Increased Stress Equals Decreased Staff Productivity

Today's competitive business environment has given birth to the overworked, stressed out employee. The affect of this stress is far reaching - not only do your employees suffer, but customers suffer, profits suffer and your bottom line suffers. Employers are naive to think that the more work they pile on their employees, the better the employee performs. Employers need to be sensitive to the stress levels of their employees and they must learn how to spot signs of stress and ultimately create a more healthy work environment.

Common signs of stress include:

• Absenteeism
• Irritability
• Negativity
• Confusion and error

Once a supervisor has detected the stress, it is critical to get to the root of the problem. It is not enough to identify and acknowledge the stress; a good supervisor will dig deeper and find the root of the stress. Create an environment where people feel that they can openly and without fear of repercussion discuss the stresses that they are encountering. Go one step further and schedule regular meetings where employees are invited to discuss what they like or don't like about their job and obstacles that are standing in the way of the successful completion of their work - be sure to stay focused on work related issues.

Once a supervisor has identified the stresses it is equally important to make a genuine commitment to create a more positive work environment and communicate it to all employees. Some great ideas that go along way to reduce stress are:

1. Encourage humor in the workplace
2. Create a positive work environment
3. Create work flexibility

In order to keep your employees happy, productivity levels up and stress levels down, remember to look for indicators of stress, work to identify the sources and strive to achieve a more positive work environment.