Employee job stress can take a heavy toll on your business—in high turnover, frequent illness, increased workers’ comp premiums, and reduced productivity. Fortunately, there are steps employers can take to ease job stress. The solution often lies in making organizational changes that will improve working conditions. Here are four ideas:
- Give employees more control over their job performance. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), workers who have some control over how they do their jobs take greater pride in their work and are more productive, have more self-confidence, and cope better with job stress. Allow employees to make decisions, undertake new challenges, and learn from their mistakes.
- Adjust expectations to cutbacks in staffing and budgets. Staff reductions and budget cuts increase stress levels by overburdening remaining workers. Today’s leaner budgets call for careful prioritizing, and smaller workforces require prudent management of workloads. Avoid taking on new projects that your employees can’t adequately handle.
- NIOSH advises that you try to keep workers abreast of what’s going on in your organization—the good news and the bad. Provide employees with an opportunity to air their concerns informally with their supervisors, in meetings, or perhaps in a Q&A column in a company newsletter.
- Be sure that workers take their vacation time instead of letting it accrue indefinitely or getting paid for it. Employees who have an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate away from the office develop fewer stress-related ailments. They are also more alert and energetic when they return.
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