Stress has doubled in Irish workplaces – it’s not just a headline

People bickering; blame games; angry outbursts; missed deadlines; people hating going in to work, and finding they’re taking the bad feeling home, are all too common aspects of work stress. And apparently, we are seeing twice as much of that as a few years ago according to the European Working Conditions Survey.

It’s damaging to people’s health and it’s costing businesses a fortune. When stress doubles, it means more people suffer and more businesses sustain losses from it.

Yet, most businesses have simply seen the headline and are ignoring the reality.

Let’s put this in context: Twice the stress is twice the sleepless nights, lying awake, mind racing, worrying about what happened and what will happen.

It’s twice the conflict, twice the aggression, twice the blow ups that then fester into damaged working relationships and people trying to work around the colleagues who should all be part of a smoothly flowing system.

It’s twice the amount of people going home from work stressed, being grumpy or snappy with their families.

Twice the number of people lacking the energy to play with their kids or take part in the usual social activities after work.

It’s twice the people thinking ‘I hate my job’. ‘It used to be fine but now I can’t even think about it’. ‘I need to move jobs!’

Sadly, unlike when a computer breaks, or something gets lost, it’s not as obvious as to the cost. Yet it is real and easy enough to calculate.

Most people don’t realise that it’s not just time off sick or with stress that is the big expense – it’s the cost of people being present and working below par. This ‘Presenteeism’ costs twice as much as Absenteeism. On top of that is the cost of turnover of staff – replacing someone is expensive. Training them is expensive. The lost productivity until they are up to speed, is expensive.

Why am I mentioning this? Because what is an obvious and common-sense thing – that stress should be reduced, needs a financial incentive to make it happen.

Businesses run on money. The pain, unhappiness and anger of staff is easier to address when we see just how much it’s also costing the business.

A 2010 study showed savings of over 3 to 1 in response to Workplace Wellness Programs (Baicker et al, 2010). That means for the businesses investing in those, they saw a reduction in costs of over €3 for every €1 spent.

It makes it a lot easier to start thinking of doing something about stress when viewed in that light.

My advice is to make a brief list of ‘flashpoint’ stress indicators and see if the workplace is moving in the right or wrong direction. This will let you know where things can improve and generate awareness of what to start with.

Think about whether each issue is increased this year, reduced this year, or the same as previously.

Arguments

Sick Leave

People seeming down at work

Missed deadlines

Managers spending more time managing disagreements

Miscommunications (“But you said to do it this way…” etc.)

Increase in bullying or accusations of bullying / unfairness

Increased overtime to catch up on targets

People seeing only problems – creativity and solution-finding is down

Complaints of headaches and muscle pain

People showing up late for work

These are some of the more obvious external signs of stress in a workplace. Obviously, they all impact on success and achievement.

Taking action early is best. Taking action now is the next best option.

Stress has doubled in Irish workplaces. Can yours be the opposite?

Wishing you a calm and productive working day,

John

www.AchievementFulfilment.com

 John Prendergast is an internationally recognised award-winning Therapist and Coach who lived decades with severe anxiety and depression before he found the help he needed to overcome those challenges and to build a happier and more successful life.

Now followed in over 100 countries and speaking internationally, John helps people from all walks of life from Army Officers, Business People, and Elite Sports People to Homemakers, Entrepreneurs, and Students.

His specialist areas include: Communications, Stress and fear systems of the mind, and how these systems generate the experiences we think of as stress, overwhelm, and anxiety. He also has training in Strategic Negotiation, Public Relations, Marketing Psychology, and Systems Development.