How To Remove Stress From The Workplace

If employees are both mentally and physically burnt out it affects their performance and consequently the overall performance of the company.Excessive stress can leave employees feeling unmotivated, resentful and unsatisfied. This results in low morale and high employee turnover. 

 According to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management it costs employers an average of $4,129 and an average of 42 days to fill a position. The cost (both seen and not) can be one of the most expensive parts of running a business. 

 Removing Stress in the workplace and creating calm is beneficial not just to your employees but also to your bottom line.The positive impacts of removing stress:

• Reduce symptoms of poor mental and physical health, therefore less sick time.
• Reduce injuries and less illness
• Reduce absences and staff turnover.
• Increase productivity.
• Increase job satisfaction - key in maintaining great employees
• Increase work engagement - much better clarity in thinking

 Old antiquated processes and systems are part of the problem. They stunt the day to day activities and operations of a business, threaten your business growth and consequently cause unnecessary employee stress. So not only are your employees feeling the strain, so is your bottom line. What does this cause in the workplace?

• Increased unwarranted workload
• Creates poor communications
• Produces unreachable deadlines
• Loss of time which equals loss opportunities
• General inefficiencies throughout the organization
• Important Financial Reports that are Critical to Business Growth are Inaccurate and Inaccessible.

So how to solve these issues? Great leadership is key.  Employees need to feel listened to  and comfortable in communicating. They are your boots on the ground and your greatest resource in combating the problem.  Allow them to make suggestions, without feeling they could be a target if their solution doesn’t work. There is never a perfect solution. Allow employees to feel part of the solution, that means management must not just be great leaders but also good coaches. Let them understand the company understands there are issues and your goal is to solve them. Invite as employees become part of the action plan.  

Begin with consulting with employees on what they see as the issues, what areas are in critical need for solutions and listen to any suggestions they may have.  With employee input, map the processes that are being used (and mark the areas that need improvement). Create a new mapping process - with measurable outcomes. Does it save time, increase efficiency, improve communications, save costs, increase sales? Next recognize areas that may need new systems to make this work. For example a proper CRM to gather communication from customer interactions on all levels - from reception, to salesperson, to inventory, to accounting.

Consistently think: Are there time savers to create less paperwork? How can we improve deadlines being met? How can the sales process be improved? The purchasing and inventory system? People are often resistant to change, especially if a process has been in use for a long time. Having employee engagement and assistance in putting processes in place that will eliminate unnecessary tasks and duplication and automate certain tasks (reducing their workload and stress). The bonus is it  increases the company’s ROI and improves not only employee satisfaction but customer satisfaction as well. Increased customer satisfaction is increased sales. 

 Be sure to set measurable targets as new systems are put in place. The idea is to think LEAN. How can we improve specific tasks, reduce inefficiencies, and improve the overall quality of the final product or service. 

 Breaking down the processes into steps and revamping seems simple, but it can be complex and time consuming, especially as a company is overworked keeping the day to day organized.  This is when  outside help from professionals is required. After all, you are already time stretched and stressed operating your business while trying to accomplish improvements. A professional can help. The increase in your bottom line will well outweigh the cost.