International Stress Awareness Week 2024

International Stress Awareness Week commences on the 5th November until the 9th of November 2024.

The week will draw attention to how employers can support their staff in managing stress and the importance of maintaining low levels of stress in the workplace.

How to support employees in managing stress

Feeling stress is a natural part of life, it can promote motivation, the ability to take action, and stimulate excitement. However, if you are caught up in an overwhelming amount of stress it can leave you feeling, depleted, exhausted, and burnt out. According to the Mental Health Association, 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.

What is stress?

Stress is a state of anxiety or worry that is caused by challenging circumstances. Stress is the body’s response to take action which releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Symptoms can have emotional, mental, and physical effects on the body such as weight gain, headaches, and hair loss.

What is International Stress Awareness Week?

International Stress Awareness Week aims to highlight the dangers of too much stress and focuses on relinquishing the stigma against stress and mental health.

It is key to manage stress and safeguard employees within the workplace from a moral, financial, and legal perspective. A lack of stress management and support in the workplace can lead to staff sickness, encouragement of poor mental well-being as well as other things that may negatively impact employees and the business.

5 ways you can support your workplace:

1. Learn to recognise the symptoms of stress

It is essential for an employer to be able to recognise symptoms of stress in the workplace to fight stress overload. One of the most beneficial ways is by being vigilant, recognizing and identifying the signs and symptoms of stress. It is always better to catch the signs as early as possible, so employees have the time and space to process their feelings in an organized, open, and honest way.

Some signs of stress are:

• Increased sickness absence
• Higher staff turnover
• Arguments within the workforce
• Reduced focus and concentration
• Gaining or losing weight
• Restlessness
• Smoking and drinking alcohol more

2. Lead by example and show you care

Highlighting your awareness of stress consequences in the workplace will allow employees to feel confident when exploring their stress and feel as though they are not alone. Openly utilizing tactics to maintain your own stressful situations will promote healthy ideas for managing stress for your workforce.

Showing that you are authentic and understanding of stress pressures provides employees with the confidence to talk about it within the workplace. This, in turn, will uphold a positive and open work culture when discussing managing stress.

3. Manage workloads and deadlines

Having overreaching deadlines and heavy workloads can be harmful to employee stress levels. Make sure that all tasks have the correct and fair amount of time for an employee to complete without feeling overwhelmed. Make sure the right person is given the accurate work and that they have the right tools for the job. Ensure clear priorities with workloads and discuss which tasks are more important than others.

4. Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Providing well-being assistance for employees is crucial for the operations of a business. Having somewhere to go to talk about their work and personal issues in a healthy and organized way is much more effective than allowing these issues to fester and overwhelm staff.

Having an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a really good way of supporting your staff. EAPs allow employees to chat confidentially with counsellors to combat stress issues (or any problems). Health Assured’s EAP has a 24-hour, 365-day counselling helpline, workshops, and a handy live chat for your employees to feel supported whenever and wherever.

5. Create breakout spaces

Having designated quiet areas for employees to take wellness breaks or a place to go if they are starting to feel overwhelmed with stress can be a sure way of helping employees manage the stresses of the workplace. Breakout spaces do not have to be massive; just as long as they are private and relatively quiet. Breakout spaces will provide employees the space and time to work through the immediate pressures of work.