1. High staff turnover
Does your company or organisation have a high turnover of staff? If it does have you worked out how much this is costing your business? This can be for a number of reasons and the costs may be more than you think. For example when you lose a member of staff it is not just the cost of hiring someone from an agency to cover their work, which may work out more expensive with additional fees. It also includes their loss of skills, their connection with customers, and a change in the dynamic of your team, which may result in additional work being covered by existing staff members. It can mean a loss in productivity or training costs to staff if they were a specialist in their field. You also have to factor in advertising and recruitment of a new staff member. Additional pressure on existing staff members may result in absenteeism due to work-related stress. Another factor to consider is litigation. Employers have a duty of care towards their staff and can face legal action from employees who feel they have been neglected and given no support. This can be costly for employers both from a legal and reputational point of view.
2. Lack of Awareness on How to Deal with Stress
Your company or organisation may not recognise the effects of stress. They may be experiencing it and some of the symptoms of it in the work place, but may not know how to alleviate it, or even know they are experiencing it. Manifestations of stress in your work force include conflict, missed deadlines, poor morale and lack of motivation. A straining course in stress management can help here.
3. Presentee-ism
This is when staff members, for whatever reason, think the company will grind to a halt if they are not there. This is of course unhealthy for employees to be in this frame of mind as they are not giving themselves the opportunity to switch off and enable their health and resources to cope. Delegation and better planning of work is the key here.
4. Not taking a proper lunch break
Many staff may skip lunch or eat it at their desks, which is not healthy and can all contribute to future health problems. It may be that employees think they are too busy to take lunch. This can be indicative of wider issues. Are they taking on more than they should? Are they receiving the support they should from management to deal with their workload? Is gulping their lunch at their desks good for their digestive systems? The obvious thing to do here is for managers to check breaks are taken, away from work stations.
5. Lack of delegation skills
Some managers may lack delegation or communication skills. This can have an adverse effect on both managers and frontline workers. For example by failure to delegate tasks this can result in a build-up of workload. When there is a build-up of workload this puts an increased amount of pressure on resources to cope. We are only capable of dealing with so much and we can begin to make mistakes, become frustrated or pass on our stress to colleagues. This can result in low morale which may in turn affect productivity. Assessing and prioritising is the key here to ensure that tasks which can be delegated are.
6. No Risk Assessments in Place
Work situations have the potential to put stress on employees. The aim of a risk assessment is to minimise or control the risk of stress. A company or organisation has responsibility for assessing the risks their employees may face and also to assess workplace stressors. If these are not identified this can lead to stressed employees and potentially staff going off on long term sickness absence. Workplace stressors could include a noisy working environment, dealing with potentially violent customers or a lack of parking for employees. Getting staff involved in conducting risk assessments in relation to their role is also a good idea.
7. No Stress Management Policy in place
A stress management policy makes good business sense for both employer and employee. The policy is a bold statement by an organisation that it will take action to equip its workforce with the resources and procedures to alleviate workplace stress. The policy may include providing training for managers and employees in stress management, workplace counselling for staff, providing comprehensive training risk assessments and ensuring there is clear communication between management and staff around any changes being proposed for the business. The policy can include a clause on there being career development opportunities for staff to progress in the organisation. This can be a potential stressor for staff who may feel frustration a lack of a clear progression. It can lead to unmotivated staff, who may feel they do not need to follow procedures, or they comply maliciously. Getting staff on board to help influence and develop a stress management policy is a good idea.
8. Change is happening in your organisation or company
Is your company and organisation going through change? Change can come in many forms including organisations wishing to improve their competitiveness. This can potentially cause stress by employees feeling uncertain about their future and this can lead to tension between teams, mistrust of management and productivity reducing. Change may mean employees having to learn new skills or working with new people. It is important to communicate change and the reason it is happening. Being upfront early with employees can go a long way in engaging them and making it easier for people to fit into new roles. Lack consultation or involvement in the change process can lead to employees feeling a lack of control over their work, which is a stressor highlighted in the HSE’s management standards. Lack of involvement in change can lead to employees going off sick or not giving 100% in their job role.
9. Conflict in teams
This can lead to a drain on workers personal resources to cope. If you have several things going on at once in an organisation or company including change and difficult working conditions then tension between colleagues can put a real strain on an employee’s resources to cope. We do not have infinite resources to call on and we need to take into account everyone’s personality. For example in stress management there are Type A and Type B personalities. Type A personalities are competitive, always on time and liked to be kept busy. As you can imagine there are definite advantages to the corporate world for type A employees. But there are disadvantages also including the risk of developing cardiac illness through stress. Colleagues may class and because of their personality types and this can cause tension. A manager can help diffuse conflict by offering mediation between employees if they feel they need it. Creating a positive work environment is essential to get the best out of employees.
10. Disengaged Employees
This could be related to recent changes in a company or organisation. Employees may not feel they have been included in changes which may include a reorganisation creating new positions and deleting current posts. Or it could be a company is going through a merger and staff feel disillusioned with changes they perceive to be negative. Employees who are not engaged may result in poorer work being produced, less motivation to perform well and strained internal and external relationships. If these are not tackled and allowed to continue the long term effects could be personnel leaving or going off with long term stress. This is about staff being made to feel valued, sharing and internalising the common aims of their organisation and feeling able to integrate their strengths their job role. Simply asking employees how they feel about the change and having an honest conversation around changes can help to diagnose and put measures in place to minimise disengagement.
Does your company or organisation have a high turnover of staff? If it does have you worked out how much this is costing your business? This can be for a number of reasons and the costs may be more than you think. For example when you lose a member of staff it is not just the cost of hiring someone from an agency to cover their work, which may work out more expensive with additional fees. It also includes their loss of skills, their connection with customers, and a change in the dynamic of your team, which may result in additional work being covered by existing staff members. It can mean a loss in productivity or training costs to staff if they were a specialist in their field. You also have to factor in advertising and recruitment of a new staff member. Additional pressure on existing staff members may result in absenteeism due to work-related stress. Another factor to consider is litigation. Employers have a duty of care towards their staff and can face legal action from employees who feel they have been neglected and given no support. This can be costly for employers both from a legal and reputational point of view.
2. Lack of Awareness on How to Deal with Stress
Your company or organisation may not recognise the effects of stress. They may be experiencing it and some of the symptoms of it in the work place, but may not know how to alleviate it, or even know they are experiencing it. Manifestations of stress in your work force include conflict, missed deadlines, poor morale and lack of motivation. A straining course in stress management can help here.
3. Presentee-ism
This is when staff members, for whatever reason, think the company will grind to a halt if they are not there. This is of course unhealthy for employees to be in this frame of mind as they are not giving themselves the opportunity to switch off and enable their health and resources to cope. Delegation and better planning of work is the key here.
4. Not taking a proper lunch break
Many staff may skip lunch or eat it at their desks, which is not healthy and can all contribute to future health problems. It may be that employees think they are too busy to take lunch. This can be indicative of wider issues. Are they taking on more than they should? Are they receiving the support they should from management to deal with their workload? Is gulping their lunch at their desks good for their digestive systems? The obvious thing to do here is for managers to check breaks are taken, away from work stations.
5. Lack of delegation skills
Some managers may lack delegation or communication skills. This can have an adverse effect on both managers and frontline workers. For example by failure to delegate tasks this can result in a build-up of workload. When there is a build-up of workload this puts an increased amount of pressure on resources to cope. We are only capable of dealing with so much and we can begin to make mistakes, become frustrated or pass on our stress to colleagues. This can result in low morale which may in turn affect productivity. Assessing and prioritising is the key here to ensure that tasks which can be delegated are.
6. No Risk Assessments in Place
Work situations have the potential to put stress on employees. The aim of a risk assessment is to minimise or control the risk of stress. A company or organisation has responsibility for assessing the risks their employees may face and also to assess workplace stressors. If these are not identified this can lead to stressed employees and potentially staff going off on long term sickness absence. Workplace stressors could include a noisy working environment, dealing with potentially violent customers or a lack of parking for employees. Getting staff involved in conducting risk assessments in relation to their role is also a good idea.
7. No Stress Management Policy in place
A stress management policy makes good business sense for both employer and employee. The policy is a bold statement by an organisation that it will take action to equip its workforce with the resources and procedures to alleviate workplace stress. The policy may include providing training for managers and employees in stress management, workplace counselling for staff, providing comprehensive training risk assessments and ensuring there is clear communication between management and staff around any changes being proposed for the business. The policy can include a clause on there being career development opportunities for staff to progress in the organisation. This can be a potential stressor for staff who may feel frustration a lack of a clear progression. It can lead to unmotivated staff, who may feel they do not need to follow procedures, or they comply maliciously. Getting staff on board to help influence and develop a stress management policy is a good idea.
8. Change is happening in your organisation or company
Is your company and organisation going through change? Change can come in many forms including organisations wishing to improve their competitiveness. This can potentially cause stress by employees feeling uncertain about their future and this can lead to tension between teams, mistrust of management and productivity reducing. Change may mean employees having to learn new skills or working with new people. It is important to communicate change and the reason it is happening. Being upfront early with employees can go a long way in engaging them and making it easier for people to fit into new roles. Lack consultation or involvement in the change process can lead to employees feeling a lack of control over their work, which is a stressor highlighted in the HSE’s management standards. Lack of involvement in change can lead to employees going off sick or not giving 100% in their job role.
9. Conflict in teams
This can lead to a drain on workers personal resources to cope. If you have several things going on at once in an organisation or company including change and difficult working conditions then tension between colleagues can put a real strain on an employee’s resources to cope. We do not have infinite resources to call on and we need to take into account everyone’s personality. For example in stress management there are Type A and Type B personalities. Type A personalities are competitive, always on time and liked to be kept busy. As you can imagine there are definite advantages to the corporate world for type A employees. But there are disadvantages also including the risk of developing cardiac illness through stress. Colleagues may class and because of their personality types and this can cause tension. A manager can help diffuse conflict by offering mediation between employees if they feel they need it. Creating a positive work environment is essential to get the best out of employees.
10. Disengaged Employees
This could be related to recent changes in a company or organisation. Employees may not feel they have been included in changes which may include a reorganisation creating new positions and deleting current posts. Or it could be a company is going through a merger and staff feel disillusioned with changes they perceive to be negative. Employees who are not engaged may result in poorer work being produced, less motivation to perform well and strained internal and external relationships. If these are not tackled and allowed to continue the long term effects could be personnel leaving or going off with long term stress. This is about staff being made to feel valued, sharing and internalising the common aims of their organisation and feeling able to integrate their strengths their job role. Simply asking employees how they feel about the change and having an honest conversation around changes can help to diagnose and put measures in place to minimise disengagement.