Positive employee experience = Managerial success
For years it has been the belief that the best way to get the most out of your employees is to create a high-pressure, cut-throat atmosphere to drive financial success. Recent research though has indicated that although there might be some short-term benefits to this approach, over the long term it will have the opposite effect, impacting the health, engagement and loyalty of employees.
Minimizing Stress Equates to Better ROI
The health of your workforce is important to the bottom line and stress is a well-known contributor to ill health, so it follows that minimizing stress at work equates to a better ROI.
According to These Stats…
To back this up, BMC Public Health used 2011 data from Statistics Canada NPHS to glean that health care expenditure at high pressure companies is up to 50% greater than at other organizations.
The American Psychological Association estimates that worker’s stress accounts for a cost of more than $500 billion to the U.S. economy, and that 550 million workdays are lost each year due to stress at work. Stress has also been connected to workplace accidents and more frequent doctor visits. A 2009 research conducted by Anna Nyberg at the Karolinska Institute, found a strong link between cardio-vascular disease and leadership behavior. That’s right, stress causing managers can be literally bad for the heart!
Engaged employees that feel respected, valued, secure and loyal to their company, are also good for the bottom line. The American Institute of Stress has combined many studies to conclude that workplace stress can lead up to a 50% increase in voluntary staff turnover. The costs associated with recruiting, training, lowered productivity, lost expertise, and so forth, are significant.
5 Tips for a Healthy Workplace
So, if you are a manager and want to turn around or improve working conditions in your own department or company, for the sake of your own success, what can you do? Put simply, you need to create a positive culture. Although that sounds simple enough, cultural change can be a tricky thing to achieve. Here are some ideas to get you started:
1. Model positive and respectful behavior
As a manager, the first way to influence behavior in others is to look to your own behavior. Be accountable, accept the blame as a manager if something goes wrong and encourage an environment where it’s okay to make mistakes and move forward.
2. Show gratitude and appreciation
Make sure the praise is timely, that is, given while the behavior is fresh, that it is sincere and given in the right tone, specific to a task or deed, not overdone and not combined with criticism. For more on this, have a look at our article on the powers of workplace gratitude.
3. Create clear goals
Very little adds to stress more than uncertainty. By creating goals and how each person is responsible for achieving them, it motivates and inspires an air of striving together for a common reason.
4. Be a good listener
People like to be heard and have their opinions valued. Be encouraging to hearing other’s opinions, ideas and solutions without judgment.
5. Team building activities
A tried and true way of getting workmates to bond and work better together are team building activities. Consider getting Peers and Players in to run interactive workshops in communication skills with professional corporate actors. This will have the double benefit of creating a unique and enjoyable experience for your workforce while teaching valuable work and life skills.
Summary
If you want your staff to stay around and keep contributing to the business for the long term, make sure you check in with them about their mental and physical health. Find ways to make coming to work enjoyable, and foster a healthy workplace environment where people can approach those difficult times with appropriate support and encouragement.
At Peers and Players, we offer Staff and Management Training in your city. Contact us now to discuss how we can help you create a healthy workplace.
