in the workplace stress is increasing and it's costing corporate America a fortune. Some estimate that 80% of health care costs are stress related, and these expenses go right to the bottom line.
According to CNN-Money.com, Americans spent more than $ 17 billion for antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs in 2002, up 10% from a year ago, and almost 30% over two years.
Institute for Management Excellence reports that American industry spends more than $ 26 billion each year for medical bills and disability payments with another $ 10 billion for executive lost workdays, hospitalization, and premature death.
In addition to these staggering figures, the stress takes its toll through the additional costs of quality control, legal challenges, lost opportunities, poor performance, bad attitudes, and training.
We can not do much about the skyrocketing costs of health care and prescription drugs, but we can take immediate action to control the top ten causes of stress as indicated by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.
Count:
10 "Workload" - Employees indicate that it is often stressed when they have too little or too much to do. Managers should share responsibility and help employees work priority has to be done. Make sure you understand the impact before shifting responsibilities. Take into account the cost of stress before you increase the burden on anyone, or hire more people.
10 "Workload" - Employees indicate that it is often stressed when they have too little or too much to do. Managers should share responsibility and help employees work priority has to be done. Make sure you understand the impact before shifting responsibilities. Take into account the cost of stress before you increase the burden on anyone, or hire more people.
...9 "Random interruptions" - phones, pagers, walk-in visits, and spontaneous demands from supervisors contribute to increasing stress. Time management, delegation of responsibilities and clarification of expectations can reduce the stress. 8th "Pervasive uncertainty" - Stress levels increase rapidly when people are faced with new requirements and procedures. Keeping people informed controls stress and increases productivity. Put the details in the letter so they can review the facts following your explanations.
...7 "Mistrust and unfairness" - These situations keep everyone on edge, create bad attitudes, and lower productivity. It is important to keep open lines of communication to avoid misunderstanding and know what people think about the decisions. Managers must consistently build trust and give equal treatment - just do the right thing
.6 "Unclear policies and no sense of direction," lack of focus causes uncertainty and undermines confidence in management. Need more than well-written policy manual. The enforcement policy and clear communication are essential.
6 "Unclear policies and no sense of direction," lack of focus causes uncertainty and undermines confidence in management. Need more than well-written policy manual. The enforcement policy and clear communication are essential.
...To make sure everyone gets the message, you can repeat your explanation in various ways, repetition and feedback are important. Strengthening policies through memos, articles, bulletin board postings, personal meetings, small group discussions.
...To make sure everyone gets the message, you can repeat your explanation in various ways, repetition and feedback are important. Strengthening policies through memos, articles, bulletin board postings, personal meetings, small group discussions.
...5 "Career and job ambiguity" - If people are sure their jobs and careers, there is a feeling of helplessness and out of control. Apart from trusted job descriptions and annual personnel reviews, people need to understand a wide range of issues affecting society.
...3 "No respect" - If you show appreciation generates stress that endangers productivity throughout the company. There are many ways to show gratitude, but the most effective is a sincere comment about how much a person means to you and the company.
2 "Lack of Communication" - poor communication leads to decreased performance and increased stress. Records management and announcements work well for distributing information, but two-way conversation improves communication and collect ideas and suggestions, and reducing stress and complaints.
1 "Lack of control" - Workplace stress is at its greatest when employees have to say about things that affect them. You can reduce the sensitivity to other stress and gives the feeling of being in control of employee involvement in business and administrative decisions and act on their input. Frontline employees know what they're talking about. Listening to what they have to say reduces stress and increases productivity.
Effective managers understand that stress control of the leadership responsibility and give as much attention as any other management functions.
Grasping the concepts and reducing stress one step at a time can have incredible impact on your bottom line - and the lives of those who have to work hard
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