The Cost of Stress in the Workplace

The impact of stress in the workplace is a staggering $300,000,000! This is roughly $7,500 per employee, spent annually in the U.S. on stress-related compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, health insurance costs, direct medical expenses and employee turnover. Just reading that statistic can cause you stress!

When a manager decides they need to have fewer employees doing more work for the same pay in order to improve expenses because on paper this looks like a savings, when in fact, that decision is actually increasing expenses! Turnover, production errors, damage to customer relations, and sick leave cost more than what is thought to be saved by these actions.

Depression is the single most frequent cause of sick leave days and with so many short-staffed situations, the burden on the remaining workers is overwhelming, and they just shut down to about half of their capability. The top three causes of stress that management have an opportunity to correct and reduce the stress in the workforce:

1. The demands of the job

This is the greatest factor of stress in both managerial and non-managerial employees. Every organization is following the "more from less" strategy to improving the bottom line. Work loads are ever increasing beyond simply technological improvements. Many of these employment decisions are based on a short-term financial number and jobs are left vacant for extended periods of time to save money, putting the extra workload on those employees that didn't vacate.

Before reducing staff or increasing work loads on your employees, take the time to study the job. It's easy to sit in the office of the top floor of the building, look at some reports and determine you can do this with five less people. People are not machines and from my perspective companies do a better job of caring for machine maintenance than people maintenance.

2. The control staff have over how they do their work

Job security has changed in the workplace. When I first entered the workforce, job hopping, being fired or laid-off was a black mark on your career. Today it's difficult to find a person that hasn't been "down-sized" or took a new job just before being down-sized.

Look within your company and find the policies and standard procedures that create a lack of control for your employees. I still run into some managers that want a workforce with "strong backs and weak minds" so they will do what they are told and not worry about anything else. This is no longer an acceptable approach to management nor will it create the desired success.


3. The support they receive from colleagues and superiors

A large number of employees coming into our working ranks grew up in a different home environment than most of us who have been in the working world for a couple of decades. Divorce, single-parent or two full-time income parents are the norm. Studies are showing there is an increased need by children for individual recognition and support because these home environments tends to be chaotic and filled with activity yet devoid in true support. This is why the Millennial generation (born after 1980) enjoys working closely with their friends; they know they will be supported by their colleagues.

What is management doing to support employees in your organization? Support isn't just a recognition program; it's a daily event. Supporting growth, development detecting bad habits and putting a stop to them and encouraging those habits you want to be repeated -- that's support. If you've ever played competitive athletics you recognize this is typical coaching behavior. There is a reason so many successful athletes have a great relationship with their college coaches -- it was a time of development and growth and that particular coach was there to make that happen. That is support.