Why Business Leaders Need to Pay Attention to Their Employees' Stress Levels

Business leaders have a lot on their plates, after all, running a successful company is no small task.

They may be in charge of organizing meetings with shareholders or potential investors, maintaining relationships with clients, keeping day-to-day office operations under control, or working with marketing on the latest techniques. But perhaps the most important thing on a business leader’s plate is the management of employees. 

It doesn’t sound like all that big of a deal, but employees are the backbone of any organization. Without quality, dedicated employees, no company stands a chance of lasting long. For that reason, finding ways to ensure employee satisfaction and keep them engaged in the job at hand are critical components of any leadership position. 

In today’s era of rapid turnover, pandemic-related workplace changes, and inflation it isn’t hard to understand why many employees are feeling particularly stressed out. This is bad news for business leaders as it can be a warning sign for negative employee relations in the near future. Working to address employee stress levels in a positive and meaningful way is an absolute necessity. 

Why Should Leaders Care About Employee Stress?

Some business leaders take a nonchalant approach to overworked, overstressed employees. They think “So what if employees are stressed out? That is what this job requires and if they can’t handle it we’ll hire new people with more drive.” Unfortunately, for these employers, quality employees are not exactly a dime a dozen, and filling vacant positions can be a lot harder than meeting the needs of current, well-trained employees. 

The fact of the matter is that employees who feel overworked and undervalued are probably already looking for a new position. As soon as the stars align for them to leave the company, they’ll be gone. Nearly a quarter of employees across industries are at least considering a change in jobs if they are not already looking. 

Beyond the serious problem of employees leaving the company, there is also the issue of productivity. Plenty of research indicates employees who are stressed out are less productive, have fewer creative ideas, have more health issues/sick days, and are less likely to maintain positive relationships with their coworkers. None of these things are really all that great for any company and can drag down other employees as well. 

Lowering Workplace Stress

Ways in which business leaders can lower the stress of their workforce fall into two general categories: things that can change about the office and things that employers can do to help facilitate better stress management. 

The types of things that can be changed in the office vary significantly. For instance, some small things like reorganizing the office space to make it a less stressful environment may make a big difference. Painting the office with calming blues and greens rather than boring whites or high-energy reds could make a difference. Likewise, maximizing natural lighting and limiting ambient office noise can also make a difference. Maybe one simple step in the right direction for an office full of cubicles is allowing employees to order noise-canceling headphones on the company’s dime. 

Additional larger-scale changes a company can undertake include trying to manage employee workloads at a reasonable level. This might mean conducting an assessment to gain insights into whether hiring new employees is feasible. The alternative to this might be offering financial incentives in the form of raises or bonuses to employees who are taking on more than their fair share of the workloads around the office. 

Perks and Benefits That Lower Stress

There are also a number of perks and benefits employers can offer that can significantly help reduce workplace stress. Perhaps one of the most common ones is wellness or fitness time. Some employers actually pay for their employees to have gym memberships or build an onsite gym for employee use. While others authorize hours on the clock per week that can be used for wellness. What qualifies as wellness is ultimately determined by company policy but can include working out, walking, doing yoga, or meditating. 

Another strategy is to strive to foster relationships between coworkers. This comes in many forms such as sponsoring semi-regular office events such as chili cook-offs, birthday acknowledgments, or holiday gift exchanges. Occasionally, team-building events may even happen outside of the office. Examples include attending local sporting events, concerts, or community service projects. 

A third option to help lower employee stress levels could be giving employees more flexibility to plan their own schedules. Again, this could happen in a variety of ways, from allowing employees to work flexible hours to authorizing some level of remote work. This strategy enables employees to work around things that come up in their personal lives while still getting their 40 hours, which can be a huge way to manage personal life stress. 

Stress is one of the biggest factors business leaders face when it comes to successfully managing their employees. High-stress environments can lower productivity, reduce creative output, increase absenteeism, and possibly lead to greater turnover in the company. 

There are many ways to work towards addressing chronic workplace stress including things like addressing ambient office stressors, reducing workloads, offering paid wellness time, fostering an office community, and giving greater workplace flexibility.