When employees become stressed, regardless of the cause, it inevitably has a negative impact on their engagement, productivity and work performance. Well-being in the workplace is often a top priority for employers, but impactful policies are hard to find and put into practice. If you are looking for ways to lower employee stress levels, there are countless methods to try out and the best selection is listed below.
Make it a Conversation
Despite the rhetoric around mental health and protecting well-being growing rapidly, it still is not discussed enough. Workplaces have tried hard to find policies that properly encompass standard practice for their employees to benefit from, but still people feel neglected. Almost 13% of sick days are attributed to poor mental health, a leading cause of stress, and this is something companies should be talking about with solution and prevention as the focus.
Provide the Health Tools In-House
Emergency medical equipment like defibrillators are more commonplace in 2022, but what about the prevention tools? Helping people recognize the signs and symptoms of a body dealing with stress is a key strategy point in addressing the whole scope of the issue. Stress levels are linked continuously to high blood pressure, which if left untreated and mismanaged leads to heart disease, cardiac arrest and even death. A small search for blood pressure monitors for sale, buying one and having it in the office for employees to access facilitates self-monitoring capacity for people who may not have considered it before.
Hold Wellness Meetings
Consider bringing in a wellness instructor in the form of a weekly yoga session or a meditation class for any employee to attend. These types of activities have lots of benefits for stress management but people with busy work agendas often lack motivation to engage in their free time. So, by bringing the option into the workday, there is an increased opportunity to participate actively in stress relieving, work endorsed practices.
Facilitate Remote Working
The daily commute into a physical office space does not suit everyone. For some roles, it can’t be avoided, but for the ones where working from home is an option, it absolutely should be offered up to employees. The benefits of flexible working are hard to ignore. There is a lack of commute which saves money, protects the environment by reducing transport usage, and naturally reduces the stress of having to get up, get ready and get out of the house. Further to this, there are fewer social pressures which can increase anxiety and therefore stress levels, and the ability to have more autonomy over space, time and task delegation is always more relaxing than the alternative.
Have a Quiet Space
If there is space in the office, dedicate one room to tranquillity. Add in an aromatherapy diffuser, some calm lighting, lots of plants and bean bags and make it a safe space where people can go to have a moment of peace.
Increasing the focus on reducing stress in the workday is something to be heavily encouraged. Not only on a moral level, but for practical reasons too, stress reduction improves well-being and consequently, productivity as well.
