De-stress this Easter: April is 'Stress Awareness Month'

Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month?

Since 1992 Stress Awareness Month has aimed to raise awareness of the causes and cures for our modern-day stress epidemic.

We cannot talk about health without talking about mental health and how stress can lead to a range of health problems, not just physical problems, like heart disease, insomnia, digestive issues, immune system challenges, etc. It can also lead to more serious mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.

The slogan for Stress Awareness Month 2023 is #ActNow:

• Action
• Changes
• Things

Mental health issues are something that all companies should be ready to address with initiatives ranging from employee assistance programmes, to mindfulness training. Good employers should be responsive and sensitive to these issues in the workplace and they also have a legal duty to assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities.

So if your organisation wants to improve it's provision for stress management and good mental health, what can be done?

Help staff to cope

Awareness is great but taking action is key. Here are five issues that could be detrimental to employees stress levels and some suggestions on how to address them:

Micro-management – Micoro-management stresses, demotivates and discourages staff. It can lead to wasted time and can damage employee engagement. Supporting good people within their roles, rather than micro-managing them is the ideal way forward. When you have great people on board, let them shine. Hire smart, well-qualified employees then train them, brief them, give them the resources they need and let them get on with their work. Agree status checks and stick to them, let them do the job they are so well-qualified for.

Feedback – Feedback is an essential component of effective learning as employees grow and develop in their role. If you use an employee-centred approach, and check in with staff regularly, you will soon work out how much feedback each person needs and how often. Timely feedback is more useful than an annual performance review but it’s fair to say not all employees need the same frequency of feedback. All employees are different but you should ensure that all  employees can speak to their line manager whenever they need support or advice.

Culture – Culture can cause stress but is not always something an individual manager can address or change. It comes from the top, takes time to build and longer to change. You can address a corporate cultural problem with clear two-way open conversations with all employees, top down and bottom up about what’s important to employees and what their values are. But we have to act on these conversations because if we don’t we will just make things worse.

Communication – When we don’t communicate well with our employees, we create unnecessary stress.  Staff should be kept informed, that way they get to see the bigger picture and understand corporate strategy and objectives. Every employee should feel a sense of belonging and engagement, feel their managers care about them and give them a voice.

Flexibility and Understanding - We all go through different stages in life, whether it be a bereavement, change to family circumstances, moving home or just general pressures of life. Offering flexibility where possible, and understand of an invidivdual's personal circumstances, goes a long way to building company loyalty and reducing employee stress levels. Taking out the 'fear factor' around talking about personal circumstance and juggling a work schedule can really make a difference to a person's attitude and ability to work to their full potential. 

Ultimately we should all recognise the damage too much stress can cause. Offering a work environment where people are 'fired up' and engaged but not overwhelmed is something every company can commit to. It's a question of achieving the right balance and more and more organisations are recognising the importance of this.