Stress is part and parcel of our daily lives. However, people are greatly affected by work-related stress. In fact, as per Harvard Gazette, about 36% of the workforce in the United States suffer from work-related stress. This results in lost workdays costing the US economy $30 million each year. Besides the loss of productivity, workplace stressors can also affect productivity and team morale. Hence, being a business organization, you require to take initiatives such as workplace wellness programs to help your employees cope well with workplace issues.
This article delves into the many facets of workplace wellness and offers tips to help employees destress at work.
What is workplace wellness?
Today’s competitive world calls for climbing the corporate ladder at a fast pace. However, your workplace success can be mired by long work hours, unending workloads, looming deadlines, and angry bosses or colleagues. Over time these stressors can affect you on a physical and mental level. Your physical symptoms manifest as headaches, gastrointestinal problems, fatigue, and insomnia.
You may also exhibit psychological issues like anxiety, depression, feelings of pessimism, and irritability, along with cognitive difficulties. Eventually, these symptoms might snowball into absenteeism and a drop-in work performance. Moreover, if you are working as a team, it may affect team morale.
Many business organizations are now taking measures to reduce workplace stress and prevent employee burnout. The employees benefit from such steps by enhanced work engagement and improved job satisfaction. Furthermore, instating such wellness strategies can help reduce costs accrued to companies.
Tips to alleviate workplace stress:
- Try Organic Supplements
Taking specific vitamins and organic supplements can help you tide over workplace stressors. Studies have shown that ayurvedic herbs like Ashwagandha are good options to relieve stress and anxiety symptoms. Similarly, herbs like Kava and Rhodiola Rosea work well to combat stress.
However, Kratom is increasingly popular in the United States to manage stress-related ailments. Kratom is a non-psychoactive compound derived from Hemp plants.Kratom can prevent anxiety and enhance motivation. Moreover, this compound improves mental clarity and offers sustained energy levels to carry out your work responsibilities with elan. You can easily buy Kratom products like White Borneo, oils, or tinctures from supplement stores or stores online, check out gold reserve kratom guide.
- Bolster open communication
Most workplace stressors can be triggered by a volatile relationship with your superiors or bosses. In fact, studies have shown that employees who do not share an amicable relationship with their seniors suffer from insomnia, anxiety, hypertension, and even cardiovascular problems. Most of these problems arise due to a lack of transparent communication in the workplace.
Management can overcome such communication gaps by introducing personal coaching and leadership development programs. These interventions can become effective tools in the hands of the management leaders and employees to perform their work effectively.
- Offer better benefits
As an employer, you must offer a safety net to your employees to negate the effects of workplace stress. This will help improve the workforce’s overall physical and mental health and improve productivity for the organization.
Firms that offer better benefits, such as better options of health insurance benefits, get better performing and loyal employees. In fact, a survey study mentions that about 26% of employees move to a larger organization to offer better benefits. This means health-related benefits are significant for individuals when considering a job offer.
- Encourage breaks and offer ample paid leaves
It’s a commonplace at companies to see coders and developers working through the nights before the launch or delivery of an important project. The phenomenon was deemed crunching by the New York Times column contributor ‘Jason Schreier.’ The author has mentioned that such work cultures can have disastrous consequences on the employees.
So, as an employer, if you find your employees constantly sacrificing their free time to achieve deadlines, then it’s time you alter your expectations or hire more employees.
Also, as a manager, you should encourage your employees to take regular breaks throughout the workday. This can help in reducing stress and increasing the productivity of your employees.
Furthermore, giving your employees ample paid time off to go on vacations and return to work relaxed and rejuvenated. Also, you can track time off and ask your employees who haven’t taken leave to go on breaks.
- Adopt relaxation techniques
Although business organizations have a crucial role in workplace wellness, the onus also lies on the employees to take care of their physical and mental well-being. As an employee, you should take periodic breaks at work and take a leisurely walk around your office block. Also, take the initiative to forge amicable relationships at work. Those chats near water coolers and coffee vending machines can become waterholes for fun and relaxation.
Furthermore, practice yoga and meditation at home to combat work-related stressors. Studies mention meditation is a simple yet effective tool for taming stress.
Learn some stretches and breathing techniques that you can also practice at your workplace. These strategies and tools can be handy, especially when dealing with tense situations at work.
Takeaway
Workplace wellness is a blend of workplace strategies and tools by employers to mitigate stress at the workplace. These programs also involve active participation by employees to enhance their physical and mental well-being for the overall benefit of the organization at large.
