By Michael W. Hill, Mobius Vendor Partners Executive Consultant, Author of Measuring to Manage
The research shows there are significant financial and operational costs for employers due to employee stress and anxiety.
Below are just some of the consequences your organization might be experiencing:
- Multiple studies estimate that in the U.S. total economic impact of work-related stress at billions of dollars annually.
- Such factors as absenteeism
- Your employee turnover can be linked to employees’ stress.
- Reduced productivity.
- Higher medical costs relating to stress and anxiety.
- Legal expenses.
As you can imagine, ignoring workplace stress and anxiety is costly, and can damage a company’s reputation. How can you really know if employees are “suffering”? You can ask them. Some might be willing to share very quickly and honestly. Som may be embarrassed and not want to open up to their supervisor or even the human resource department.
Anxiety is when an employee’s stress is constant, and overwhelming. When an employee is feeling anxiety, they may make decisions based on their anxiety, and this can be expensive and sometimes devastating to both the employee and the employer. Some signs may be:
- A drop in performance
- Excessive missed days of work
- Poor job productivity
Anxiety at work can be caused by a number of factors. Darcy E. Gruttadaro JD identifies the following as some possible causes of work anxiety.
- Extra-long work hours
- High stress
- A lack of support from managers and co-workers.
If your employees are showing signs of anxiety, it’s “you” that might be causing them! Maybe you should ask your employees if you and or the work environment is causing them stress and/or anxiety.
There are things both you (the employer) and the employee can do to manage stress and anxiety. Making an investment in some type of support can yield strong returns.
You probably noticed that I pointed out numerous times that you need to ask your employees for their input. Maybe a survey would help? You might be making some assumptions that are just not correct! Get your employees involved! The cost of your employees having anxiety or stressful moments is probably more than you think. They may currently be so frustrated that they are looking for employment elsewhere because they do not feel that the organization is helping with their needs.
You may want our help.
At Mobius’ Employee Experience – EX Consulting Employee Experience – Mobius Vendor Partners (mobiusvp.com) – we have the software to survey your employees so you can make the best decisions for your company and respond to your employees’ needs. Contact us to get started.
Mike’s book: Measuring to Manage is available on Amazon.
https://a.co/d/7TLrPuQ
