STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE
STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE
Stress in the workplace is becoming a major concern for employers, managers and government agencies, owing to the Occupational Health and Safety legislations requiring employers to practice ‘duty of care’ by providing employees with safe working environments which also cover the psychological wellbeing of their staff.
One of the costs, for employers, of work place stress is absenteeism, with the A.C.T.U. reporting that owing to stress, nearly fifty per cent of employees surveyed had taken time off work. Other negative effects were reductions in productivity, reduced profits, accidents, high rates of sickness, increased workers’ compensation claims and high staff turnover, requiring recruiting and training of replacement staff.
While a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate individuals into action, prolonged stress can have a huge impact on overall health. More than two-thirds of visits to doctors’ surgeries are for stress-related illnesses. Stress has been linked to headaches, backaches, insomnia, anger, cramps, elevated blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and lowered resistance to infection. For women, stress is a key factor in hormonal imbalances resulting in menstrual irregularities, PMS, fibroids, endometriosis and fertility problems. Stress can also be a factor in the development of almost all disease states including cancer and heart disease.
Each profession has its own unique factors that may cause stress; below are some causes of stress that cross many professions:
• Increased workload
• Organizational changes
• Lack of recognition
• High demands
• Lack of support
• Personal and family issues
• Poor work organization
• Lack of training
• Long or difficult hours
• Inadequate staff numbers and resources
• Poor management communication
• Lack of control or input
So what can be done to effectively manage workplace stress?
Organizations can:
• Educate their employees to recognise the signs of stress.
• Where possible, give their employees the chance to be involved in decisions and actions that affect their jobs.
• Improve employer-employee communications.
• Provide employees with opportunities to socialise together.
• Be understanding of employees’ personal and family responsibilities.
• Ensure employee workloads suit their capabilities and resources (provide more training and resources if not).
• Provide support (internally or externally) for employees who have complex stress issues.
Employees can reduce their overall stress by:
• Regularly exercising, as this releases ‘happy hormones’.
• Eating a healthy diet, as stress depletes vital nutrients.
• Getting adequate rest.
• Using tea and lunch breaks to read, listen to a relaxation CD or have a five-minute power-nap.
• If appropriate, playing relaxing music at work and burning aromatherapy oils.
• Being more organized. Get up earlier to have more time.
• Delegating responsibility where possible. Say no!
• Taking time out to laugh by telling someone a joke. Start a laughter group: by standing in a circle and all forcing a big laugh, it will soon become real!
• Avoiding caffeine and sugar. Although this may provide an instant lift it later depletes the body of energy and nutrients.
• Taking time to do things that bring enjoyment and pleasure.
• Making the work environment pleasurable. Have relaxing sounds in the form of music or a water fountain. Have enjoyable smells by burning candles or aromatherapy oils. Hang beautiful pictures or posters on the walls; have photos or flowers on the desk.
• Taking care of their overall health and wellbeing by practising good self-care.
• Keep a journal that monitors dates and times of stress to detect re-occurring patterns and to help you discover changes you may need to make.
Sometimes trying to implement change (even for the better) can itself cause stress and prevent a person remaining motivated. In this case it’s important to get support for your stress from a counsellor, doctor, naturopath, friend, peer or life coach who specializes in stress issues.
The benefits of a systematic and joint approach to reducing work stress are:
• Increased productivity
• Decrease in absenteeism
• Improved morale
• Decrease in workers’ compensation claims
• Reduction in workplace accidents
The most important benefit in reducing workplace stress is that it will promote a pleasant work environment for all.
STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE - To learn more about this author, visit Lisa Branigan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ (A.C.T.U.) 1997 survey, fifty per cent of workers had suffered some form of stress at work in a 12-month period. The statistics in care professions were even higher, with the Department of Education and Training in Western Australia reporting in its 2002 Attitudes To Teaching Survey that seventy per cent of teachers identified workplace stress as a cause for concern in their teaching positions.
Stress in the workplace is becoming a major concern for employers, managers and government agencies, owing to the Occupational Health and Safety legislations requiring employers to practice ‘duty of care’ by providing employees with safe working environments which also cover the psychological wellbeing of their staff.
One of the costs, for employers, of work place stress is absenteeism, with the A.C.T.U. reporting that owing to stress, nearly fifty per cent of employees surveyed had taken time off work. Other negative effects were reductions in productivity, reduced profits, accidents, high rates of sickness, increased workers’ compensation claims and high staff turnover, requiring recruiting and training of replacement staff.
While a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate individuals into action, prolonged stress can have a huge impact on overall health. More than two-thirds of visits to doctors’ surgeries are for stress-related illnesses. Stress has been linked to headaches, backaches, insomnia, anger, cramps, elevated blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and lowered resistance to infection. For women, stress is a key factor in hormonal imbalances resulting in menstrual irregularities, PMS, fibroids, endometriosis and fertility problems. Stress can also be a factor in the development of almost all disease states including cancer and heart disease.
Each profession has its own unique factors that may cause stress; below are some causes of stress that cross many professions:
• Increased workload
• Organizational changes
• Lack of recognition
• High demands
• Lack of support
• Personal and family issues
• Poor work organization
• Lack of training
• Long or difficult hours
• Inadequate staff numbers and resources
• Poor management communication
• Lack of control or input
So what can be done to effectively manage workplace stress?
Organizations can:
• Educate their employees to recognise the signs of stress.
• Where possible, give their employees the chance to be involved in decisions and actions that affect their jobs.
• Improve employer-employee communications.
• Provide employees with opportunities to socialise together.
• Be understanding of employees’ personal and family responsibilities.
• Ensure employee workloads suit their capabilities and resources (provide more training and resources if not).
• Provide support (internally or externally) for employees who have complex stress issues.
Employees can reduce their overall stress by:
• Regularly exercising, as this releases ‘happy hormones’.
• Eating a healthy diet, as stress depletes vital nutrients.
• Getting adequate rest.
• Using tea and lunch breaks to read, listen to a relaxation CD or have a five-minute power-nap.
• If appropriate, playing relaxing music at work and burning aromatherapy oils.
• Being more organized. Get up earlier to have more time.
• Delegating responsibility where possible. Say no!
• Taking time out to laugh by telling someone a joke. Start a laughter group: by standing in a circle and all forcing a big laugh, it will soon become real!
• Avoiding caffeine and sugar. Although this may provide an instant lift it later depletes the body of energy and nutrients.
• Taking time to do things that bring enjoyment and pleasure.
• Making the work environment pleasurable. Have relaxing sounds in the form of music or a water fountain. Have enjoyable smells by burning candles or aromatherapy oils. Hang beautiful pictures or posters on the walls; have photos or flowers on the desk.
• Taking care of their overall health and wellbeing by practising good self-care.
• Keep a journal that monitors dates and times of stress to detect re-occurring patterns and to help you discover changes you may need to make.
Sometimes trying to implement change (even for the better) can itself cause stress and prevent a person remaining motivated. In this case it’s important to get support for your stress from a counsellor, doctor, naturopath, friend, peer or life coach who specializes in stress issues.
The benefits of a systematic and joint approach to reducing work stress are:
• Increased productivity
• Decrease in absenteeism
• Improved morale
• Decrease in workers’ compensation claims
• Reduction in workplace accidents
The most important benefit in reducing workplace stress is that it will promote a pleasant work environment for all.
STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE - To learn more about this author, visit Lisa Branigan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 STRESS
| |||
| Many people believe that stress is the demon of modern busy life style. While a certain amount of stress is important to help us to face life’s challenges, too much for too long can be fatal. Numerous studies have ... |
|||
|
Dealing With Stress In The Small Business Workplace, Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
| |||
| It is certainly no secret that stress is a fact of daily life ad is especially true in the small business workplace. And what makes it worse is most small business owners must face the challenges alone or with litt... |
|||
|
How To Stress Less, The Science of the Well Workplace
| |||
| This article addresses some common misunderstandings about stress in the workplace and introduces you to the philosophy behind our in-house corporate workshops…a program that can implement a highly effective stress ... |
|||
|
Imposed Stress at the Workplace
| |||
| In order to understand how to deal with stress, we need to know how it works as well as how we physically respond to stress. Obviously it is equally important that body and mind respond to stress as a unit. Our ment... |
|||
|
The Effect of the Economic Woes and Wellness in the Workplace
| |||
| These days, however, with the focus of much of the news being on the current economic crisis, there is an increasing amount of tension in the workplace. However, by focusing on the health and well-being of your staf... |
|||
| |||
| |||
Michel NerayMichel Neray has over 25 years of experience as an award-winning copywriter, an Internet pioneer, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. An online pioneer, he was one of the first marketing professionals to embrace the Internet by building websites as early as 1993. In 1994, Michel co-authored a book entitled "The Great Crossover: Personal Confidence in the Age of the Microchip", which made it to Jack Canfield's Achiever's Recommended Reading List. Michel founded Portfolios.com in 1995, the world's first online source directory for creative professionals and one of the first websites based on community generated content. Since creating The Essential Message in 2003, Michel has helped thousands of independent professionals and entrepreneurs as well as growing corporations find a better way to differentiate, position and brand themselves. In 2005, his chapter "Everything Starts With A Conversation" was selected as the lead for the book, "Sales Gurus Speak Out" and re-published in 2008 for 'Awakening The Workplace Volume 3'. He is also a co-author of "In the Company of Leaders" (2008) with 40 top North American leadership experts. - Visit Michel Neray's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 Lisa Branigan (Visit Lisa's Website) "Lisa Branigan is a certified Life Coach helping successful women create a less pressured, more enjoyable lifestyle" She is a speaker, writer, new coach mentor, regular guest on ABC radio and contributor to magazines and newspapers. Lisa enjoys coaching women to improve their health and life in personal phone sessions, working with leaders in acquiring coaching skills for professional use and helping new coaches feel the fear and do it anyway! Contact Lisa for a "FREE" 30-minute phone coaching session and get started on achieving your goals today!
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Ideal Client CAN-Spam Checklist Write A Bestseller Non Disclosure Agreement Emotions Drive Behavior |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
