Tweet

Lessen the Stress for Those Employees You Manage

Guest post by: Shannon Suetos

Article Overview: In a world where it seems just about everyone needs 25 hours a day to get things do, what are you doing as an employer to make sure your employees are not overly stressed on the job?

Lessen the Stress for Those Employees You Manage

In a world where it seems just about everyone needs 25 hours a day to get things do, what are you doing as an employer to make sure your employees are not overly stressed on the job?

With many businesses laying off people or not rehiring, the workload is then placed on other individuals who are required to do extra work, something that can lead to stress issues.

According to a survey earlier this year from the American Psychological Association (APA), 36 percent of workers sighted feeling work stress regularly and nearly half (49 percent) indicated low salary has a major impact on their stress level at work.

Along with money issues, employees noted a lack of opportunities for growth and advancement (43 percent), heavy workload (43 percent), unrealistic job expectations (40 percent) and long hours (39 percent) as significant sources of stress.

Additionally, less than half of employees (43 percent) said they receive adequate non-monetary rewards and recognition for their efforts at work and only 57 percent stated being satisfied with their employer’s work-life practices. Lastly, 52 percent of employees indicated they feel valued on the job, only two thirds reported being motivated to do their best at work and nearly a third (32 percent) stated that they intend to seek employment elsewhere within the next year.

If your employees are feeling a bit under the gun, what can you do to lighten the load a tad?

Among the options is to:

· 1. Be sure your employees recognize the signs of stress on the job so they are pro-active to them and not re-active. In the event an employee feels anxious, irritable, fatigued or has issues concentrating, see what is bothering them, especially if its work-related;

· 2. Reassure them that the company is doing everything possible to succeed and that layoffs are not in the plans at this point and time. Employees who have more job reassurance are less likely to be stressed out;

· 3. Offer a workout program through a local fitness club so that employees can exercise more often. Whether it is one day or several days a week, employees will feel better about themselves and their jobs by working out;

· 4. Plan some social events. It can be a happy hour or an in-house lunch, but bringing your employees together as a team in a non-working situation offers a great chance for everyone to unwind;

· 5. Review each employee’s time management and see where they may be able to shore up a few areas. By feeling less pressure to get things done on the clock, employees will be more relaxed and should concentrate better;

· 6. Let employees know when they do something good. Too many employers only point out when something goes wrong. Take a pro-active approach and congratulate employees for a job well done.

While employers and managers have the ability to lessen the stress of their employees, not all do.

Some don’t recognize the signs of when an employee is stressed out, leading to an issue either where the individual starts to fail at their job and must be disciplined or even let go, or the person leaves on their own accord.

By acting as a positive role model for his or her employees, business owners and managers can set the tone for a positive office experience from the intern all the way up to the top sales person.

Related Articles
  Cutting through Stress
  Lessen the Stress for Those Employees You Manage
  Zero Stress Selling: 5 No-Fail Strategies to Get More Clients and Fill Your Practice by Sue Kasson
  Addressing the Needs of Seasonal Employees
  Downsizing - Some best practices
  Stress And Personal Mastery
  Dealing with Reality in an Economic Downturn
  Stress Management Tips: Managing Stress in the Workplace
  Managing your Stress
  New Year New Intentions New Stress Ten New Opportunities to Manage The Stress of Change According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Six Steps To Less Stress
  9 steps to reducing the stress of business ownership
  What have I learned in 6 months of management? Part 2
  Business Stress
  Tips To Eliminate Stress Relating To Your New Business
  How Your Stress Management Skills Affects Your Earning Potential
  Don’t Worry Be Happy!
  Stress in America - What’s Causing Stress in America?
  What is the Cost of Not Having a Strategic Plan
  Employee Health And Wellness In The Workplace

Article Tags: business owners, employees, managers, stress



Related Forum Posts
Re: Ways to Boost Productivity - 1. Give Employees More Than a Paycheck 2. Provide Better eSupport Channels to Promote Self-Service 3. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning. 4. Outsource as much as possible 5. . Turn off the TV.
Re: Infographic: The 4 Main Stress Factors - I'd like to reference that article in my next blog post as well.. I worked in sales for years and found that days when I was positive, relaxed where days that it was easy to sell. On days that I was stressed I found I would not reach target. Stress is good at times, but it very easily becomes problematic. I do a lot of very physical exercise and work now, to manage it.
CEOs and Email - Slaves? - I wonder if the emails they are responding to are filtered thru their assistants first 'cos they seem to spend a lot of their off hours responding to them. True they are successful but I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay that price. I'd be interested to know what's the in the typical day planner of Entrepreneurs on the Forum. Entrepreneurs are a different breed than Paid Employees- so it would be interesting to view the contrast.
Re: What exactly do you need to start a business - Hi phummy, I’m not sure what options you have in Nigeria or maybe you already know what you want to do but like any business, it’s all about supply and demand. Is there an interest in the product or service you are selling? Have you researched the market, perhaps approach other competitors to see what they have to offer, do you have any experience in the field. When you have researched your niche and decided what you want to do then it’s time for your business plan. Set your budget (very important) and stick to it, will you be working from home or an office and what equipment/stationary will you need. Manage your time effectively to concentrate on things that will push your business forward. Set realistic goal’s and stick to your plan. Coming to places like this forum are a godsend as you can save yourself time and grief by coming here and asking questions, good luck to you, Mal.
Where I want WSI to be in Dec 31 2007 - Here are my goals for end of 2007 Employees - SEO specialist - admin assistant - sales rep - designer/data entry - copy writer (may be outsourced) Target market (client base) manufacturers 10-50 million in revenue looking for integrated marketing solution ranging from 10k - 30k Systems - crm fully utilized - project management smooth process - sales and marketing to continuously generate leads SALES (My big Goal to focus on ) Last years sales revenue was $220K This year we want to hit $500K - approx 40k per month


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What I Really Want Is...

How to Conduct a B2B Marketing Content Audit

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.