Workplace stress affects every employee at some point in their corporate life. According to reports, nearly seven in ten Indian workers experience stress at work every week. And, as per the WHO study of 2019, issues like anxiety and depression disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion each year in lost productivity.
The following guide talks about various aspects of workplace stress, different ways to combat stress, and how Cadabams Hospital provides you the best treatment options/ therapeutic measures supervised by its highly trained professionals to help you beat workplace stress in the right way.
Introduction
Stress has become quite a common occurrence in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. We all face some amount of stress on a daily basis; it could be due to personal reasons, or work. Irrespective of the cause, stress beyond a limit is detrimental to one’s overall health, and well-being.
People being worried about work-related challenges often end up impacting their productivity, and performance negatively. The detrimental impacts not only are limited to the individual but also have a snowball effect on the organization also. Thus, it is highly essential for the employees to learn workplace stress management in an efficient manner as well as employers to implement the necessary plan of action to assist their employees to overcome the stress-related challenges.
Symptoms of Workplace stress
Workplace stress may manifest in a plethora of forms and might be hard to recognize at the beginning. Individuals who are often anxious regarding daily tasks or a particular situation, have a lack of interest in work, have the tendency to procrastinate can be considered to exhibit the potent symptoms of workplace stress.
Stress at work for a prolonged period may make the individual feel exhausted, which may further impact their concentration at work. Workplace stress may even surface as physiological symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, stomach problems. The individual may also exhibit symptoms of social withdrawal and may resort to drugs, alcohol, and other substances to cope with stress.
Factors that contribute to Workplace stress
The factors or circumstances that may lead to workplace stress are quite dynamic and depend on the individual more or less. While some individuals have a constant fear of being laid off, some may find it boring to engage in the less-productive daily tasks.
These are the prime factors that may lead to workplace stress. Then there are individuals who are forced to spend extra hours at work, in and out of the office. They have to take up additional tasks, which may at times become overwhelming and stress them out.
There are certain individuals who have this urge to be the best no matter what the circumstances may be and perform optimally. However, achieving this all the time is not an easy feat. The sense of inability to perform optimally, and give their 100% may stress them out eventually.
How Managers can work to reduce employee stress
Employees are unarguably the most critical assets to an organization, and thus making the work environment conducive, fulfilling, and minimally stressful must be the prime focus of employers. They have to take a holistic approach when it comes to their employees’ well-being at work as this both directly and indirectly impacts their overall business objective, growth, and success in the long run.
Here are certain best practices that employers must leverage to keep stress as minimal as possible for their employees.
- Communication – Everyone understands the significance of communication. But with the hectic schedule, the communication stays limited to work-related affairs.
Employers and immediate reporting managers must make a concerted effort to communicate with their team on a regular basis to understand their issues or challenges at work. A bit of personal talk won’t also hurt; in fact, it will enhance the interpersonal relationship between the employer, and employee.
- Transparency – Employers must communicate the position of their organization in terms of growth, success, and overall revenue. Such transparent communication will enable the employees to keep unwarranted stress at bay related to their job sustenance.
- Roles, and Responsibilities – Employers must make sure that the particular roles and responsibilities of an employee are defined, and adhered to. Besides, they must also ensure that there are no overlaps in terms of roles, authority, etc., and work is distributed evenly throughout the team.
This will ensure optimal utilization of all the team members and avoid scenarios of one employee being overworked. This is highly beneficial in workplace stress management.
- Opinion – Employees want their work environment to support their learning, and growth journey. In addition, they wish to feel valued. By ensuring that employees have a say in most of the crucial business decisions, especially the ones that will impact them directly, employers can minimize workplace stress.
- Employers have to set realistic deadlines, SMART goals for their employees and must reward the worthy contributions consistently. By cultivating a professionally, and socially-enabling work culture, employers can help their employees lead a healthy work-life.
What Employees can Do to Manage Stress
Here are some key steps employees must plan to implement in order to avoid unwarranted stress at work:
- Employees must suppress the urge to be perfectionists all the time. Instead, they should try to deliver their best given the circumstance and must take pride in their contribution. They most certainly should avoid the habit of beating themselves upon a missed opportunity.
- Employees should plan out their work week beforehand to avoid last-minute hassles, and failure to meet deadlines, and end goals.
- Positive thinking is the key to avoiding workplace stress. Employees must be judicious about their reaction to a problem or towards the opinion of others. Controlling others’ behavior is next to impossible, and thus by curating the way one reacts to the situation will be beneficial in avoiding stress.
Four Steps to Combat Stress
Now, let’s discuss the most potent weapons in the arsenal to combat workplace stress:
- Move away from the distressing work situation for a while. You may opt to take a snack break or take a walk outside to clear your head. Giving some time to think over the situation, and complications may help you get a finer perspective of things.
- Confide in colleagues who can be trusted. This will help you get an unbiased third-party view of the circumstances.
- Establish good interpersonal relationships among your fellow colleagues. They are the ones you may confide in, take help, opinion when circumstances turn out to be complicated.
- Always keep an open mind, a positive thought approach with everything at work. You may crack up a joke, spend some relaxing time with colleagues to lighten up your mood, and that of others.
Why Cadabams?
Though there are numerous ways workplace stress can be kept in check, there should not be any apprehension to seek professional assistance. Cadabams is widely celebrated for its top-notch team of professionals who leverage therapeutic and otherwise measures to help you manage workplace stress optimally.
Disclaimer – We strive to treat our patients with dignity and the utmost sensitivity. We understand that workplace stress can hamper your productivity by a long-shot. We don’t use any term in a derogatory fashion but to remain relevant to user search trends and common usage. In case you or a loved share a unique viewpoint on how we can improve this content for our readers, please reach out to us at info@cadabams.org
FAQs on Workplace Stress Management: All your Queries Answered
- What do you understand by the term workplace stress?
Stress, in general, is a reaction to a given situation that is hypothetical and unreal. Example: speaking publicly to a massive audience. Workplace stress can get triggered by a single event or may have many origins like – changing jobs, not meeting expected work demands, etc.
- What are the leading factors that trigger workplace stress in an individual?
Various factors like – long working hours, uncertain job expectations, role/responsibility conflicts, discrimination or prejudice, the meaningfulness of work, and others can trigger workplace stress in an individual.
- Is workplace stress a good thing?
As per experts, minimal stress that helps you remain motivated and dedicated to work is good. It can be taken in the form of a challenge to perform better. However, if acute stress prolongs and converts into chronic stress, it may hamper your work productivity along with other mental and physical changes.
- How can I relieve myself of workplace stress?
Workplace stress management isn’t a challenge if you know healthy coping strategies like – taking adequate sleep, focusing on your health with proper exercise/nutrition, learning the art of prioritization, etc. If these tips don’t work out in your favor, you can also consult expert professionals at Cadabams Hospital to aid in your recovery process.
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