relievers from your wellness arsenal . Employees appreciate such efforts , which can bolster your employer brand . But unless you also try to prevent workplace stress in the first place , you may as well be serving food past its expiration date and then offering an antacid .
To truly prevent work-related stress , it ’ s important to ponder the role you might be playing in creating it . Let ’ s look at what really stresses out employees , and what you can do about it .
Money Matters It should come as no surprise that people get stressed over finances . Less than half of employees believe they are fairly compensated for the work they do , and more than a third feel they are undercompensated . Your goal , then , is not to convince employees they ’ re being paid enough ( as if !) — it is to pay them fairly . And then explain what “ fairly ” means . That entails conducting benchmarking and salary studies to ensure :
Internal equity to compensate people according to the relative value of their jobs in the organization ; employees want to feel that their performance and job differences sensibly match differences in compensation External equity to make sure your company ’ s compensation levels are at least comparable with those of other organizations in your labor market Furthermore , fairness and transparency go hand in hand . Don ’ t overlook the importance of communicating your compensation philosophy . Don ’ t overlook the importance of communicating your compensation philosophy .
No , repeating that sentence was not a typo . It ’ s to drive the point that uncertainty and lack of knowledge around compensation decisions often create more anxiety than the paycheck itself . Simply put , there ’ s no such thing as too much communication when talking to people about their pay . ( That ’ s why you should use multiple methods , such as direct communication , individualized total compensation statements , employee self-service technology , etc .)
It ’ s About Time More than half of U . S . employees feel overworked or overwhelmed at least some of the time . What ’ s more , 91 percent of people say they work more than 40 hours a week . All of which leads to stress .
PTO is not the answer . Sure , it can help alleviate stress , but again , it ’ s a Band-Aid that gets ripped off the moment people return to work . Besides , about a quarter of people say they don ’ t use all of their vacation time .
Nor is this about work-life balance . Yes , it ’ s great to offer flexibility around when and where work gets done . But such accommodations won ’ t address the heart of what ’ s really stressing people — not enough time to get work done . So rather than trying to squeeze 10 hours of work into five , consider whether you need to set more realistic expectations , while also helping your people work more efficiently .
For starters , think about leveraging technology geared to reduce timeconsuming administrative tasks so that people can work more effectively — and on projects that interest them . After all , 92 percent of employees base work satisfaction on opportunities to use their skills and abilities .
SSA ( Safety , Support , Autonomy ) No , we ’ re not talking about Social Security here !
Safety : Employees get stressed when they worry about negative consequences . People need psychological safety , often defined as “ being able to show and employ one ’ s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image , status , or career .” In other words , employees need to feel like they can take intelligent risks at work without fear of going to the principal ’ s office .
At the core of creating psychological safety is tolerating mistakes .
Actually , that ’ s not entirely true . You don ’ t want to tolerate errors so much as welcome them , even embrace them at times . Doing so demonstrates
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