Dealing with stress at workIn a recent poll by ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and other workplace services, 60 percent of employees indicated that they have high levels of stress, manifested by extreme fatigue and a feeling of being out of control. Moreover, 42 percent said that they lose at least one hour or more per day in productivity due to stress, and 35 percent said that they lose 15 - 30 minutes per day. That’s a lot of productivity loss.

Put simply, if you run a company of 100 people, you’re losing about 46 hours of productivity from your employees due to stress every day.

How is productivity affected? For one, stress increases absenteeism. The same survey revealed that nearly half of employees don’t show up for work one or two days a year just due to stress, and another 30 percent miss three to six days for the same reasons. In addition, even when they do come to work, over half the survey participants indicated that they show up too stressed to be effective at their jobs one to four days a year, and another 20 percent put that figure at five days or more. Nearly two thirds of employees take frequent stress breaks to talk about issues with colleagues, and 83 percent come to work when they’re sick.

The scary thing is that most managers are unaware of the stress that their employees are feeling and may be ill-prepared to address it. Of the human resources managers surveyed, only 45 percent thought employees had a high level of stress. Moreover, over a third of employees surveyed cited people issues as their primary cause of stress, and 40 percent of those asked cited stress and personal relationship issues as a primary cause of absences.

Your employees’ stress is costing your company in productivity, and that translates to reduced profitability.

So what can you do about it? Forbes has an article on stress in the workplace, including a slide show of the ten best workplace stress relievers. Top among their tips were ideas such as physical exercise, fun and humor, building in slack to account for unexpected glitches, and simply bringing a healthy perspective when mishaps occur.

The Work Bloom Blog also has additional excellent suggestions for employees on dealing with stress in the work place. Companies that provide their employees with encouragement and opportunities to use these stress-relieving suggestions are doing both their employees and their bottom line a favor.

But since people issues are at the root of a great deal of stress, and since stress prevention is preferable to stress management, enhancing your employees’ people skills and increasing your company’s conflict management competence can have a profound effect on the stress that your employees are feeling. If the statistics in the ComPsych survey bear out, by helping people understand their own behaviors and deal better with those around them, you can reduce their stress level, improve morale, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and ultimately, be more profitable.

Here are some steps you can take:

  • Make EAP and other referral services available for your employees to help them deal with life stresses external to the company.
  • Provide training in negotiation, conflict resolution, communication, and other people skills to your employees, and particularly to your managers.
  • Create both formal and informal dispute resolution processes and systems for your organization, and let people know how to access them.
  • Treat employee complaints and behaviors seriously with respect. Make it safe for people to talk, and take effective action when warranted.