Are Your Stressed Employees Exhausting You?
Recently I was at a business event with small business owners where we work through issues in our companies. Every single issue that day was about stressed and difficult employees.
Nobody in HR is surprised by that. We hear it constantly.
And I know owners are tired of being told to hand-hold employees when we're giving record amounts of PTO, pay, and location flexibility. But this is the reality we live in, and understanding our workforce is how we keep them.
If you don't think your employees fall into this category, look at the number: in Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report, 41% of employees worldwide reported experiencing a lot of stress — and stress varies enormously depending on how engaged someone feels at work.
First: Is It Work, or Is It Life?
That's the diagnostic question, and the answer changes what you can do.
If the stress is coming from outside work — home, relationships, kids, aging parents, money — there isn't much you can do as an employer except three things:
Be empathetic. The leader who cares wins the day.
Make their work life as stress-free as you can. More on that below.
Engage without becoming their therapist. Don't put a wall between work and personal life. But listening in order to fix their personal life is not your role, and it isn't good for either of you.
If the stress is coming from work, you have real levers.
Don't Let People Work Too Many Hours
Burnout happens when someone is constantly on overtime. If a person is doing the work of two full-time employees, that isn't sustainable — they will start to resent the manager and the company. The same goes for people who are perpetually covering for others on leave or vacation.
Help Them Feel Secure About Their Job
Job security is a huge source of stress. If your company is doing fine, say so. Send out KPIs, or just an email about the strength of the financials. In the absence of information, people assume the worst for no reason at all.
Train Your Leaders to Show Gratitude
Try to catch employees doing good things, then give specific, timely feedback. This is critical to harmony at work. Encouragement is oxygen.
Play Referee When You Need To
Peer conflict is at an all-time high in the workplace. It's good to let employees work things out first. But if that doesn't work, you need a policy for how a leader gets involved to help resolve it. Unresolved conflict with managers and peers is one of the highest-percentage reasons people quit.
Make the Physical Environment Good
Employees spend more waking time at work than almost anywhere else. Make the environment as pleasant as you can — good-looking offices genuinely factor into retention. And create some fun: lunch brought in once a month, a happy hour after work.
Ask This Question
"How can I help you love what you do more every day?"
The answer might be solving a dispute with a coworker, more training on a task they do constantly, removing a responsibility that was never a good fit, or simply more encouragement about something new they've taken on.
You don't know unless you ask. Be a student of your employees — that's the job. Know what makes them happy and what makes them miserable, then work hard on the first one.
Offer Hybrid If You Possibly Can
Studies suggest employees who work from home one to two days a week are 12% more productive, and 61% report less burnout or fatigue. People who can work from home one day a week also show a 50% higher retention rate.
That's likely down to simple things: not rushing to get ready, no hard commute at both ends, being home for the plumber, and not having to navigate interpersonal dynamics every single day.
The Bottom Line
You can't fix everything for everyone on your team. But doing some of these things might help them carry a little less.
Want help working out where the stress in your company is actually coming from? Grab a free 30-minute session with one of our HR experts.