3 tips every business can use to reduce stress among their people

Stress is unfortunately a part of all our lives. Whether you’re moving house or worrying about missing the morning train, stress can take many forms and have an endless number of causes. While work can be a more common source of stress¹, it’s vital to acknowledge that stress isn’t situation-specific; work-related stress doesn’t just end for your people once they leave the four walls of your office, and stresses rooted elsewhere don’t evaporate as soon as they clock in. Therefore, are you really getting the most out of your people? Are they really able to focus on their projects and deadlines?

With April being Stress Awareness Month, we thought we’d highlight the importance of looking after your staff’s mental wellbeing, as well as outlining key ways you can look to do this – no matter the size of your organisation.

Duty of care

You’ll of course know that stress is something you want to help your people avoid, but just how much of an issue is it, and what impact can it have on the wellbeing and performance of your people and your business? 76% of UK professionals reported themselves as experiencing moderate to high levels of stress², meaning that, no matter the size of your workforce, stress will likely be present among your staff. Burnout and stress also account for over 23 million lost working days for UK businesses every year³, so not only is stress common, but it could be silently affecting the productivity, physical health, and mental health of your workforce.

The key as an employer is to think about where your duty of care ends; are you legally required to provide support like counselling, financial wellbeing advice, and income protection insurance? No. However, if you demonstrate this level of ‘going above and beyond’ for your staff and their families, will this by and large help create a happier, more motivated, and productive workforce? Absolutely.

1. People value flexibility

What we thought started as a stopgap until the end of the pandemic has now turned into a key expectation for many employees. Flexible working has certainly staked its claim as a workplace staple, partly because of its ability to reduce stress and allow employees to lead healthier lives⁴.

Last year in the UK, nearly 6 million workers changed careers due to a lack of flexibility in their current sector, and 71% of jobseekers cited flexible working as important when weighing up a potential new role⁵. This means that, for many, it could be a deal-breaker.

While we understand that there are certain sectors where hybrid working isn’t feasible, we encourage you to offer your people flexibility in any way you can:

• ‘Flexi-hours’: allowing your staff to work their contracted hours at more convenient points in the day (for example, instead of a 9-5 day, a 7:30-3:30 may be better)
• Additional ‘grace days’: time off needed for events such as hospital appointments is not taken out of annual leave allocation
• Relaxed dress code: consider implementing a more relaxed dress code for your non-client-facing people, to inject a bit more comfort, individuality and expression into your workplace

2. Benefits tailored to your people

Benefits tailored to your people underpin a wider employee value proposition, are geared towards getting the most out of your workforce and supporting people through their moments of stress and poor wellbeing.

Ultimately, each workforce is different and will find value in different employee benefits. Rather than just blindly investing in employee benefits that you think may reduce stress, we suggest tailoring your benefits to your people and what they may find value in. Benefits that are more personal to your people may not only cost less, but they could be more impactful.

Take into account who your people are, what stresses they may be having in their daily lives, and how your employee benefits can help solve them. This mindset could really help you broaden your duty of care, as you start to think about the steps you can take as an employer to reduce stress in all aspects of the lives of your people – not just at work.

3. Culture is key

It’s important to note that ‘going above and beyond’ isn’t just about throwing money at the issue. While it’s important to financially back your wellbeing benefits, the foundation of effectively supporting your people through stress is to create a positive workplace culture.

A supportive workplace culture can look like:

1. A safe space for open discussions; free from judgement, embarrassment, or shame
2. Clear, efficient, and discreet processes to document workplace issues or wrongdoings
3. Flexible working and hours to accommodate for the work-life balance of staff
4. Striving to eliminate taboos and encourage healthy communication
5. A collaborative environment full of like-minded, compatible individuals

Company culture is such an underrated tool to help manage the wellbeing of your people, and it’s within every company’s power to try and get right - regardless of your size or industry. Doing your best to ensure your people are comfortable being their true selves at work is a great way to encourage them to voice their stresses or concerns, allowing them to seek support or advice before their worries become too overwhelming.

Your end-to-end employee benefits partner

From design and implementation to daily management and oversight, our employee benefits team will take the time to understand your business and its needs to help you to create, implement and maintain an employee benefits strategy that provides real value to both your business and your people.

To find out how we can support your business to optimise its employee benefits strategy, get in touch with our dedicated team today.