Are You Leading Your Workplace into Stress?

Workplace stress is one of the biggest threats to productivity, according to Safe Work Australia. Stress leads to increased employee turnover and staff taking more sick days.

This rise in absenteeism, coupled with presenteeism – when employees are at work but not performing to their full potential, results in a decline in productivity equivalent to more than $10 billion lost from the Australian economy.

Stress is a serious issue in the workplace, so what is causing Aussie employees to feel anxious?

According to two recent employment surveys, it could be you that is the problem.

Express Employment Professionals surveyed American staff about their key workplace stress triggers. More than one in five (21 per cent) claimed that poor leadership was the top cause of tension and anxiety in their company. This was followed by long hours and increasing workloads (15 per cent), inadequate pay or benefits and poor company culture (10 per cent each).

A similar study by Refresh Leadership questioned more than 2,000 workers about their stress triggers. Poor leadership was again chosen as the top influencer, named by 17 per cent of the participants. Long hours and an increasing workload featured in second (15 per cent), followed by a lack of work-life balance (11 per cent).

If you’re working as a leader or manager in your company, you might want to take a long, hard look at your techniques and skills, particularly if you’ve noticed stress among your employees.

Once stress has reared its head in an organisation, it can be difficult to extinguish. This is why you should consider investing in management and leadership training. By learning about the latest tools and techniques in conflict management, communication and leadership, you can ensure your skills are up to date to build resilience and drive performance in your team.