks. Allowing employees to set their own schedules addressed both of those common stressors. When employees choose their schedules, they’ll set a schedule that works with their lives at home. Dropping kids of at 8 a.m.? Work day starts at 8:15. No problem.
5. Unplugged Afternoons – A lot of stress is caused by the constant nature of the digital communication channels we use. Even when attempting to focus on one project, employees can be bombarded with notifications from a million different digital platforms. Consider making one afternoon each week an “unplugged afternoon.” Encourage employees to silence phones, sign out of email and shut down messaging systems. Allow them a quiet afternoon to tackle their work with no distractions.
6. Meaningful Meetings – There’s nothing more stressful than wasted time. Any meeting whose contents can be addressed in an email should be canceled. At all costs, avoid meeting with your employees “just to meet.” If you’re doing your job right, they have much better things to do with their time. So let them. If a meeting isn’t necessary, and you can clearly portray the message with another form of communication, don’t drag your employees to the conference room.
7. Clear Expectations – Most employees know their role in an organization—they know what they were hired for. Unfortunately, many employees don’t know what’s expected of them in that role. Yes, their duties might be clear. But how, when and why they’re supposed to take care of those duties might be a mystery. Make sure employees understand what’s expected of them so they aren’t stressing out about something that’s actually irrelevant to them.
8. Focus On Others – Your own little world can be a stressful place—don’t get stuck there. And don’t let your employees get stuck in their own little worlds. Force them to step outside of that world and think about something else by going out into the community. Every once in a while, have a community service day. Go out in groups and help others. It’s easy to find volunteer work to do no matter where you live. The simple act of helping others can help provide some perspective. Perspective is one of the greatest stress relievers.