Stress at work can seriously affect a person’s ability to carry out their duties. The cause of feelings of stress and anxiety could be related to the workplace, or may be personal, but recognising the signs of stress at work is critical for employers to ensure the safety and productivity of their team members.
Managing stress in the workplace involves a series of steps to ensure good mental health at work. Recognising the signs and causes of stress at work by carrying out a stress at work risk assessment to support the affected employee is pivotal to affecting change. Listing and adopting stress management strategies to alleviate symptoms is key to managing triggers effectively.
Teaching managers how to deal with stress at work will equip them with vital skills, emotional resilience and stress management techniques for supporting the mental wellbeing of employees whilst at work. The ability to manage stress in the workplace has a range of benefits, and is an important occupational health service for the emotional wellbeing of your employees.
Anyone can suffer from stress at work. Struggling with stress and anxiety inevitably affects an individual’s ability to work. Stress can lead to lack of sleep, poor nutrition, physical and emotional side effects, decreased motivation and changes in behaviour. Communicating with others, controlling emotions and understanding instructions become harder when faced with stress, seriously hindering behaviour, performance and outputs.
Stress can be caused by changes in someone’s personal life, work life, bereavement, financial concerns or health problems. Whatever the root cause, dealing with stress at work requires empathy, understanding and patience. Learning how to cope with stress at work will benefit the emotional resilience of those offering support, as well as those suffering from stress.
Supporting employees who are not handling stress at work well, will not only improve the mental health of the sufferer, but will lead to improved productivity. Absenteeism will be reduced and loyalty potentially increased as time and effort is invested into managing stressful environments is appreciated and rewarded.
A happier, healthier workforce is beneficial to those in the workplace, the senior leadership and the wider business as a whole. Whether the reasons for stress at work are internal or external, equipping your managers with the knowledge and understanding to identify symptoms, causes and repercussions will undoubtedly improve working conditions for all affected.
Effective stress management at work builds a supportive space that nurtures employees, fostering better communication and improved motivation.
Choose Occupational Health offers seminars to managers on how to manage stress at work. Training includes recognising the signs, understanding the symptoms and using stress management techniques to both deal with the effects of stress on others, while building personal emotional resilience too.
In addition to stress management training, we also support businesses with access to occupational therapists and clinicians who specialise in dealing with stress at work. For support with stress management in the workplace, get in touch to discuss how we can provide workplace health surveillance that help your business thrive.
