Targeting stress and absence

Healthy people. Healthy business.

To keep our bodies healthy, we need to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally. We may eat better, exercise more and take opportunities to relax. If we don’t, we feel tired, demotivated and unproductive. It is simple to draw a parallel between the health of the workforce turning the cogs inside an organisation, and the quality of the output.

There are a variety of workplace initiatives surrounding eating well and exercising more, but substantially less that care for the emotional wellbeing of employees. Engaging a workforce in initiatives which enhance emotional resilience can decrease levels of long term stress, absences and staff turnover. Showing employees that a business cares for their emotional health will also drive engagement and increase productivity.

‘Whether mental distress is caused in work or out of work we spend nearly half our waking hours in work; because of this it makes sense to have a stronger, healthier and more emotionally resilient workplace.’ Paul Farmer – Chief Executive, – Mind

SMEs can do it too

Emotional resilience and workplace stress are not limited to a specific industry, job level or company size. Factors external to work can have a profound effect on an employees’ ability to perform well, so putting in place strategies and support to address issues before they arise is becoming increasingly relevant. It doesn’t take a huge investment to start enhancing the emotional resilience of a workforce.

Emotional resilience tools

Create an environment where employees feel that they can speak freely with relevant members of staff without feeling weakened by admitting that they have a problem.

Promote great relationships between peers. If employees feel that they have a friend within an organisation they are less likely to feel that they are isolated and alone in their issues.

Implement an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). If an employee doesn’t feel comfortable speaking with internal personnel, then this is a great solution. These programmes can offer counselling services and medical advice from an impartial external provider.

Resolution

Everybody makes mistakes. It’s not often convenient and can cause further issues, but it’s important that employees feel that they can learn and move on from them without extra pressure, risk or further failure. The same applies to conflicts, no matter how small, which should be easily and amicably resolved. This stems from mutual trust, and a feeling of understanding between managers and staff which enables all parties to move forward from a difficult conversation.

Emotional resilience is based on science, not management theory. It focuses on creating an environment where the brain becomes capable of increased logical thought, enabling employees to rationalise and deal with change or stressful situations. Employers have the ability to create and sustain this environment, working with their senior staff and line managers to promote trust, respect and empathy.

If you want to learn more from the experts, call us for a chat on 01454 808 658.