How to help your workers become more resistant to stress

Every business has goals to achieve, and, every goal comes with a deadline. As an employer, you expect your employees to meet project-related deadlines. It is an inevitable part of any business and this is what makes a business successful. However, with deadlines come stress and pressure. Your employees experience immense stress to meet the deadline and to deliver the project as expected. This also gives rise to the need for effective stress management.

As an employer, dealing with stress must not be taken casually, as it will affect your business revenue and your business growth. A company needs to acknowledge the issue of workplace stress among employees. Because when an employer acknowledges the presence of employee stress, only then will you be able to address the issue effectively. You must implement various measures of effective stress management techniques to make the employees cope with stress.

In the long run, it will also make them resilient to workplace stress. Today, let us discuss some types of stress management skills to help your employees cope with stress.

These c oping strategies for stress are sure to help:

Balance the workload

Nonstop working for days on end will exhaust and wear down your employees. Your employees are humans and they need ample breaks to rest and recharge themselves. So, when designing their job responsibilities, blend in some stress management techniques so that they can maintain a healthy work-life balance in the future.

• The workload should be suitable as per the ability of the employee and the available resources.
• Keep reasonable working hours and make sure that employees get enough time to go home and rest properly before the next shift.
• Keep your targets and goals realistic by giving deadlines that can be manageable.
• If possible, allow your employees some freedom to control the work they do.

Helping your employees maintain a balance will aid your stress management activities.

Confusion about their roles and responsibilities

Employees feel stressed and find coping with stress difficult when they are not properly aware of their roles and responsibilities at work. It is the job of the employer to communicate with their employees transparently about the work an employee will put in and the time it will take each day. This way the employee knows what is expected out of him/her at work, which in turn brings more efficiency into the workforce and reduces employee stress.

• Set proper and clear job expectations so that employees clearly understand their roles and responsibilities.
• Create a proper leadership structure so that the employee knows who they report to. This will infuse more efficiency into the work environment, making the workplace more stress-free.

Allow remote working and flexibility

We understand that every profile in a business is not suitable for remote working. And, you don’t want to compromise on the productivity and efficiency of your company. You need the staff to come to the office every day. But, in the event of an emergency or when they really cannot make it to the office, give them the alternative to work remotely and on a flexible schedule. This will greatly help you deal with employee stress.

Allowing employees the option to work on a flexible time or from home has proven to boost the morale of the workforce; it also results in improved productivity and reduced workplace stress.

• Allow your employees to manage their professional schedule sometimes.
• If required, let them work from home for some time; this will give them a feeling that their employer trusts them adequately.

Create a sense of loyalty among your employees

Show trust in your employees and value them and their work. This will create a sense of loyalty among your employees and will help with stress management for employees.

• Respect your employees and treat them appropriately.
• Provide them with training for stress awareness, assertiveness training, induction and time management training, etc.
• Offer promotion and other career development opportunities to recognize and value their contributions.
• Interact with your employees and personally assign the work to them; this will help in rapport building.
• If you’ve committed something to your employees, try to fulfil it without fail.

Improve communication

Effective communication has a significant role to play in the overall growth of an organization. When workers communicate with supervisors or coworkers transparently, it greatly reduces workplace stress levels. There is no doubt that open and genuine communication helps with stress management in the workplace. So, ask them questions like: How do you handle stress and pressure? Can you work under pressure? Asking them this gives an insight into how they are dealing with stress.

Make sure that all channels of communication are properly operating within the company, thus, guaranteeing proper and transparent sharing of right information within the workplace.

• Conduct one-to-one discussion with your employees face-to-face. Thin kind of conversation will negate any gaps between the management and the workforce, and employees will understand what is expected of them by the management. And, the management will understand their difficulties in a better way. This will decrease employee stress in your organization.
• Allow and encourage your employees to openly communicate and listen when employees want to speak with you. This will help with stress management.
• Conduct group meetings where employees can interact with one another, express their issues and share their individual techniques of how to handle stress.
• Communicate every change in the company, however small or big, such as organizational restructuring, any change in policy or work procedures, etc.; this helps the workforce to cope with stress attached to change.

Create space for wellness

Research after research has proved that a healthy lifestyle and exercise are the two most important stress management activities that help greatly in coping with stress. So, introduce various health and wellness programs for your workers and encourage them to participate in the program. You can, maybe, make some of these programs mandatory. The stress management techniques mentioned below will help with workplace stress.

• Grant gym memberships or give discounts on gym memberships to your workers and encourage them to exercise regularly.
• Encourage your employees to embrace various meditation techniques to reduce their work stress.
• Promote healthy eating habits at work. Office canteen should provide healthy snacks instead of junk and oily foods. Encourage your employees to eat food that is high in proteins and vitamins.
• Encourage your employees to take regular breaks. And that they should utilize the breaks for healthy activities such as walking or a few stretching exercises. These release the strain in their muscles and help in dealing with stress.
• Conduct free medical checkups for your employees periodically. Encourage your employees to get their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar level checked regularly.

Engage with your employees and recognise their work

Engaging with your employees productively is a great technique for stress management in the workplace. Higher engagement with the employees results in increased levels of happiness and more productivity.

• A well-engaged employee is committed to organizational values and goals. They feel motivated to commit to the success of the organization.
• Recent research has shown that approximately only 16% of employees globally are engaged and involved in their work. So, it is clear that employers must harness this basic human need for growth and development.

You must remember that your employees are your biggest assets. They are responsible for the growth and success of your company. So, it is important to treat them well and communicate with them while at work, and advice them with various coping strategies for stress. This will help them understand how to handle stress and pressure, greatly reducing their stress levels. Understand their concerns and problems, this way the employees will feel wanted and accepted by the organization. And, an engaged employee will boost the productivity and efficiency of the company as a whole.