I recently found out about a senior member of staff who had mental health challenges which was discovered by the office based on how he was behaving. The organisation then sent him for evaluation at their own cost and network. When he was diagnosed, the hospital advised them to keep him on because letting him go just like that would have been disastrous. They kept him on and he is almost back to himself. This meant they had to intercept his mails to clients because it was gibberish, but they still made him feel relevant.
Stress management in HRM is crucial for many reasons. First, it is a preventative measure. Management of stress can prevent potential issues such as employee absenteeism, low productivity, high turnover rates and maybe even death by suicide.
Second, it is an investment. By investing in stress management, you’re investing in your employees’ well-being. This will lead to a happier and much healthier work place which will be more productive and have lower absenteeism and turnover rates.
As the workforce continues to become more fast-paced and demanding, employers need to recognize the importance of stress management in HRM. Unfortunately, many businesses fail to see the link between employee productivity and stress levels.
When employees are overloaded with work or feel constantly under pressure, it can lead to burnout. This can hurt not only an individual’s health and well-being but also their job performance. Studies have shown that workplace stress is one of the leading causes of absenteeism and presenteeism.
Stress management in HRM is a process that involves identifying, assessing, and addressing sources of stress within the workplace. This can be done through various methods such as developing policies and procedures to promote work-life balance, offering employee assistance programs, or providing training on stress management techniques.
By taking steps to manage workplace stress, employers create a healthier and more productive environment for their employees. Not only will this lead to better individual outcomes, but it will also benefit the business.
High stress in the workplace is one of the major reasons for employee absenteeism and low productivity. It has been found that employees who are stressed are more likely to take more sick days, be less productive when they are at work and have a higher turnover rate.
The factors that contribute to stress at work include but are not limited to long hours, heavy workloads, unrealistic deadlines, lack of break time, poor working conditions, and job insecurity. Stress can also be caused by interpersonal conflicts at work.
While some amount of stress is unavoidable, there are steps that employers can take to manage stress levels in the workplace and improve employee productivity. These include providing support and resources for employees experiencing stress, communicating openly about expectations and workloads, offering flexible work arrangements, and promoting a healthy work-life balance.
Stress management is crucial in HRM because it helps employees cope with the demands of their job and maintain a healthy work-life balance. When employees are stressed, they may experience anxiety, depression, irritability, difficulty concentrating, missed deadlines, errors, and other issues that can impact the bottom line. Stress management interventions can help employees reduce their stress levels and improve their productivity.
Unaddressed Stress can lead to absenteeism and presenteeism, which can further impact productivity and profitability. Employee stress has been linked to a host of health problems, including heart disease, anxiety, and depression.
By managing employee stress, organizations can improve productivity, profitability, and employee health.
Read also: Your wife or husband could be a mental health case (2)
Stress management can help improve communication, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Several techniques can be used to manage stress in the workplace. These includes Improving communication. This can be done by ensuring that employees have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This can be achieved through regular meetings and clear job descriptions.
Setting realistic goals and expectations and providing employees with the resources they need to meet these targets is crucial. These are a major problem in many organisations, we usually set people up to fail.
Reducing or removing unnecessary stressors like unrealistic deadlines, excessive workloads, or poor working conditions, helps tremendously and ensures resources, especially human and financial are preserved.
In our environment stressors include a lack of infrastructure like good roads and constant power supply. Domestic violence at home that spills into the office. Inadequate remuneration. Poor traffic due to poor infrastructure. This means employees can be in traffic for hours.
We will be looking further into this topic next week.
The good news is that the senior staff I mentioned in my real life example at the beginning of this article is doing well now and even his family has been greatly impacted.
Happy new year again and as usual thank God it is Friday. We are still in the festive period, but it is time to start coming down from the state of full on enjoyment to a reality check which is reality.
Best Regards
