Now, here are five significant reasons why employee stress management is crucial for you:

1. Employee stress leads to a loss of employee engagement:

As you know, employee engagement is the key to your organisation’s success in this competitive business world. But, when your employees are stressed, they cannot focus on work. As a result, their engagement level remains low. Thus, employee stress leads to a loss of employee engagement, which is not at all suitable for your organisation.

2. Employee stress leads to a loss of employee productivity:

How can your employees be productive when all their energy gets depleted because of stress? So, employee stress leads to a loss of employee productivity.

3. Employee stress creates a hostile environment in the workplace:

When employees are stressed at work, they exhibit negative behavioural traits such as anger, irritation and frustration. Further, the negative energy they radiate travels all over the workplace and makes the work environment negative.

4. Employee stress is inversely proportional to the quality of work:

Stressed employees develop a confused mental state, which disrupts their ability to concentrate on work. This further negatively impacts the quality of work they do. So, employee stress is inversely proportional to the quality of work.

5. Employee stress results in higher employee absenteeism:

Stressed employees are likely to suffer from several health problems such as headaches, upset stomach and high blood pressure. These health issues prompt them to take frequent leaves from work. So, employee stress results in higher employee absenteeism.

These five reasons are sufficient to illustrate how employee stress can disrupt your organisations’ well-being. Thus, you should start taking actionable measures for employee stress management right away.

Now, here are five actionable measures by taking which you can help your employees keep their stress levels managed:

1. Set your organisation free from micromanagement:

Nothing troubles your employees as much as micromanagement.  It is quite natural as no one likes to be excessively controlled by others. So, the first thing which you need to do for employee stress management is to set your organisation free from micromanagement. Although this is not an easy task, you have to do it for your employees and your organisation. You have to train the managers at all levels to avoid micromanagement and let every employee work in his style.

2. Organise stress management programs in the workplace:

Organising stress management programs is one of the best ways to help your employees with stress management. These programs are designed to equip them with different stress management techniques which they can practice to reduce their stress levels. Some of these techniques are such that they can practice them even while working, such as breathing exercises and mindfulness. So, as a responsible employer, you should organise regular stress management programs in the workplace.

3. Let your employees enjoy some flexibility:

Flexibility is an important aspect which can help your employees with stress management. This is because it promotes the right work-life balance, the absence of which is a cause of stress for most employees. So, you should let your employees enjoy some flexibility. You can try introducing flexible working hours or allowing your employees to work from home for one or two days a week. Further, if you cannot allow such flexible working conditions due to the requirements of your organisation, then, you should try to offer flexibility to your employees in other ways. For example, you can let them work under the sun during the winter season or let them switch their workspace whenever they feel like. 

4. Make your employees play some games together daily:

Playing is an excellent way of stress management. When you play, you become completely engrossed in it. Additionally, the enjoyment you experience triggers the release of feel-good hormones in your body. As a result, your stress level gets significantly reduced. So, for employee stress management, you should make your employees play some games together daily. You can learn about many office-friendly games from the internet such as Pictionary, bingo and musical chairs.

5. Make exercising or dancing together an integral part of the work schedule:

Exercise and physical activities like dancing trigger the release of happy hormones such as Serotonin, Dopamine and Oxytocin in the body. These hormones induce stress relief by lowering the levels of the stress hormone- Cortisol, in the body. So, you should do exercise or dancing together sessions, an integral part of the work schedule. Every morning as your employees come to the office, you can start the day by dancing together. This will mark a tremendous positive start of the workday. Further, you can designate a separate relaxing room in the office and allow your employees to go there and exercise or dance whenever they feel stressed out. This will help you bring a considerable reduction in employee stress levels.

As discussed above, there has been a significant rise in employee stress in the past two years. This is not at all good for the employees as well as business organisations. Stressed employees are prone to many health issues, and organisations with stressed employees suffer in terms of lost productivity, increased employee absenteeism and decreased employee engagement. So, as an organisational leader, it becomes your responsibility to bring a reduction in the stress levels of your employees. For this, you can follow the different employee stress management measures mentioned above. Now, wishing you All the Best and may your employees be blessed with a relaxed state of mind.