Express Employment Professionals is Saskatoon’s only locally owned and operated staffing and recruitment agency, offering a full scope of staffing and recruitment solutions, from professional search and headhunting to temporary staffing. In their latest Saskatoon employment agency tip, they wrote an article on cures for workplace stress.
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Feeling stressed at work now seems to be the norm. Just think about how others respond when you ask how work is going. Consider what you say when you’re asked the same question. How often is the answer “Great! It’s always so relaxed and stress-free?”
Forbes reported on a survey of employees that showed 35 percent had contemplated leaving a job because of workplace stress. In comparison, another 42 percent had actually left a job because of the stress. Work-life balance and the impact of how to manage the two areas of life are obviously a major struggle for many in the workforce today. But what can employers do to help their employees successfully handle the demands of each world?
Diagnosis Before Treatment
So what’s the cause? Before you can find a cure, you have to find the underlying issue. And in this case, there isn’t one problem, but many. According to the Forbes article, some of the top causes include relationships with supervisors, workload, work-life balance, and coworkers. According to an article from The Atlantic, work hours, shift work, downsizing, family conflicts, and money problems also play a role.
That’s a lot of factors. Employers can deal with some, the employees themselves can address some, and some have to be chalked up to the way things are. But, it would be especially beneficial for companies to dig into what’s stressing their employees out and determine what’s within the businesses’ power to change.
Across the country, companies are struggling to meet their workers’ healthcare needs while implementing programs to boost workplace health and productivity. Yet, as Forbes points out,
“Those programs can only work if companies aren’t simultaneously undermining them with stress-inducing management practices. It’s in the employer’s best interest to look into this connection, both for the good of their employees and for their organizations.”
A Multi-Faceted Cure
Certainly, the previously mentioned health insurance and health-focused workplace programs are helpful, but as Forbes continues to emphasize,
“employers can help address these problems by looking beyond health care programs to changes in their management and operations structures.”
That can feel like a heavy burden on businesses' shoulders.
However, that could play out in many simple ways in the average business. Company events can build comradery and a family atmosphere. A mentorship program often breeds growth and development. Making employee retention a priority produces a sense of loyalty and security. Stress levels can also be reduced by ensuring leadership clearly expresses realistic performance expectations, provides effective feedback, and consistently praises efforts.
A Balanced Approach
No one could logically dismiss the adverse effects that stress in the workplace has on businesses and employees every day. But it’s also not an easy problem to solve. Workplace stress researchers and university professors Joel Goh, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and Stefano A. Zenios are fully aware of this and discussed it in their recent paper on the same subject. “We do not claim that an ideal stress-free workplace is realistically or economically achievable.”
However, each business leader can make progress by finding the stress triggers within their own companies and determining ways to alleviate as much of the problem as possible. The three authors’ research confirms that while “these stressors cannot be completely eradicated in practice”, the simple act of identifying and addressing stress points “could potentially go a long way.” That’s a very modest cure for such a widespread affliction.
Express Employment Professionals allows clients to focus their efforts and time on being productive and doing what they do best – their business. Let their team focus on finding that right hire – that is what they do best!
Contact Hanif and the team today! Connecting employees with great companies like yours.
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