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If you didn’t see it, April was stress awareness month and May was mental health awareness month. It’s a good reminder to take care of yourself, not just during these months but all year long.
As business professionals, this is an important message. It’s difficult to encourage employees to take care of themselves if we’re not doing it ourselves. I don’t have to tell you that when employees spend their time stressed and worrying, they’re not being productive. This costs organizations money.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates there are approximately 133.4 million full-time employees earning an average of $28 per hour. This means the cost of employee worry is in the billions. Here are some resources to help organizations make wellbeing a priority.
Employee Wellbeing Should Be Part of Your Organization’s Employment Brand
Many companies are looking for ways to stand out as an employer. Showing candidates and employees that the organization values wellbeing is a way to do just that. The keyword here is “showing”. It’s time for organizations to let candidates and employees know they have programs in place for wellbeing. Don’t hesitate to make the wellbeing message part of the organization’s recruitment marketing strategy. It could be very helpful in attracting, engaging, and retaining talent.
Worrying Is a Symptom of Employee Stress
Employee stress is a real workplace issue. According to a study from Colonial Life, more than 20 percent of workers spend more than five hours on the clock each week worrying. An additional 50 percent of employees said they lose between one and five hours of work to worry each week.
Being a Nice Person Could Be the Source of Your Stress
Our best career advice for others is often to be a servant leader, pay it forward, be nice, help others, etc. However, if every time someone asked we said “yes”, we could be placing ourselves in a position where we’re sacrificing our own wellbeing and goals for others. And creating stress and burnout.
Become a Better Mental Health Ally Through Training
I understand how it could be a challenge to help someone who is at risk or looking for support, especially if you’ve never been in the situation before. Maybe not knowing the right thing to say or do. Or where to direct the person for care. That’s why a program like the Workplace Mental Health Ally Certificate could be valuable. Part of supporting mental health is being able to communicate. We need to be able to listen and possibly guide an employee to get the resources they need – maybe for themselves or for a family member.
The Next Employee Challenge: Loneliness in the Workplace
Loneliness is not the same as being alone. Being alone is … being by yourself. Often, we talk about loneliness in terms of older people. In the New York Times article, “The Surprising Effects of Loneliness on Health”, the author shares that loneliness can raise stress levels, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. When people are lonely, it has an impact on their work. Totally makes sense. The solution? Create more connectedness at work. Frankly, that’s easier said than done.
Company Wellbeing Programs Must Be Employee Centric
The American Psychological Association reports that more than half of adults cite work as a source of stress. There’s so much conversation about the presence or absence of work / life balance and the importance of employees having a sense of wellbeing. Addressing employee wellbeing isn’t some feel good mantra. It’s a workplace imperative.
I hope that you find these articles to be helpful. I wish I could say that there’s some way to just eliminate stress from our personal and professional lives, but I don’t know that exists. As business leaders, we can put wellbeing programs in place and encourage our employees to use them.
Image compiled by Sharlyn Lauby after exploring the streets of San Francisco, CA
