The Problem with Stress and Anxiety in the Workplace and How To Encourage a Thriving Workforce.

Actively and enthusiastically integrating and embedding employee health and wellbeing into any organisation will see higher profits, lower absenteeism and a lower turnover rate, staff will be happier, healthier, more engaged, safer, more productive and there will be greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.

There are organisations who are actively taking steps to put in effective mental health supports and solutions, however, in the UK the HSE released a report in 2019 highlighting that work-related stress, anxiety and depression were responsible for the loss of more than 15.4 million working days in Great Britain, irrespective of sector or job role, at a conservative cost of ￡5.2 billion. We must be aware of and factor in the human cost behind these staggering figures. ?

Organisations including The World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO), Gallup, UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Stevenson-Farmer UK Review and many more highlight the rate at which people’s mental health is declining in the workplace. It is becoming a major occupational risk factor due to the nature and magnitude of the impact it is having socially and economically.

The Gallup study 2022 quotes “Work,” according to Oxford Languages, is “activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.” Exerting mental or physical effort to achieve anything is rarely done without stress, worry or even pain, however, if this level of stress is at a high level, is consistent over long periods of time, becomes part of an individual’s every day, is felt consistently, is causing distress and impacts life both inside and outside the workplace it will become unmanageable and detrimental to both the health of the company and the individual employee. ?

The human element of high levels of stress, worry and pain should be acknowledged and considered as this will bring more effective, efficient and successful solutions. Europe currently has the lowest regional percentage of engaged employees with 39% of employees stating they experienced stress?a lot?during the previous day and 37% stating they experienced worry a lot?during the previous day. ?Long term stress which often leads to or exacerbates anxiety affects people differently. There is relationship between stress and physical ill-health, stress and unwanted and unhelpful behaviours, negative psychological impacts, inertia, and unhappiness.

Measuring health and wellbeing of employees with the same accuracy and precision you would when you project growth and earnings is key.

So, what can you do as an executive, manager or employee to reverse this trend?

1.?????Policy, strategy, and procedure to embed a cultural shift.

2.?????Leadership and management training.

3.?????Employee awareness raising, management and intervention tools and techniques. ?

The old saying “prevention is better that cure” couldn’t be more accurate when it comes to mental health in the workplace. We cannot control every eventuality, but we can work towards creating a workplace that is pro-active in creating a space that is based on equality, diversity and inclusion which is inclusive of mental health and wellbeing. A space where all individuals can participate in and thrive at work.

Investing in strategic interventions to build, strengthen and embed cultural change in the workplace that will improve the mental health, wellbeing, safety, productivity, and retention of your staff team and increasing organisational output. Thinking about the whole person, taking a co-ordinated approach, taking steps to promote mental wellbeing rather than simply tackling poor mental wellbeing. Shaping employees work experiences and shaping an inclusive climate will lead to a thriving workforce.

Stigma in the Workplace.

There is still a great deal of stigma around mental health throughout society, therefore an important first step is to address this within and across your organisation.

To be reduce stigma and therefore reduce discrimination, first you must make a conscious decision and effort notice, acknowledge stigma in your organisation and actively challenge the stereotypical assumptions, negative stereotypes and misconceptions about mental health. The assumptions around workers abilities in both a professional and social capacity. ?

As a result of stigma and the fear of discrimination, a common worry for employees is that they will be side-lined, overlooked for future career development opportunities, covertly “pushed out the door” which perpetuates the cycle of having an issue, not disclosing and the issue becoming harder to manage.

Erica Joy Baker in 2017 speaks about this so poignantly, she discusses that when there is discrimination and stigma employers are “forcing us to survive rather than thrive”. If you are from an underrepresented group, you spend a great deal of your mental energy feeling fear. ?Can I be myself today? Is what I am saying being taken seriously or am I being underestimated again? How do I avoid falling into stereotypes?

When you insist on having your employees come to work “wearing a mask” rather than bringing their whole selves to work and being productive, they spend much of their time worrying and burn out.

Policy and Procedure

An organisational mental health and wellbeing policy should cover ALL health and be used to communicate the organisations commitment to fostering a working environment that promotes employee health and wellbeing.

Legislation that drives policy and policy decisions are of course, of great importance for the protection of your workforce and your organisation, however, policy does not have to be created purely as a knee jerk response to new legislation nor does it have to just pay lip service.

When this is the case, policy is often written for the purpose of “protecting the organisation”, it is full of jargon, too long, often convoluted, rigid and self-serving. Employees are not aware of its content and how it affects/influences them on a day-to-day basis.

When creating organisational policies, it is important to take a critical look at government legislation and ask who is being disproportionately impacted by policies.

Writing policy is a valuable opportunity for any organisation to take a deep dive into your organisations effectiveness as an employer. It is a great way to set the tone for your organisation.

?It is an opportunity for all stakeholders to be included allowing them to feel seen and heard and enabling the organisation to know where they perform well and where the gaps are and actively address the issues highlighted. ?Policy is effective when it is shared, responsive to need, consistently voiced, clear on how the policy will turn into practice, be consistently implemented, and enforced.

Incorporating review dates and a process for evaluating the effectiveness of all initiatives is also key for the policies success.

Policy must be robust yet flexible and have appropriate accountability measures in place. ?

Effective policy for mental health focuses on making environments where employees can succeed and achieve goals, environments which are psychologically safe and safe to express emotions and feelings. This will reduce stress and anxiety and increase job satisfaction, happiness, and production.

Managers and Leaders

Managers can be the greatest ally to their team’s mental health – or one of their greatest stressors.? Managers have a tough job, often referred to as the “squeezed middle”, however, managing a team effectively is of great importance.

Managers are required to have supportive leadership styles, effective communication skills where they are cultivating meaningful connections, able to build a culture of connection, be solution focused, adaptable and put supportive interventions and accommodations in place as would be the case with someone who has a physical disability to enable them to meet the demands of their job.

If managers are guided by strong and effective organisational policies that enable and empower them to have the correct training and tools, they can confidently and successfully manage a diverse number of people within a team including championing procedures that aim to reduce or manage stress and anxiety and those experiencing difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing.

Managers must be given training opportunities to increase understanding and awareness of mental health and debunk myths around mental health, but they must also be open to engaging in these opportunities. Increasing knowledge and understanding reduces any bias and negative stereotypes, it reduces the fear of what to say and do and raises their confidence to effectively manage their team.

Training is also a good opportunity for managers to recognise any difficulties they may be having, knowing that the organisation is there to support them too. ?

Employees as individuals.

Employees should also be offered and encouraged to access training and support much in the same way as mangers are expected to. ?

Raising awareness of stress and anxiety among individuals and offering tools, techniques and solutions supports employees to take control of their mental health minimising the impact and longevity of it. Mental health is on a sliding scale so being able to identify and acknowledge signs is key to proactively managing it. Being made aware of the interventions available within and out with the organisation is also a helpful way for people to seek the right type of support for themselves.

Joy of diversity.

Having a diverse team is so beneficial to any organisation, it brings new perspectives, innovation, and attracts a wider talent pool.

The Glassdoor study (2020) carried out in the US found “76% of employees and job seekers report a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers”.

Diversity makes for a nicer place to work because people feel accepted, valued and know there is room to develop and grow in the organisation. They have a greater sense of belonging which leads to a happier and more productive workforce.

Sources

Diversity and Inclusion Workplace Survey (Glassdoor, 2020)

How do we bridge the "anxiety gap" at work? Erica Joy Baker (TED, 2017)

State of the Global Workplace Report, The voice of the worlds employees (Gallup, 2022)

Tackling work-related stress using the Management Standards approach (HSE, March, 2019)

Thriving at work The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers (October, 2017)