Why Workplace Stress Creates Major Health Issues
Work-related stress affects 83 percent of employees, yet many companies are not treating this as a health issue.
Work-related stress affects 83 percent of employees, yet many companies are not treating this as a health issue. Considering the well documented physical and mental effects on a worker, more needs to be done as soon as possible to deal with the problem of stress. First, it is important to understand its causes and effects on workers, then companies can start to find and implement better solutions. This is a national health crisis that must be tackled for the wellbeing of employees, but it is also a way of increasing productivity and profit margins, so dealing with stress is a win for everyone. Despite this, only five percent of organizations are doing anything at all to combat employee stress.
Greatest Causes of Stress
Seventy-two percent of workers are stressed by their financial situation, which means this should be a priority for employers. Financial stressors can easily be rectified by offering a pay rise, extra bonuses, incentive, or increased paid leave. However, workers should also be educated in borrowing finances, such as where to find bad credit personal loans and how to pay off outstanding debts.
People also experience fatigue and headaches when they are overworked. This forces them to work harder to get the same amount of work completed and at the same standard, which causes yet more stress. Streamlining and outsourcing daily operations can ease this workload. Beyond this, stress is mostly caused by personal relationships and parenting. Employers shouldn’t be scared to offer support in these areas as well. Merely asking the right questions and allowing staff to talk about their personal issues in a comfortable setting can make the world of a difference, in terms of how they view their workplace and feel supported.
Physical Effects of Stress
Too much stress can be deeply damaging to a person’s health. Energy levels will decrease, sleep becomes more difficult, eating habits worsen, the heart beats more rapidly, and illness becomes more frequent. From the perspective of both the employee and their boss, none of these symptoms are good news. As a result of these physical symptoms, a highly stressed individual is likely to be more easily agitated, have a decreased sex drive, avoid others, and experience a decline in perceived self-worth. These will all impact on that person’s relationships. Maintaining happy connections to other humans is so essential to wellbeing and stress, therefore, needs to be dealt with.
Effective Remedies
Dealing with stress should be a part of every person’s daily routine. One of the most effective cures is exercise, which releases endorphins and lowers tension in the muscles. For many, half an hour a day is enough to cope with an overload of stress. Regular breaks can also help someone to manage a heavy workload. This time should be spent relaxing and not thinking about work. Whether meditating, playing video games, or spending time with the family, offering employees breaks to pursue their passions keeps stress at bay.
There are many health problems that can occur in the workplace, but stress is perhaps the most widespread. Despite this, very few companies are putting any effort into fighting this epidemic. Given the very real and detrimental effects that stress can have on physical health and mental wellbeing, learning to deal with it is important to happiness. By creating happy workers who can deal more effectively with heavy workloads, this is also a guaranteed way to boost productivity.