Stress is one of the most daunting obstacles to employee engagement within the modern geographical point. Stress is frequently caused by pressures at home and at work. Employees that are stressed are also more likely to be unhealthy, unmotivated, and less productive. This reduces the organization’s chances of success in the global competitive market. This makes the organization less likely to be successful in a competitive market.
As a great manager, you must monitor your staff for signs of stress and burnout. Creating a healthy work environment can reduce stress in the workplace, which is ideal for employees’ morale, and organizational growth.
You cannot frequently protect employees from the stress that arises outside of work, but you can show them how to manage stress constructively and create a productive work atmosphere.
As a manager, how do you minimize employee stress? See our tips below.
1. Encourage Two-Way and Transparent Communications
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As a manager, it’s essential to promote open communication with your team.
Schedule at least bi-weekly one-on-one sessions with your staff to discuss any problems they may have concerning their work. Actively listen and take careful note of what they say.
If your team members are unhappy with their roles or job experiences, brainstorm a series of solutions that can help to improve employee experience. Employees need to feel that their opinion matters and is heard.
Transparency and two-way communication foster trust and empathy throughout teams, enabling them to feel safe, seen, and less stressed.
2. Encourage workplace wellness
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Exercise and a healthy lifestyle are two of the most effective strategies you can employ to get your team back on track when it comes to maintaining good mental and physical health.A study says it additionally improves moods by increasing the production of endorphins, the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters.
Hence encouraging workplace wellness within an organization has become a worldwide priority at the present times. Enrolling in a wellness program will prove a worthy investment for your team to resolve the issues quicker.
3. Don’t Impose Severe Consequences for Failure
Naturally, everyone makes mistakes.
Harshly disciplining your team members for making mistakes not only escalates stress levels but also stifles creativity, risk-taking, and the potential innovations that could have resulted in a more open and compassionate work environment.
Enforcing general boundaries is essential; however, it’s a self-defeating approach to make folks work in fear of making mistakes whereas they’re learning tasks or processes or attempting new ideas.
4. Allow flexible work hours
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If you wish to have a highly adaptive team, then create an adaptable work environment.
Offer your team flexibility by allowing them to work staggered hours, taking into consideration their varying needs. Hold one-on-one meetings to know those needs and find alternative arrangements for those who are battling work-life balance. How a bad work-life balance can be a major reason for stress in personal lives.
5. Workplace recognition
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Great companies understand that the employees are the heart of the business. However, great managers ought to reward and recognize their team members’ efforts and appreciate what they have done for the company. It instills a sense of belonging and the understanding that their worth is acknowledged, lowering stress levels.
6. Take the Team Out on Company Offsites
If you want to allow your team a break, take them somewhere fun to get their minds off everyday stress and bond with one another.
The possibilities are endless: you could take them to a vineyard, grab a drink together at the local pub, look into a baseball game, or have a picnic in the park, etc.
Make them laugh. Having a chuckle, lowers the stress hormones, including cortisol, epinephrine, and adrenaline. Laughing also strengthens our immune system by releasing positive hormones (Wallenstein, 2003).
The activity you choose isn’t important. What’s more important is the spirit of getting out to do something fun together and to take off from the day-to-day stress at work.
It not only helps them to reduce workplace stress, but it’ll also help your team members to build a personal connection and work better together as a team.
7. Bring Some Diversions into the Office
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When a team plays together, it grows together.
There are an infinite number of entertaining activities that you can bring into the workplace to relieve job stress. Here are a few ideas:
Ping Pong table
Dartboard
Basketball hoop
Video games
Board games
Dog-friendly office
Additionally, there are many online games that remote workers can play. For example, Escapely offers a variety of virtual activities that allow employees to have fun, release stress, and bond with co-workers. You have unique options like escape rooms, murder mysteries, and trivia.
It may seem unnecessary to bring diversions into a workplace; however, allowing your team to relax throughout the day or spice up online meetings will help them manage stress and boost productivity levels.
8. Encourage your Team to Get Sufficient Sleep
An alarming 37% of the manpower reportedly do not get adequate sleep. Sleep issues and stress can combine to get regeneration of inability to sleep because of stress, followed by increased stress effects due to lack of sleep.
Employees who don’t get enough sleep can develop depression, lose focus, and become sick more easily. This causes an increase in work-related accidents, injuries, poor concentration
irritability, anger, reduced motivation, and most importantly expensive mistakes for you to deal with. Remember: a well-rested employee makes fewer mistakes and is more productive. And although it should be your responsibility to make sure each of your employees is getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night, you can benefit greatly from their improved sleep habits.
Wrap Up
As the times change, work is becoming more demanding. Many employees get stressed and experience burnout frequently. Thus, helping team members to manage their stress is as much for your benefit as it is for theirs. Because happy employees mean better results and satisfied clients, you have to make sure whatever you do makes your workforce happy.
If your team feels that you care for them, they will always reciprocate by being more productive and help you to take the business to the next level.
