An article from the York Daily Record, “Stress Leave a Rising Source of Contention for Employers” dives into workplace issues that have serious consequences. Stress is not just a sometime thing, it is becoming so prevalent that is being diagnosed as a serious health problem. Serious health problems are subject to consideration by employers under the Family Medial Leave Act.
While there are a myriad of issues to be considered in relation to the workplace in light of the continuing increase in stress, we paid special attention to the activities mentioned that can help reduce stress in the workplace. Ignoring the issue is not an option since it can result in poor customer relations, increased injuries, and in worse case scenarios – violence.
Absenteeism is a common manifestation of the issues. The article provides some interesting directives about eliminating ‘unnecessary’ sources of stress. Control in the workplace is an important consideration.
“Perhaps the most fundamental driver of stress is the loss of control or perceiving that you have lost control,” he [David Lee] said.
Accelerated layoffs and economic uncertainty contribute to that, but so do poor communication and bad managers.
Employers sometimes jump to the wrong conclusion about the sources of stress in the workplace.
Lee said he worked with one company that attributed stress among its customer-service workers to rude customers, when in reality the issue was poor quality control that allowed too many defective products to get to market.
This example illustrates the need to really communicate clearly about what is happening, what is expected and to get creative in alleviating the sources of team stress.
Stephanie Ringer, May 29. 2013
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