Leaders and Stress – Are You Causing it or Solving it?

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People seem to be under more stress than ever these days. As if the normal stressors of work and family aren’t enough, the on-going poor economic situation makes it worse. Since increased stress can lead to increased absenteeism, health problems, and inattention to the job with resulting accidents and injuries, leaders must make managing stress in the workplace a priority.

What can you do as a leader to help reduce your employee’s stress? First, understand that employees come to work with at least some stress which you can do nothing about. There will always be at least some concerns in their personal lives. While you can’t affect their personal stressors, you can probably reduce workplace stress. Of course some jobs have more of that than others. In fact there will always be at least some, low level stress associated with work. This will vary from person to person based on the type of work, their experience level, and their own psychological makeup. But are you adding to that? Here are a few factors that are probably increasing your workers levels of stress.

1. Job uncertainty. I’ve seen companies that use the pink slip as the solution to all problems. Even the most minor infractions can lead to dismissal. Employees fear for their jobs which can quickly drive up the stress level.

2. The bad boss. Some leaders cause worker stress, usually in two ways. First, they get overly excited about every issue. Such overreaction can increase worker’s stress, even if there is no immediate threat. Second, a boss that overreacts tends to cause uncertainty in the workplace as no one knows what he or she might do next.

3. The unsafe workplace. This is less of a problem than it used to be, but still exists. When workers don’t feel safe, stress rises. There are some jobs that are just inherently dangerous, and therefore more stressful, but when leaders fail to take every reasonable and prudent precaution, that stress is magnified.

Do any of these apply to your workplace? These are all situations that can be reduced by leadership. Let’s take another look.

1. Economic insecurity and downsizing make job uncertainty a serious issue, but you can reduce stress by communicating honestly with employees and not using termination as the first step in problem resolution. When employees are confident that you are not going to end their employment at the drop of a hat, stress levels drop!

2. If you’re the bad boss, take note. If you are responsible for other leaders though, observe them to make sure they keep an even keel. This is part of your leadership development responsibility.

3. You may think the workplace is safe; or at least as safe as you can make it. Don’t be overly confident though. Observe and talk to workers to uncover situations, unknown to you, that they may see as a threat to their safety. This doesn’t mean you can remove all hazards, some jobs have inherent dangers, but your worker’s stress is reduced when they know you’re looking out for them.

You can’t control all the stress your employees experience. You can reduce that stress in the workplace. It’s the right thing to do for people and it will positively affect your profit margin!