Career Development: Reduce On-the-Job Stress

We’ve been discussing an infographic from Human Resources MBA describing how your job may be killing you. We’ve explored the following tips from the infographic about what employers can do to reduce job stress for employees including:

Aligning workload with capability.  (View tip.)
Making room for workers to grow and use talent in their positions.  (View tip.)
Ensuring all workers know their job responsibilities; and letting workers have a say in changes related to their jobs. (View tips.)

Today is the last segment of this series of tips, so let’s dig a little bit deeper into the three remaining tips provided by the infographic and think about how to reduce job stress for employees by:

Keeping employees up-to-date on future developments so they can have some sense of certainty.
Allowing workers to socialize with one another, whether via company events, lunch activities, etc.
Making sensible work schedules.

1.  Keep employees up to date on future developments so they can have some sense of certainty.

Certainty or security is a basic human need that somehow gets overlooked in the workforce. Feeling “out of the loop” creates anxiety in employees, and lack of information can lead to negative and unnecessary gossip. An informed employee is a better ally in improvement than one left in the dark.   “You can’t lead if you can’t tell your people where you want to go, and if you can’t inspire them to go there” (Geoff Loftus, 4 Keys to Great Leadership).

2.  Allow workers to socialize with one another, whether via company events, lunch activities, etc.

According to Shawn Anchor, author of “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work,” the best predictor of career success isn’t toiling away alone, but is investing in the people around us. “Strong social bonds enrich our daily lives, give meaning to our work, and even improve our physical health.”  Most people spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, and encouraging lunch breaks with co-workers and holding occasional company events give employees a chance to reap these benefits and bond as a team.

3.  Make sensible work schedules.

Who chooses the work schedule at your facility, and how do they choose it? According to a free white paper from Circadian® 24/7 Workforce Solutions, “Shift Scheduling & Employee Involvement:  The Key to Successful Schedules,” employees should be consulted.  When employees are consulted during the scheduling process, they experience fewer accidents, improved morale, decreased absenteeism and turnover, and optimized production levels.

Thanks for your comments and feedback on this series.  We hope that you can take advantage of some of these tips, and proactively reduce on-the-job stress at your facility.