Detecting Stress in Your Workforce

Although it’s common to have some degree of stress in the workplace, excessively high levels can have an adverse impact on employee morale and operations as a whole. If left unchecked, it can hurt your company culture, productivity and ultimately profitability. Below are ways to identify workplace stress and some effective techniques for preventing it.

What Exactly is Workplace Stress? 

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety defines it as “the harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is a conflict between job demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demands.” Stress can cause your staff to become overwhelmed with their day-to-day tasks, and it can take a toll on them both mentally and physically.

Signs of Workplace Stress

While stress can manifest itself in a variety of ways, the following signs are usually good indicators that it’s become an issue that needs to be addressed.

  • A high rate of absenteeism
  • Frequent staff tardiness
  • A high turnover rate
  • Frequent arguments and skirmishes between employees
  • Irritability among staff members
  • Diminished productivity and overall performance
  • Low morale

How to Prevent It

For starters, you should try to give employees time to relax and recharge their batteries throughout each workday. Having a calm environment like a lounge or break room where they can unwind and place their attention on something besides work can have a restorative effect.

Believe it or not, simply incorporating some plants into your workplace can be a great stress reducer as well. According to a study from Texas A&M University, “being around plants helps people concentrate better in the workplace, and tasks performed under the calming influence of nature are performed better and with greater accuracy, yielding a higher quality result.” If your workplace is a bit synthetic and Spartan, throwing in some plants or nature-themed décor can have a positive impact.

You’ll also want to ensure you’ve got adequate staffing so your employees aren’t being overworked to the point of exhaustion. If this is an issue for your company, you may want to consider partnering with a staffing agency to provide you with temporary staffing or temp-to-hire staffing to fill in the gaps. This will ensure that you’ve always got the necessary manpower to keep up with demand.

Stress in your workforce can have a host of unsavory consequences that hurt your bottom line. But by being proactive and resolving this issue before it becomes a major crisis, you can keep your employees happier and improve operations.

Looking for more tips on how to run a better workplace? Check out the rest of the Encadria Staffing Solutions blog.

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