How to reduce stress

Working too long hours? Faced with impossible deadlines? Does climbing Mount Everest feel easier than dealing with the mountain of emails in your inbox? Julia and Kathryn, from KiwiBoss, look at how to tackle employee workplace stress.

Employers must provide a workplace without undue stress, where staff can cope with the demands of their job.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, employers have a lawful duty to take reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of workers and protect them from harm. Failure to protect staff from harm caused by stress may result in personal grievance claims or prosecution by WorkSafe.

Employee wellbeing programmes, such as free fruit and yoga at lunch are helpful, but are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff if you are not addressing what is causing the stress in the first place. So, how can you identify and manage stressors to comply with health and safety obligations?

Identify stress at work

Stress is linked to absenteeism, lowered productivity and workplace conflict. Many stress claims arise from work pressure and work-related conflicts like bullying and harassment.

In a recent survey, the biggest causes of stress among New Zealand workers included an excessive workload, long hours, pressure to meet work targets, change in the workplace, and workplace relationships.

Stress can present itself in physical changes, like headaches, stomach problems and insomnia, and emotional issues like anxiety, depression, lack of focus and irritability. Prolonged and chronic stress can lead to fatigue, burn out and physical health problems.

Managing workplace stress

Employers and managers have a duty to take appropriate steps to eliminate and minimise health and safety risks in the workplace. Some stress is unavoidable in any workplace, but you can take steps to eliminate or manage excessive workloads, dangerous work environments or workplace bullying. Select the most effective controls proportionate to the risk and appropriate to your situation.

How to identify stress at work

• Ask staff. Unsure if your staff are stressed at work? Ask them! In your regular catch ups with staff, identify any stressors and discuss ways to alleviate workplace stress.

• What if your staff appear stressed but haven’t spoken to you? Arrange an informal catch up over a coffee or a walk. It’s sometimes easier to talk away from the office and any prying eyes (or ears). Start the conversation by saying something like, “I notice you don’t seem as happy as you were…”.

• Encourage staff to raise stressors. Staff need to come forward and say if they are struggling because it can be difficult for employers to identify stressed staff. You can’t fix it if you don’t know about it.

• Surveys and forums. Identify stressors through staff engagement surveys, health and safety committee meetings and forums.

Monitor hours of work

Working too long hours can lead to undue stress, burn out and health issues, and personal grievance claims. In Ringrose v Brazin Ltd and Bras N Things New Zealand Ltd, an excessive workload of more than 60 hours per week caused the retail manager undue stress, resulting in depression and burnout. She was awarded $20,000 in compensation for hurt and humiliation as well as lost wages.

• controlling the timing and duration of exposure

• provide training to deal with demands posed by work

• temporarily reducing workloads or moving staff to another area

• promoting employee involvement.

Ask for health updates

If your staff have mental or physical health issues, you should ask them for medical updates. Ask your employee to discuss any issues like formal performance management with their medical professional.

Carefrontation

Consider a ‘carefrontation’ on their return to work following a period of sick leave. In a ‘carefrontation’, find out whether the employee is fit and able to carry out all tasks required of their position. Staff can discuss potential health and safety risks, such as workload and other workplace stressors contributing to their sickness or injury.

Wellbeing app platforms

Wellbeing app platforms, like the Kite Program, can be tailored to suit your organisational needs with content available on wellbeing, mental health and much more. Hannah Hardy- Jones, the CEO and founder of The Kite Program created the product so “employees can feel cared for and have a tailored and considered solution with content truly applicable to their role”.

Kathryn Finn is an experienced facilitator and HR consultant for KiwiBoss and a consultant for The Kite Program. With a degree in psychology and sociology, a graduate diploma in HR management, and currently studying for her master of science in psychology, she is passionate about creating an engaging workplace that gets the best out of its people in a positive and productive environment.

Julia Shallcrass is the founder of KiwiBoss, an HR and employment law training company. Julia is an employment lawyer who provides in-house training to organisations throughout New Zealand. This year, she will present a brand new online course for managers: Leader’s Guide to Performance Management. She regularly presents half-day courses through HRNZ, including Effective Performance Reviews (the next one is on Wednesday, 7 July 2021), Managing Poor Performers, Managing Mental Illness at Work and Restructuring and Redundancy.