The hidden cost of stress in the workplace
Stress has become one of the biggest causes of workplace absenteeism, and the economy is paying the price.
The illness costs British business over twelve billion pounds a year - This begs the question - why are we so stressed in the workplace, and what can be done about it?
Worry
Jenny Edwards, Solutions4stress, suggests that the demands placed on us can be responsible for a huge amount of the stress we experience in the workplace, particularly if we haven’t got the ability to cope with them. Staff abscences create problems, says Jenny: ‘because staff are off sick...you’ve got to pick up the slack.’ Redundancies and understaffing mean that the workforce is depleted yet the same amount of work remains; thus the burden on the individual increases.
Other causes of stress include relationships at work. Jenny explains that often this might be the classic problem of a difficult and demanding boss, however the issue can also be with work colleagues. It is also not unknown for a boss to feel pressured by their staff. Change also creates alot of stress:‘People inherently don’t deal with change well. It’s invariably seen as a negative.’ Dealing with change depends largely on the individual’s ability to adapt their focus, in order to try to see things in a more positive light.
Sufferers of stress in the workplace need to feel supported by management and by their colleagues. If they don’t, stress can become increasingly difficult to manage.
So what can be done to manage stress at work?
Jenny suggests looking at how we manage ourselves at work and trying to stay organized: ‘often keeping a diary of the things we need to do, planning is essential and that covers time management...a good tip is to perhaps do the things we like least first.' Another factor exacerbating workplace stress nowadays is the fact that, ‘most us are becoming addicted to our email boxes.’ Today’s average office worker is bombarded with hundreds of emails on a daily basis and sifting through them is massively time consuming. In order to avoid this type of stress, Jenny advises picking up the phone from time to time instead.
Lastly, Jenny stresses the importance of being assertive: ‘most of us are very willing to please and find it difficult to say no, but there are ways and means of saying no and I think sometimes we need to be able to say, I’m not able to do that now, but I am able to do that later, or is there someone else who can do it or can other resources be arranged?’ Recognising our own limits, together with time management, effective communication and maintaining a healthy body are all things we can do to reduce the stress we experience at work.
