Workplace stress should be a significant concern for human resource departments. If problems are not addressed immediately, it can turn into a serious issue. According to Business Legal Resources, workers with high amounts of stress are more likely to have poor sleep schedules, unhealthy diets, and cut out exercise. These issues can lead to different health problems such as high blood pressure, gastric distress, headaches, and numerous other injuries. Therefore, HR departments should be prioritizing plans to reduce employee stress levels.
Eight ways for businesses to reduce employee stress and increase their happiness:
1. Look for the signs
Managers, business executives, and human resources personnel should be aware of the signs of stress. Typically these signs revolve around workers’ lack of consistent performance, late arrivals, absenteeism, and being tired or irritable.
2. Limit the number of interruptions
Workers tend to get bogged down by multiple meetings, phone calls, and other interrupting tasks throughout the day. According to Forbes, workers should either plan for interruptions more accordingly, or cut them off. Adding more email conversations could let workers get to the task on their own time instead of planning a call or a meeting through verbal dialogue.
3. Make sure workers are getting enough sleep
Tired employees will lead to more errors, lower levels of productivity, and higher stress levels. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, nearly 60 million American workers say they don’t get enough sleep. Human resource departments have to take restlessness issues seriously and address them before they turn into bigger problems, like absenteeism.
4. Take short breaks
It’s easy for employees to get into their mode through the day and stay focused. However, running on overdrive will cause workers to be exhausted by the end of the day. According to BLR, businesses should encourage workers to take short breaks multiple times a day to keep employees energized and productive for the entire work period.
5. Get workers on different patterns
Suppose a business begins to notice workers with high-stress levels. In that case, managers should get their employees to switch up their daily routine. Sometimes employees can get into the habit of a stringent work pattern that causes them to stress daily. However, suppose managers switch up their work patterns. In that case, it could have them focused on projects or tasks at different times of the day, leading to better productivity and less stress.
6. Encourage a work-life balance
When employees work too much and don’t have harmony between their work lives and their personal lives, their happiness can drop, along with their productivity. According to Forbes, letting employees know it’s acceptable to take time off can help workers achieve a better work-life balance. As a result, workers tend to come back to work happier to finish projects and work with clients.
7. Show workers, they are of value
No employee wants to feel like their hard work and dedication to a company go unnoticed or unappreciated. When workers don’t think their employers value them, their happiness can drop, and their performance can suffer. Eric Karpinski, a happiness expert, told the Society for Human Resource Management that managers should show gratitude to workers for their excellent performance or commitment to a project.
8. Boost employees’ salaries
If workers haven’t received raises for a few years or are overdue for bonuses, their happiness can decline. With the economic downturn now officially past, HR professionals should take a look at their payroll administration. If there is a bit a leeway, HR departments may improve workers’ salaries enough to keep them happy.
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