Over 130 million days are lost on average each year to sickness absences according to figures published by the Office of National Statistics.
A number of those sick days will be as a result of workplace stress, so it makes sound business sense for employers to develop a strategy that helps keep their employees healthy and happy in order to cut down on the loss of productivity due to absences.
There are times when workplace stress results in someone like Claims Direct pursuing a claim but for smart employers, the smart move is develop a proactive strategy that aims to address any potential stress and illness issues before they get out of hand.
Workplace disengagement
It is not that surprising that studies often tend to conclude that employees who are suffering from high stress levels have a lower engagement level, are absent more often and are generally less productive.
There certainly appears to be a direct correlation between high levels of stress being a major factor in all the significant symptoms associated with workplace disengagement.
The aim for any responsible employer who is interested in protecting the welfare of its workforce and is understandably motivated also by the need to maintain good productivity levels and keep absenteeism to a minimum, would be to break that destructive link between high levels of stress and reduced productivity.
This goal can be achieved with a proactive and holistic approach to creating a good and stimulating working environment which keeps the opportunity for stress to minimal levels.
Identifying the main causes of stress
To reduce stress levels in the workplace, employers will need to first identify the main causes that can lead to staff experiencing problems.
Your assessment should take into account critical factors such as the demands you make on your employees, the level of support staff receive from their managers and how clearly defined each workers role is, which helps to reduce potential stress when this is more crystal clear.
Your business would also benefit from having line managers who are trained in people skills and have some ability to help address some common mental health issues such as stress.
Your goals
If you can develop a strategy that allows your employees to feel valued and involved in the running of the business and you create job roles that are clearly defined with clarity regarding lines of communication , you should be able to create a workforce which feels engaged and is in turn, more productive but without feeling stressed.
Your goal as an employer should be to identify the risk factors which are specific to your business or industry and you can do this in collaboration with staff by holding informal talks and asking for their input on how to improve working conditions and what they think would help them work to the best of their ability without feeling stressed.
Employers have to create a genuine support culture for these strategies to be effective and one of the best ways of gauging if you are getting it right, is to check your absenteeism records.
Rick Lane has a number of years experience providing health and safety advice. He is always willing to share his insightful observations and ideas to a wider audience online. You can find various different posts written by him across a diverse range of websites.
