Workplace stress has a negative impact on the business as well as on the individual employee. The increase in job stress creates emotional, financial, and safety concerns for employers and managers. The bottom line: workplace stress management and stress reduction make sense.
Why should employers be concerned about workplace stress?
Stress is a normal occurrence. However, with increasing demands of work and home life, stress on the job is a problem causing physical, mental, and financial consequences for employers as well as employees. Studies show that stressful working conditions are associated with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and intentions by workers to quit their jobs—all of which have a negative effect on a company’s success. Employers, managers, supervisors, and business owners have many reasons to consider the stress level of their workers:
Financial
• Stressed employees take more sick days and file more disability claims than do contented employees
• Disgruntled employees often quit after extensive investment has been made in their training, and another person has to be trained in their place
• Job stress can result in decreased productivity
• Errors made by stressed workers can result in faulty products that cannot be sold, or worse, that fail after sale and lead to lawsuits
Emotional
• Stressed workers may become depressed or angry
• Alcohol or drug use increases as self-medication for distress, which in turn creates more problems
Safety
• People who are overly stressed are less attentive and can accidentally damage equipment or injure themselves or others
• At the e ...