Work Related Stress

05 Jul 2021

What is Stress?

Our lives aren't without stress. Many things can cause people to be stressed, like money worries, a change in circumstances, an illness or loss of a loved one, and so on. People who are stressed can have bad behaviour, relationships, and performance at home and at work, which can lead to long-term absence from work.

People who have Work-Related Stress (WRS) have stress that comes from or gets worse because of their job. It just means that when someone thinks about the work environment in a way that makes him feel like he can't keep up, that's what it means.

Signs that you're stressed out at work

As a manager, the best are those who can see the signs and act on them. The following are some of the signs that your employees might be stressed or stressed out.

Absenteeism

According to research, people who are stressed are more likely to take more sick days. Some of the most common reasons for long-term absence from work are acute medical conditions, stress, and poor mental health.

People who have the typical signs of stress are more likely to have health problems like high blood pressure, headaches, weight gain or loss, or trouble sleeping.

Symptoms like these can start to take a toll on the people who work at the store. People who have almost perfect attendance may start taking more time off work, which can hurt productivity and morale in the workplace.

Turnover of staff

When there is a lot of stress in an organisation, it can make people want to do something else that isn't as stressful. This means that the business will have to spend more money and time training and hiring new employees because there will be more staff turnover.

Punctuality

There are almost always a few people in every company who have trouble keeping track of their own time. Then again, when employees who are usually on time start to be lazy with their timekeeping, even by a few minutes, it could be a sign that they are stressed.

As a result, people who are stressed or anxious may not be able to keep track of time or get up in the morning. This could be because of restlessness, not getting enough sleep, or because you bring work stress home with you at night.

Relationships

Those who are stressed tend to stay away from other people, even if they're friends, coworkers, or even their own family members. Most of the time, this is because they are in their own world and don't have the energy to have polite conversation or even small talk.

Communication and relationship building aren't going well, which hurts productivity when people have to talk. They also become less likely to make suggestions or participate in proactive discussions if they are in pain or have a bad day.

Stress, on the other hand, can make you more sensitive, which can cause problems of its own. Those who are stressed are more likely to lash out at people who are close to them, which could be other people on the project team. This is not good for the workplace.

The quality of the work that is done

I think it's true that people who thrive on extra work can be the best when they're stressed. But, this isn't true for everyone. There are times when the stress and pressure of a project can make team members break down. In this way, the quality of their work goes down.

If a worker doesn't meet a deadline or a quality check, they may choose to stay quiet about it. This, of course, affects the person in question, but it can also have a huge impact on the people around them because they have to work even harder to make up for the less productive person.

Memory slips

When you're stressed and your mind isn't focused, it can be hard to remember what you've learned. This means that you might forget more often.

Skills that are important for a company

People who are stressed often have a lot of "worry" thoughts, which can be very stressful. This means that they have a hard time organising and prioritising their work.

Communicating with words

People who are stressed find it hard to talk to each other. This could hurt teamwork and make the worker more stressed.

Indecision

Stress at work can directly affect how you make decisions. People who are stressed or anxious may not believe that they can make rational decisions in contrast to how they usually act.

Management of time

Most of the time, when people are nervous or stressed, they feel tired. This means that workers become less efficient at managing their work and take longer to finish their tasks.

Concentration

It is very easy for people to get distracted by their thoughts and what is going on around them. This would make it hard for them to focus for a long time and also make them tired.

Errors that aren't normal

Workers who are stressed may not be able to concentrate or focus, which can lead to them making more mistakes at work.

Listening and writing down what I hear and what I write down

Having a lot of stress can make it hard for someone to pay attention and write down what they're hearing. There's also a chance that they might want to get information in small pieces.

Causes of stress at work

Stress at work hasn't changed very much in the last few years. Managing style, work load, the pressure to meet goals, and things outside of work (relationships/family) are some of the main causes of stress at work.

It isn't just stress from inside your body that can make you feel bad. Health and well-being are linked to personal relationships and the political and economic climate in the world around them.

Even though an employer can't control things like this, it's important for businesses to understand how their employees' work and home lives are connected. Many people also have a hard time leaving their personal problems at home. Because people's lives are so complicated, organisations need to be aware of this. They should also treat each person individually.

On the other hand, there are a lot of things an employer can do to help their employees. However, stress is still caused by a lot of work.

We all have to take on more responsibilities and work longer hours in the modern world because it's fast and hard to keep up. But this extra work doesn't always lead to better performance or productivity. In fact, stress, poor work-life balance, mistakes, and other things happen because of this instead.

Management of stress

People who work for an employer have a legal responsibility to protect them from work-related stress by doing a risk assessment and then taking action on it. In order to deal with stress at work, employers need to be aware of the first signs of stress in their employees. Because they must also know how it can affect their work.

People are a company's most important asset, and the best thing they have is their health and well-being. This means that they have to be moral and legally bound to look after the health of their employees on a daily basis. If employers are serious about reducing stress at work, they need to take a long-term approach.

The following are ways to deal with stress at work:

Assesments of the stress risk

First, employers need to figure out what is causing stress at work and do something about it. There are a lot of ways to do this. Work-life balance can be improved by flexible hours and focus groups, which are two of the most common ways to find and reduce stress in the office. Also, stress risk assessments are very important.

Well-being of employees

Mental health and the well-being of employees are inseparable. So, being proactive about promoting employee well-being will make a big difference in reducing work-related stress and mental-health absence.

People and businesses are also taking steps to improve their mental health, too. Most companies give their employees access to counselling, free eye exams, employee assistance programmes, and so on in order to keep them healthy and happy.

Leadership

An effective health and well-being strategy needs everyone on the team to be on board. People management and good leadership are the building blocks of a safe and healthy workplace. So, senior leaders are very important if they want to make a long-term change in the health and well-being of their employees.

How senior managers act and what they value will send a strong message about what's important in their company. When workers feel important, they are more likely to help their company.

Management of People

Line management is very important to the health and well-being of employees and the stress in the workplace. People who are in charge of the workers also have a lot of power, so they are the first people to know when someone is feeling pressured.

People in charge of a company don't need to be health experts, but they do need to understand the value of good health and well-being at work. In addition, they must be able to look for early signs of sickness and stress at work. They also need to be able to have difficult and sensitive talks with their employees.

Culture

Culture is the most important thing when it comes to making a workplace that is open, inclusive, and based on trust. Employees should be able to talk about mental health issues and problems they are having without fear of being judged. By becoming more aware of stress and mental health, organisations will start to make their workplaces safe and healthy.

Ways to help team members who are stressed

Discuss with your team member if there are any things about their job that might make them stressed out, like giving them a lot of work at short notice. Find out what they would have done instead.
Stress is caused by having too much work to do. It's also important to find out how your team member is managing their work and help them to put things in order so that they feel more in charge.
People who are stressed or anxious can go to this quiet place and use their own relaxation techniques there to help them calm down.
Remember to tell your staff member about any help they can get at work and how to get it. Among other things, they could use a counselling service, the company's occupational health team, or something else to help them deal with their stress at work more effectively.
This will help your staff member know when they need to leave the room and take a five-minute break to calm down.
Make sure that, as their manager, you have made any reasonable changes that they might need. When they work, for example, make sure they take breaks during the day.
There isn't a "one-size-fits-all" way to design a health and well-being strategy. Every boss needs to know what happens in the workplace to get to the root of the problem.

If employers know what their workers are going through and there are ways to help them, they can cut down on work-related stress in the company.