It’s no surprise given the state of the economy over the last few years that employers and employees may have been more stressed than normal. Fears of job losses and a dip in business is a major cause of stress for some. In fact, findings by the CIPD suggest that the level of stress related absence has increased over the past year with a third of employers seeing a significant rise in the number of staff taking time off for this reason.
So how should we manage stress and what should organisations be doing to help their employees?
A recent report carried out by Right CoreCare suggests that the key is for people to build resilience. In order to minimise the impact of stressful situations, individuals need to have knowledge of likely situations that cause stress and then build up a skill set to combat them.
So what should organisations be doing to facilitate this thinking into their workforce? According to Right CoreCare, resilience can be taught at any stage of life and organisations should build a culture of resilience into their thinking and operations. By doing so they and their employees will thrive rather than sink when stressful periods arise.
So is it that simple? Can we just teach ourselves to be resilient to stress or if, as many commentators suggest, stress is linked to particular character traits, are we fooling ourselves in thinking that we can all build up such resilience? I think that to a degree, some stress is inevitable with the pressures we face in both our personal and business lives, however being prepared and knowing how to deal with certain situations is key to coping through those difficult times.
For recruitment businesses this ranges from making sure consultants have the skills they need to do their jobs effectively, to having business plans, including a plan B, C and D. As a nation that is recovering from a major economic downturn, we need all our people reaching their potential, not burning out through stress. Investing in people and making sure they have the skills to overcome difficulties is key.
Related blogs:
three things we’ve learnt about relieving stress
Keeping your team motivated in times of uncertainty
