Workplace stress is on the rise at an alarming rate and excessive workloads and tight deadlines are cited as one of the main causes. Running a small business is one of the most stressful things one can do and it’s vital to minimise the issues causing stress for you and your team.
A recent survey from Korn Ferry, “Workplace Stress Continues to Mount,” highlighted that overall employee stress levels “have risen nearly 20% in three decades’. In further support a 2018 study, indicated that 75% of Britons experienced such profound stress in the previous year that they felt unable to cope. Work issues, including working outside normal hours and a poor work-life balance, are the commonest cause of stress (after long term health conditions).
With statistics like this there is no denying the impact that stress is having on the workforce and with no sign of a downward change this trend is only going to increase.
How to Manage Employee Workloads
Managing your employee’s workload can result in lower attrition, improved mental health of your team and subsequently better productivity, performance and profitability for your business.
- Streamline tasks: analyse the current processes and try to reduce meaningless work. Create workflow processes that are simple and streamlined to avoid the stress of a complex work environment.
- Have a good project management tool in place. This leads to a collaborative work environment where the focus is on the project rather than on one individual. Tasks within a project are shared amongst the team members without overwhelming any one person.
- Outsource tasks: reduce the burden and free up valuable time by allocating tasks to a Virtual Assistant/Business Executive. Many have experience in social media, bookkeeping, HR administration, business process management as well as day-to-day general admin. For more specialist support there are companies that will be able to assist in areas such as legal, tax, HR and website and SEO management.
- Business process automation (BPA): automate time-consuming regular tasks by using software technologies to take care of them.
- Encourage conservations about mental health and promote an open culture where people feel they can talk to their line manager about any concerns.
- Encourage people to take regular breaks and not eat lunch at their desks. Time away from their desk can help people feel more refreshed and less stressed. Taking a walk outside or enjoying an exercise class can have a positive impace and help people feel less anxious.
- Consider flexible working: -allowing people to select their working hours creates a more positive work life balance. Working around school drop-off, reduced holiday hours or working at home during the holidays are all possibilities. Flexible working hours should not affect productivity. There are many project and time management software tools that can track the status of work easily and aid team and client communications.
Taking Positives Steps
Stress manifests itself in my ways in the workplace. It must be noted that a small amounts of stress can have a positive impact on aspects of life: motivation, resilience and memory. When it is allowed to get out of control it can impact productivity and affect employees health, motivation and engagement. Managing stress is not easy and one of the most overlooked stress solutions is seeking help. Admitting this can be a positive diversion to finding the best solutions for your business. Increasingly small businesses are recognising that there are experts out there with a huge array of experience and skills and that paying for this expertise is money well spent.
To find out more about how Buy Time can help reduce your workloads and help manage the stress levels for employees please do get in contact on info@buy-time.co.uk or 0203 292 0566.