As we stated in our blog last week, workplace anxiety is a real issues, exacerbated by the events of the last two years. Even workplaces with a positive company culture can suffer from employees feeling major burnout, so this week we are sharing some of the methods the HR can help implement to easy the stress employees could be under.
Anxiety-busting strategies employees will appreciate
- Identify the impact areas. Knowing the source of any issues within the workplace is the first step in making relevant change. We talked about this in last week’s blog.
- Encourage a supportive company culture. Do this by demonstrating empathy and patience when an employee expresses stress, and encouraging others to do the same. The things you say and do will make the most difference in relieving anxious feelings.
- Provide accommodations and flexibility. Remember that the people who make up a company are all trying to find balance to their lives, often juggling family responsibilities or other obligations that demand their attention. It can’t be expected that their lives outside their work switch off, that’s unrealistic. Therefore, offer things like flexible work schedules, remote work, and paid time off (to name a few), to help your employees balance their work and life tasks. Ask employees for the things that would be most beneficial to them.
- Inquire about workspace. Some employees need quiet, others thrive around people. If a workplace can offer different options for different work habits, it’ll likely experience higher productivity.
- Offer mental health benefits. We’ve talked about this a lot in previous blogs but it’s time for all benefit packages to include mental health care in some form. If the pandemic taught us anything, certainly it taught us that significant amounts of stress is detrimental to people. Benefits such as therapy can be an incredible tool in managing stress for your staff and in the end, benefit the company as well.
Again, let us state how important it is to know (as best you can) the issues that may be causing your employees undue stress. Are work hours incompatible to their outside obligations? Is their workspace too loud, or isolating? Is there a tendency for the office to engage in negative gossip? Know the problem(s) is the most useful tool in addressing them.
If you’re interested in learning more about cultivating a positive and productive workplace, Eos HR can help! We make sure small business teams are successful in maintaining the practices that support a productive company culture. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.
#hr #weareEOSHR #workplaceanxiety #employeeexperience #companyculture #smallbusiness