Have you ever received or sent one of those famous workplace-related memes? The ones which either grumble about one’s boss, colleagues, or work or talk about the sheer relief one feels when they leave the work premises?
Something like the one below?
Or this one?
Or maybe this one?
Funny, aren’t they?
Ever wondered, if this is what your employees are feeling?
We’ve all heard about it and most of us probably faced it too. But let’s try to define it today.
Office stress, in my opinion, can be defined as a situation wherein a worker feels that the resources he or she has at hand and the demands of his or her job are not proportionate and they may have a hard time deciding which task to prioritize or dedicate more resources to.
According to a study by CompareCamp, the US is home to the most stressed-out population in the world.
About 83% of people experience workplace stress while 56% admit that this anxiety lowers their productivity.
Well, that’s scary, especially if you are the manager or the HR responsible for them!
Although there could be several reasons for it in a person’s life, from relationships to money and more, why not make sure that you are not contributing to it?
Some key factors that could be stressing out your workforce may include the following:
Companies all around the world work on a fixed system — there may or may not be a hierarchy, but there’s always someone to keep a check on every worker’s performance. This person could be a supervisor or even a co-worker. However, oftentimes the communication that passes between these parties is ambiguous.
What is required from a team member and his or her understanding of that request might differ, and it is the supervisor’s responsibility to make sure the message has been transmitted clearly so that no resources, including time and energy, are wasted after it.
Usually, the major parties involved in making any big and small decisions about the company or its personnel are just the managers and supervisors. But when the decision is something that directly affects your employees, it is only fair to include them in the process as well.
For example, if the enterprise is organizing a paid trip for all its workers, taking their opinion might make your task simpler than it seems. Actively seeking their opinion will also make them feel appreciated and valued.
We are all human beings with families, duties, and responsibilities outside of work as well. Agreed? Then let us try to keep that in mind when fixing the required number of working hours or fixed timing for the staff. If the hours are too long and/or rigid, it may lead them to miss out on important errands or conversely spend lesser time at the office. This would not just become a reason for stress, but could also lead to fatigue and sickness.
The working hours of your teams may be uniform, but there can arise situations where one member is overloaded with multiple tasks. Simultaneously, another member may be spending his or her time playing games on their phone or surfing the internet because the tasks assigned to them are already done and over with. Both these circumstances are unhealthy for the office environment, as they may create animosity and anxiety in the workers. Attempts should be made to avoid such a state at all costs.
If the idea that “it is your duty to take care of them because they work for you” seems a flimsy excuse, let us look at some solid facts as to why you definitely should care.
Hundreds and thousands of articles, blogs, and papers have been published through the years that talk about tricks that lead to a healthy working space with minimized stress. We know we may be adding to that bulk, but we are also confident that these ideas will help you make your office a sacred temple of good mental health.
To take any steps for your workers’ welfare, you would first need to understand the troubles they are facing at work. Talk to them regularly and randomly to find out how they’re doing and to check in with them if they have any questions about the tasks they’ve been assigned. This makes you seem more accessible to your staff, which is necessary for building a friendly ambiance in the office. As mentioned above, a poor dialogue between the personnel can lead to a massive waste of resources that include not just time, energy, and efforts but also money.
Albeit a newer concept with the emergence of widespread awareness about mental health, these types of leave are becoming popular with companies and employees alike with every passing day.
Recall those days where you were absolutely exhausted after running in a million different directions and fulfilling varied personal and professional responsibilities? Yes, that is something your workforce also goes through, and every once in a while, they may require to just lay back and relax, with their minds not thinking already about the next task on their to-do list. Give them this time off and then witness the improvement in their performance.
In today’s computerized era, every second task is made simpler with the help of some software, hardware, or even just the world wide web. Providing your workers access to this technology can help make their day-to-day job easier, thus reducing the stress they carry about it by a significant margin.
For writers, LaTeX can be one such application. However, training and upskilling to make them ready to use this tech is also important. You would not believe how many times people have searched the web for how to make an abstract in latex.
A space designated especially to let your hair down is the need of the hour and many companies have already started with the installation of the same in their offices.
Make a break room where the employees can go to take a small pause in their continuous working. This can help them rejuvenate and re-energize themselves for the next set of hours filled with reports, meetings, and their multiple routine duties.
Finally, we would like to reiterate to you the value of the good mental health of your workers. Remember, it affects not just them but your company, your work, and your market image as well. People from all over wish to work with Google not only because it’s one of the biggest brands in the entire world, but more importantly because they treat their employees as their family.
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