What is workplace stress
Work-related stress can be described as the adverse reaction experienced by employees when workplace demands and responsibilities are greater than the worker can comfortably manage or are beyond the employee’s capabilities. It can affect each worker differently and originate from different sources.
Stress is not an illness – it is a state. However, if stress becomes too excessive and prolonged, mental and physical illness may develop.
There is a difference between pressure and stress. Pressure can be positive and a motivating factor, and is often essential in a job. It can help us achieve our goals and perform better. Stress occurs when this pressure becomes excessive.
What can cause stress?
A person experiences stress when they perceive that the demands of their work are greater than their ability to cope. Coping means balancing the demands and pressures placed on you (i.e. the job requirements) with your skills and knowledge (i.e. your capabilities). For example, if you give a member of your team a tight deadline on a project they feel they have neither the skills nor ability to do well, they may begin to feel undue pressure which could result in work related stress.
Stress can also result from having too few demands, as some employees may become bored, feel undervalued and lack recognition. If they feel they have little or no say over the work they do or how they do it, this may cause them stress.
Stress affects people in different ways and what one person finds stressful can be normal to another. Factors like personality, personal circumstances, health status and skills will impact how someone reacts.
As a leader you have a duty to ensure that work does not make your team unwell.
Signs of stress in your team
- Disputes and disaffection within the group
- Increase in staff turnover
- Increase in complaints and grievances
- Increased sickness absence
- Increased reports of stress
- Difficulty in attracting new staff
- Poor performance
- Customer dissatisfaction or complaints
Signs of stress in individuals
- Increased emotional reactions - more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
- Withdrawn
- Loss of motivation commitment and confidence
- Mood swings
- Confusion, indecision
- Poor memory
- Twitchy, nervous behaviour
- Changes in attendance such as arriving later or taking more time off.
How to impact stress in your team?
Understanding how the various aspects of the work environment can contribute to stress is the first step to successfully managing stress in the workplace. Below is a 6 pillar framework for managing stress in the workplace.
- Demands - includes workload, work patterns and the work environment.
- Control - how much say a person has in the way they do their work.
- Support - includes the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by AGL, line management and colleagues.
- Role - whether people understand their role within AGL and whether AGL ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
- Change - how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in AGL.
- Relationships - promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
More on keeping your team well
- What is mental health?
- Tips for leaders
- What is mental illness?
- Dealing with mental illness
- Myths around mental illness
