One of the biggest obstacles faced in the workplace by employers is stress. As a good manager, you need to realize the implications of stress. It can be a major hindrance to creating a healthy workplace environment and increasing employee engagement. For the majority of the people, work has been listed as their greatest source of stress. In order to reduce stress at the workplace, we first need to highlight a few work stressors. Low salary or pay is perhaps the most common and predictable workplace stressor. This is followed by excessive workload, poor peer support, and limited growth and development opportunities. Here are a few ways to reduce stress in the workplace.
Make Your Employees Feel Valued
When employees feel worthless and disposable, it can create a very stressful workplace environment. Employees need to feel valued and cared for in order to remain calm and motivated. As a manager, you must communicate with your employees and make them feel valued and appreciated. Being more involved with your employees can make them feel like a part of them.
Change the Physical Environment
Physical aspects of the workplace environment can have a significant impact on employee stress levels. Certain aspects of your office space set the mood of the area like the lighting, the height of the cubicle walls, etc. Even a boring color scheme can cause people to be lazy and dull. Transforming the physical environment such as getting the walls painted, adding more lights, or bringing in a ping pong or foosball table will allow employees to be more active and less stressed.
Allow Employees to Maintain Work-life Balance
Trust your employees to complete their jobs effectively and in a timely fashion. Don’t make your office feel like a jail cell. Rather, try creating a workplace that facilitates the completion of tasks. Many employees are stressed because they fail to maintain a balance between their work and personal life. Facilitating them by allowing them to be more flexible can motivate them greatly, reducing their stress levels.
Offer Recognition to Employees
When employees are rewarded and appreciated for a job well done, their engagement levels experience a significant boost. However, every employee has a different personality, so you need to be careful about how and when to offer them recognition. Your employees will appreciate your acknowledgment of their efforts and will be inclined towards working harder and being happier and satisfied.
Provide Counseling
The mental health of employees can have a significant impact on their work and productivity levels. Many employees, regardless of being great workers, tend to struggle with stress and other issues. Many companies hire counselors to help employees discuss their thoughts and feelings to help them work through their issues.
Encourage Employees to Engage in Physical Activities
Employees need to take occasional breaks from work in order to work effectively. Encouraging them to take part in physical activities, such as hitting the gym or trying a yoga class, can boost their morale significantly. You can also allow employees to take short but frequent breaks after every few hours of constantly staring at the computer screen.
Reducing stress at the workplace is imperative to build a healthy and positive work environment!
