How to Take The Stress Off Your Employees

As the owner of a business or a member of a company’s management team, it’s up to you to ensure that employee morale is high - and that stress levels are low.

Low morale results in a lack of loyalty and a high staff turnover, while stress can lead to mistakes and excessive staff absences.

Many managers accidentally create stressful environments whilst attempting to build a culture of “friendly competition” or an environment rich with “exciting challenges”. 

Employees respond to pressure in different ways, so forcing members of staff to push themselves can be a risky move. It is best to focus on employee comfort - as this usually leads to a higher output of good quality work in the long run. 

So - how can you adjust your practices in order to remove the stress from a workplace?

Make Sure Your Workforce is Large Enough

To keep overheads low and profits high, many employers are tempted to try and squeeze as much as they can out of a very limited workforce. Job sites are rife with role specifications requiring an almost impossible range of diverse disciplines and qualifications.

This often leads to the hiring of many “masters of none”, which is a problem in itself, but it also causes significant pressure on each individual. With such a massive workload and so many duties to balance, stress levels are likely to be high.

Avoid this by being sensible when deciding on the number of workers you’ll need to produce high quality results without employee burnout. Spread duties out in a logical manner and don’t load too much onto each individual.

Provide Sufficient Training and Equipment

“Self-starter” has become a buzzword in recent years - but what is the likelihood that your new recruits have undertaken the exact same tasks in previous roles, in precisely the way you need?

Never expect employees to hit the ground running. It’s vital that you give enough time to each new individual to make sure that they are confident in the role.

Make yourself - or another manager or willing senior employee - available to answer questions and provide help on an ongoing basis until the new recruit has fully settled in.

There should be no stupid questions, and you should accept that everyone learns at a different rate. Patience is key.

What’s more, you should never ask an employee to take on a task without providing them with the correct equipment, access permissions or information.

Welcome Comments and Suggestions - and Act on Them

You may not be in a position to see the flaws in your company’s approaches, but your employees are at the pointy end every single day. They know what they are talking about.

Make it easy for employees to come to you with feedback about working conditions, processes, customer care issues and anything else - and ensure they feel confident when doing so.

Once you have received this information from them, you should be proactive in finding solutions. Your members of staff need to trust that when they report problems to you, something will be done about them.

Consider Remote, Hybrid or Flexible Working

A poor work/life balance is a common cause of employee stress. If it is possible for your company to adopt remote working, you should certainly consider it.

Whilst some people prefer to work in an office - as it helps them to stay disciplined - others enjoy the freedom of working from home. 

The stress of a daily commute can be diminished in this way, and your employees will be able to approach their tasks in a comfortable environment surrounded by those they love. This is likely to increase morale, which means a higher level of staff loyalty and better output quality.

For best results, why not try introducing flexible hours, or rota some days in-office and some working from home? Put the suggestion to your staff members first, and respond to any concerns that are raised before taking the idea any further.

Organise Workloads Sensitively

If you keep having to ask employees to stay late, there is something wrong. Managers should never put pressure on staff members to work beyond their contracted hours. Instead, proper workflow management processes should be implemented.

If you are dealing with increased demand or consistently larger workloads, the simple answer is to hire more employees - or to stop promising more than you can deliver until you have the proper infrastructure in place.

You should also take into account your workers’ qualifications. If they do not know how to undertake a certain task properly, they should not be doing it. This, again, is where thorough training is vital.

Prioritise Health and Wellbeing

Try to encourage a supportive culture and ensure that there are suitable resources available for employees who are struggling. Sometimes, just having someone to talk to in confidence can make a huge difference.

This approach may also reveal problematic trends in your business when it comes to the morale and general wellbeing of your staff, helping you to stamp these problems out quickly.

Consider implementing “mental health first-aiders” for each department and provide them with the proper training.

Arrange Socials

It’s good to blow off steam after a hard week. Regular social events that echo the interests and preferences of your employees will always be a hit.

Consider “works drinks”, pizza parties, trips or away days, escape rooms and a range of other activities.

These should not be costly to attend, and there should be no pressure on individuals to do so. Attendees should receive no preferential treatment over non-attendees, as not everyone is comfortable socialising with workmates in this way.

The approach you take to employee stress-reduction should depend on the individual requirements and limits of your company. 

Any or all of the above approaches should be considered where possible in order to create a calm and comfortable workplace that supports great employee morale - resulting in excellent output, lower staff turnover and a more positive environment all round.