Studies show that 80% of workers feel stress on the job. That stress may arise from deadlines, heavy workloads, toxic managers, having little influence at work, or perhaps a lack of knowledge, skills, coping ability, opportunities, or manager/coworker support.
While some things like deadlines and workloads may be inevitable, how you react to those stressors can help relieve or even avoid the stress we feel. A manager’s influence can also help remove unneeded stressors for employees to feel happier and more satisfied at work.
Here are a few tips that can help you feel less stress, as well as ease stressors for your team.
While it may seem like splitting hairs, there is a big difference between stress and stressors. Stress is a physical hormonal response to danger (real or imagined) and stressors are external events that cause that reaction. Here are a few examples:
Understanding these differences can help you focus on what’s within your sphere of control so you can influence attitude and behavior shifts. And while you may not be able to avoid a heavy workload (stressor), you can adopt coping methods to deal with feeling overwhelmed (stress).
Your body produces stress through the fight-or-flight reaction to keep you out of danger. You may recognize common signs such as rapid heart rate, shallow breathing, sweating, shaking, and nervousness. If you continue to feel stress long after the danger (stressor) has passed, it could lead to burnout, high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, exhaustion, and other harmful effects.
When you feel stressed, use the following coping techniques for relief.
When you start to feel overwhelmed, take 1 minute to focus on your breathing and cycle through long inhales and exhales, holding briefly between each transition. Consider spending 10 minutes a day focused on relaxing, deep breathing, or meditating.
When people at work are stressed, they may be more likely to yell at coworkers, assault or want to hit a coworker, or even cause an accident on the job. They may also miss more work, leading to staffing shortages and coworkers working harder to cover for them.
As a manager, you can help relieve the stress your employees feel. If you spot signs of stress on your team, such as incomplete work or more mistakes than normal, consider implementing the following suggestions.
For more tips on minimizing work-related stress, please contact your certified HR expert. Not a current Stratus HR client? Request a free consultation today and our team will contact you shortly.