Keeping your employees’ nose to the grindstone requires dedicating equal attention to their physical and mental well-being. However, for most employers out there, the need to keep their businesses afloat has led them to overlook this all-too significant aspect. Although it is expected that your employees have to live up to their job descriptions and stay committed to the demands of their positions at all cost, it cannot be discounted that being mere human beings, they too have their individual breaking points. And the risk of implosion brought on by accumulated work issues, which has affected their good state of mental health in one way or another, could not only result to decreased or poor productivity, but also eventual resignations.
Stress on the Job
Upholding and maintaining professionalism necessitates continuous support and a regulated degree of consideration not just on the employee’s part, but on their employers’ and their bosses’ as well. Remember: Your employees’ productivity depends on the state of their overall health, both physical and mental/emotional. Although most common physical illnesses plaguing workers can be easily remedied with good medical advice, mental health issues borne of or aggravated by job stress often accumulate and intensify overtime due to neglect.
Technically, job stress refers to the deleterious physical and emotional response resulting from a mismatch between the capability of the worker and his/her job requirements, needs, and/or resources. Job stress can wreak havoc to any worker’s physical health and mental disposition. Consequentially, it can promote work-related injuries, accidents, and overall carelessness on the job. Several factors that cause job stress have been identified:
overwork
unrealistic deadlines
job insecurity
isolated working conditions
lack of clear work-related instructions
lack of decision-making
surveillance
inadequate healthcare/child-care provisions
Your Employee’s Performance and His/Her Mental Health
Workers enduring too much job stress run the risk of getting ill. Besides physical ailments resulting from a weakened immune system, they are in danger of getting seriously depressed, which has led to certain cases of employees’ committing suicide due to work-related issues. To date, job stress is among the most common work-associated health problems, particularly prevalent in developed and developing countries where greater emphasis is placed on the physical aspects of the workplace, while totally ignoring the psychological aspects linked to prevailing working conditions.
Mental health problems directly impact your employees’ performance. The adverse consequences are summarized accordingly:
Absenteeism
overall sickness absences, especially frequent short periods of absence
poor health evident in depression, burnout, and stress
physical illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, sleeping disorders, skin rashes, headache, neck-and backache, and proneness to infections
Poor work performance
reduced productivity/work output
decreased work proficiency, resulting to increased error rates
increased accident rate
poor decision-making
decreased concern for planning or work outcome
reduced control over one’s work
Negative attitudes and behaviors
decline in or loss of motivation and commitment
more hours spent doing less work due to declining concern manifested in lethargy or an absence or lack of focus
increased tardiness
Poor work relationships
increased tension/conflicts between colleagues
increased rate of disciplinary issues
poor relationship with the clients
