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Latest statistics from the 2024 Drewberry™ Employee Benefits And Workplace Satisfaction Survey reveal a significant problem: employees are feeling stressed about work both in and out of the workplace.
Work-related stress is not to be ignored. It’s not just detrimental to your employees, but your business as well. With a whopping 91% of the UK workforce experiencing some level of stress while at work, how can you tackle this epidemic as an employer?
When we asked UK employees whether they feel stressed at work, 9 out of 10 people said they experience some form of work-related stress. This is a significant number considering the consequences it can have. A team full of stressed staff doesn’t bode well for business, especially for a small business with a small workforce.
Let’s break that down:
Our findings show workplace stress is a prevalent issue affecting most of the UK workforce. The fact that such a significant percentage of employees are stressed can be directly linked to organisational practices.
For example, the role leadership / management teams play in stress management. It also suggests a need for better mental health resources at work.
Not only is stress at work prevalent among UK employees, 86% of employees feel stressed outside of work too.
For a lot of staff, leaving work at the office door is easier said than done, with many thinking about it outside of their workplace.
Alongside family issues (47%) and money worries (40%), thinking about work (40%) was the third biggest cause of stress outside of the workplace.
Persistent stress is not good for your employees’ health. Alongside the core wellbeing concerns associated with stress, it can have a significant impact on your business operations. Here’s how stress manifests:
To tackle the epidemic of workplace stress, you need to implement strategies that promote a healthier and supportive environment.
By taking action, you can help to reduce stress levels and create a happy, positive work environment. Here are four actionable strategies to take into consideration:
You can take a proactive approach to tackling workplace stress by introducing benefits, such as:
With financial worries and family issues adding to employee stress outside of work, consider introducing benefits that alleviate these pressures too.
Implementing supportive benefits can significantly reduce overall stress, leading to a happier, healthier workforce. Think about offering things such as:
Company-paid insurance policies often come with free extra benefits, such as virtual GP services, counselling, meditation sessions, and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP).
These services can help your employees and their loved ones with managing their stress levels.
Nadeem Farid
Head of Health & Wellbeing Benefits
A significant reason for stress is a lack of good, effective communication. If tasks aren’t properly communicated, mistakes and misunderstandings occur, which generally result in stress for employees.
You can improve how you communicate by:
It’s not only about improving how you communicate, but about the culture you create around communication. It’s important to develop an environment where employees are confident in voicing concerns or asking for help. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved, which leads perfectly to our next suggestion.
Unmanageable workloads are a stressor for employees. And if ignored can lead to employee burnout. Your team is only human, and it’s easy for workloads to become too much.
Your management team should oversee team workloads and ensure priorities are made clear. This can help your employees to handle their workload effectively themselves.
Delegating tasks to those with more availability can help to reduce stress, so it’s important to assess each employee’s workload. If someone has too much on their plate, can you delegate any of these to better manage task allocation?
As our survey shows, 40% of employees stress about work even when they aren’t there. Employers have a responsibility to ensure their employees aren’t heading for burnout due to unhealthy work practices. Promoting a healthy work-life balance helps to alleviate stress. You can do this by:
A solid benefits package with wellness perks is a fantastic way to keep employees engaged and motivated. It shows appreciation for their hard work by offering them something meaningful – beyond their payslip.
But setting up and maintaining a competitive employee benefits package requires a decent bit of admin, which quickly becomes time consuming. We do the heavy lifting for you, giving you more time to focus on what matters.
We live and breathe employee benefits, doing this day in-day out for businesses just like yours. Looking at the big picture, we get to know your unique workforce and benchmark your offering against competitors.
Best of all? We have access to the most competitive rates on the market for core benefits, such as Group Life Insurance, Group Health Insurance, and Group Critical Illness Cover. Give us a call on 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.
Employee benefits can be a headache. But our specialists do this day-in, day-out, offering first class service when you need it most. Here’s why you should talk to us:
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