Costs For Employers Of Work Place Stress example essay topic

Fifty percent of workers have suffered some form of stress at work in a 12-month period. The statistics in healthcare professions were even higher. Stress in the workplace is becoming a major concern for employers, managers and government agencies, meaning the Occupational Health and Safety legislation's are requiring employers to practice a 'duty of care' by providing employees with safe working environments which also cover the psychological well-being of their staff. One of the costs, for employers, of work place stress is absenteeism. Other negative effects are reductions in productivity, reduced profits, accidents, high rates of sickness, increased workers' comp. claims and high staff turnover, requiring recruiting and training of replacement staff. Now of course it is natural to have a certain amount of stress, this is needed to motivate people into action, but prolonged stress can have a huge impact on overall health which actually causes one to be in distress.

Most people don't realize it but over two- thirds of doctors visits are probably due to stress-related illnesses. Stress has been linked to headaches especially migraines, backaches, insomnia, cramps, elevated blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibro myalgia and lowered resistance to infection. For women, stress is a key factor in hormonal imbalances resulting in menstrual irregularities, PMS, fibroids, endometriosis and fertility problems. Stress can also be a factor in the development of almost all states of disease, for example cancer and heart disease. Some stress factors that cross many professions are: increased workload, organizational changes, lack of recognition, high demands, lack of support from co-workers or management, personal and family issues, lack of training, long or difficult hours, insufficient staffing or resources, lack of input or control, and the one of the biggest stressor's of all, lack of effective communication. Some things workplaces can do to help lower stress levels are: educate employees to recognize the signs of stress because sometimes employees get so wrapped up in their jobs that they can't even tell there is a problem till it is to late.

Employers can also give employees the chance to be involved in decision making that affects their jobs, which in turn will improve employer-employee communications because it will show the employee that his or manager cares about them as a person not just a means to getting a task done. Employers can provide employees with opportunities to socialize and get to know each other. Something that's very important in today's world with people having such diverse home and family lives is for the employer or manager to be understanding of employees' personal and family responsibilities. The most important thing that an employer can do is just basically be supportive to their employees in any way possible. This could mean making sure that they ensure the employees workloads are suitable for their capabilities, make sure they have all available resources and are properly trained as to how to use them, or to provide them with outside resources to deal with their stress when all else fails. Employees can also do some things to reduce their own stress levels because let's face the facts all employers are managers are going to take the time to look for stressed employees and try to help them.

Some things employees can do are: get adequate rest, use breaks to read or listen to relaxing music to put your mind at ease, be as organized as possible what making it another stress factor, delegate responsibility if you can because it is just not feasible to think you can do everything yourself, make the work place more pleasurable by having relaxing sounds, a water fountain or flowers on your desk and pictures that motivate you all around. Most important, take care of your overall health and well being by practicing good self-care. Sometimes trying to change things (even for the better) can cause stress itself. So it is important that you take your time in making changes and try to get some else's input because I guarantee you are not the only one experiencing stress. Once both parties, the employer and the employee have achieved a reduction of stress in the workplace, it will begin to promote a pleasant work environment for all.