Strategies Managers Can Use to Prevent Stress in the Workplace

You can feel it: your employees are stressed out. Maybe they’re combative with coworkers or overlooking crucial safety measures. They are rushing through their day-today tasks and it shows. The point is, they are stressed, and it is affecting your business. But what can you as a manager do to combat stress in the workplace?
 
Take Stress Out of Workplace Culture
Stress is a natural part of work across all industries. Many offices even encourage a stressful environment as something to aspire to. In fact, EHS workers are particularly susceptible to a high stress work culture because of stringent compliance regulations and tight deadlines. Rather than normalize stress, empathize with employees and implement safe guards to stop stress before costly mistakes are made.
 
Develop Open Lines of Communication
Make sure your team feels comfortable coming to you with their concerns. Whether it’s a potential workplace hazard or too many duties on their plate, make sure your workers feel like they are being heard and validate their concerns. Better yet, address the issues head on and assert that you take workplace stressors very seriously.
 
Reassess Job Functions Regularly
Meet with your employees one on one to see how they are handling their workload. During these meetings, ask them about each of their job duties and be receptive to feedback. Ideally, you should sit down with each employee at least once per year to go over any issues completing tasks in a timely manner or any recent changes to their position.
 
Keep Your Team Properly Trained
One the main causes of workplace accidents is stress. In fact, EHS professionals who know the legal and regulatory requirements that underpin your procedures are more likely to get the details right and less likely to disregard safe, compliant work practices in stressful situations. Make sure that your team is confident with changes to regulation compliance, work environment, and job duties. Anticipate these changes by keeping employees in the loop when changes are on the horizon.
 
New at Lion.com: Job Stress Prevention Online Course
Lion has taken the stress out of EHS management with a new Job Stress Prevention course. As the latest addition to Lion’s human resources offerings, this course helps HR managers and EHS leaders recognize the early warning signs of burn out and develop policies to prevent workplace stress. Learn how job stress prevention tactics can benefit your business and engage your employees in cultivating a positive, healthy work environment.
 
Open Enrollment Starts Now
The new Job Stress Prevention online HR course is available now for $29.
Learn more about the course here or call (888) 546-6511 to sign up today.
 

Tags: HR, Human Resources, job, job stress, stress, Stress prevention, work, workplace safety