When a business becomes stressed, behaviours change. Innovation, collaboration, engagement all reduce. Whilst business leaders the world over focus on ensuring agility in their business to adapt to change, market forces, competitive threats, etc., a challenge to every leader is whether they worry about stress in quite the same way.
We tend to characterise stress as “going the extra mile” or being dedicated to the cause. It’s seen as a good thing – demonstrating employee commitment and is perhaps even rationalised as part of the process for getting a promotion.
The question is, what is the price for allowing stress in the business to become unhealthy?
Studies have shown that stress caused by long hours reduces productivity. The stress created by poor behaviour (particularly from managers and leaders) can lead to people “keeping their head down” or simply leaving. The amount of stress in a business is, therefore, something that should be scrutinised.
Stressors are individual to us all and for employees can be caused by external factors such as changing client expectations, increased workload due to external events, or supplier issues. You might not be able to control these, and the old management adage of only worrying about what you can control might seem relevant here.
Understanding the impact of internal and external stressors on your workforce can be eye–opening and positively impact your bottom line if you address them.
So, what are the key internal stressors within an organisation?
The excellent McKinsey report ‘The Boss Factor’ highlights research that shows the second biggest influence on an individual’s life satisfaction (the first is mental wellbeing) is the relationship with their line manager. Many will say they have been on the receiving end of less than supportive line managers – but it doesn’t have to be that way.
The Institute of Employment Studies has produced an analysis of the drivers of employee engagement. Clarity of expectations, having a voice in decisions and growing in the job are significant drivers. When these are absent, they also create levels of stress.
A lack of flexibility is another cause of employee stress. There are many stories from employees where employers take a hard line on starting at 9am and disciplining employees if they are late. However, at the other end of the working day, they ask for loyalty and commitment from those same employees to stay on an extra 20mins or hour – to get the work done. This simple flexibility example is not an easy issue to solve. Customers want service and businesses need to be fast and agile. However, if there is discussion and empathy from both sides, there might be opportunities to be creative and flexible to give both employees and employers what they need to reduce stress levels and keep customers happy.
If the 3 key internal stressors are line managers, a lack of engagement drivers being satisfied and a lack of flexibility – how can an organisation address them quickly and easily?
- One area you really should focus on is the internal stressors that you can control – seek to get your team to identify the “pointless stressors.” Ask your employees to give you a list and see which ones you can fix. The trick here is to have them propose solutions by working as a team to come up with options and a recommendation.
- Stop to think about the stress you are under. Is it impacting your behaviour, relationships, or how you are generally feeling? Identify an activity you could do during the working week that reduces your stress and makes you feel better. It might be as simple as going for a walk, listening to some music. Whatever it is, take the time to invest in you. Encourage your team to do the same. Your actions set the tone!
- An old boss once said to the leadership team, “waste time with your people.” So many managers are caught in a cycle of meetings, forums, reviews, presentations, etc. They have lost the opportunity to reflect, contemplate, re-energise, or have any form of human connection with their people. Talking, sharing, listening, even laughing will help your team and it will probably help you too!
And from an external stressor perspective? Well, as a manager, you need to help your team by managing and supporting them in their response to external stressors. Whilst you can’t control them, in this instance, you do need to worry about them and the impact on your people. You might not be able to plan for them arising, but you can recognise when they have and be mindful of an individual’s need for recovery time.
