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A business owner can ignore employee stress--if he or shedoesn't care about employee productivity and creativity,"says Allan Rabinowitz, owner of Stress Strategies Resources in LosAngeles. "We know that when stress goes up, work quality goesdown--and absenteeism and conflicts between employees increase. Ifyou want your employees doing their best work, you simply have tocare about their stress levels."
That's the bottom line: Working to cut employeestress is not feel-good management; it's dollars-and-centsmanagement. If you don't attend to the waves of tension washingover your workers, you just might find your business wiped out.
Robert McGarvey writes on business, psychology and managementtopics for several national publications. To reach him online withyour questions or comments, e-mail rjmcgarvey@aol.com
Stressed Out
Maybe you're thinking that stress is simply an inescapablepart of the entrepreneurial environment. And, for you, that mightbe true. It's even arguable that good entrepreneurs thrive onstress--the more stress they're under, the tougher they fight."But you need to recognize that employees aren'tentrepreneurs--they aren't as driven as you are," saysRichard Hagberg, an organizational psychologist and president ofHagberg Consulting Group in Foster City, California.
"The name of the entrepreneurial game is getting long-termresults," adds Hagberg, whose consulting practice centersaround high-flying Silicon Valley computing companies. "Tosurvive, you may have to push your people occasionally. But whenstress becomes a way of life in your company, employees will leavebecause in today's full-employment economy, people havelots of choices."
Look at your balance sheet, and the arithmetic is compelling.When stress is out of control, productivity tumbles, creativitysags and good employees take flight. So how can you lower stresslevels in your company? One way to start is to break stress intotwo clusters: stressors that you as the business owner can controland those you can't. Despite your best intentions, youcan't change how your competitors behave and you can do littleto impact the conduct of customers.
But there are stressors you can change. "For instance, isthere ambiguity about job descriptions and the responsibilities ofindividual workers?" asks David Munz, a professor ofpsychology at St. Louis University who consults with businesses onstress-reduction programs. "Employees tell us that's a bigstressor, and it's common. Do employees have the informationand resources they need to complete their tasks in a timely andsatisfactory fashion? When they don't, they'll feel a lotof stress."
One way to combat stress in your workplace is to look around forglaring trouble spots. Then ask workers what bugs them, and listenhard. You won't be able to resolve every annoyance they pointto, but odds are, you'll be able to lessen at least some oftheir tension.
Another stress buster--and morale booster--is to give employeesmore control over their workload and pace. "When employeesdon't have that control, they feel substantial stress,especially in small businesses, where many workers feel the boss isalways looking over their shoulder," says Paul Spector, anindustrial and organizational psychology professor at theUniversity of South Florida in Tampa.
It's easy to put too much on an employee'splate--especially when you have a high performer who is alwayswilling to do more. But eventually, stress will set in andperformance will suffer. The antidote is to give your employeesmore control--but how? Make it clear that when employees feeloverloaded, you want them to speak up so you can find ways tolighten their burden. And if they do speak up, be grateful fortheir honesty--don't make them feel they can't pull theirweight.
While you're at it, empower your employees to set limits onhow many hours they'll work. "We're seeing more ofthis, even in Silicon Valley," reports Hagberg."Employees are putting caps on how many hours they'llwork, and they're flatly refusing to work weekends."
Your first reaction may be "How dare they!" Butlighten up. It's genuinely for the good of your company to haveemployees set limits on work hours. Why? Research is clear thatwhen employees have abundant and satisfying lives outside theoffice, they cope better with workplace stress. Granted, there willbe times--during crises and emergencies--that you'll need toask workers to suck it up and put in extra hours. But, on thewhole, respect their desire to set boundaries.
A third step is to "create a compelling vision for thecompany and its future, and link current activities to achievingthat vision," says Hagberg. "When people clearly see whatthey're striving for and how what they're doing todayrelates to that, they can live with a much higher level of stressfor a longer period of time. When they feel they're on amission, their ability to cope with stress increases."It's up to you to articulate a vision your employees will buyinto.
Keeping Stress At Bay
Even if you do all this, your workers are still likely to feelsome stress; that's just a fact of today's businessenvironment. But helping employees develop stress-management skillswill help them cope when busy times hit. "While you have to becommitted to reducing stressors in the environment, employees needto develop skills so they don't experience so much wear andtear from the stressors you can't change," says Munz.
Stress-reduction techniques can be relatively simple. "Iteach people to relax and count their own breaths as they breathedeeply, for instance," says Rabinowitz. "It takes only afew second, but it works." Master that technique, then teachit to employees for them to use when their stress levels jump offthe meter.
Other proven techniques include going for a walk, engaging insome brisk exercise (such as doing 20 push-ups), meditating on yourfavorite vacation spot or counting down slowly from 100 to zero."People can learn to relax," says Spector. "Andevery employee should know a few relaxation techniques they candepend on in tough moments."
A good idea is to post four or five stress-busting techniqueswhere employees can see them, such as in the break room or kitchen.Ask them to add ideas they find useful--and encourage all employeesto put stress-reduction techniques into practice whenever the needarises.
As in most workplace situations, communication is crucial tokeeping stress in check. "If employees feel there are avenues[of communication], their stress goes down," says VenettaCampbell, a psychology professor at Mt. St. Mary's College inLos Angeles. "You can get good results just by encouragingemployees to get together over a brown-bag lunch once a week toshare concerns and to relate stress-management tools that work forthem."
Whether it's encouraging workers to blow off steam withvigorous lunch-time walks or just holding a one-hour meeting totalk about stress and its solutions in your business, know thatwhatever you do to help your workers cope with stress, good thingswill result. "Just the fact that you acknowledge that stressis an issue and show a willingness to work on it reduces stress inthe workplace," says Munz. "Take steps, and employeeswill appreciate it."
Next Step
Looking for more stress-busting tips? Try http://www.jobstresshelp.com anonline consulting resource developed by psychotherapist Bill DeLenothat provides loads of free information.
Contact Sources
Hagberg Consulting Group, (650) 377-0232, http://www.hcgnet.com
Stress Strategies Resources, 12381 Wilshire Blvd., #200,Los Angeles, CA 90025, (310) 4-STRESS
