A lot of surveys say the same thing: modern workers feel stressed out on their job. This taking a toll on their sleep, health, relationship, productivity, and sense of well-being. We can say that stress is one of the most daunting obstacles to employee engagement in the modern workplace. There are some possible causes of stress in the workplace such as workload, lack of job security, unrealistic expectation, and underpaid. OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) stated that stress is a hazard of the workplace.
Not only affecting emotional health, but stress also can affect physical health such as headache, high blood pressure, heart problem, diabetes, skin condition, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety. Because of that, HR should play a huge role to help employees so they don’t feel too much stress in their workplace.
Here are some of the ways how HR can do that.
Maintain Workplace Wellness
HR can help set employees’ workplace to become as comfortable as they can. Put some greenery to the office. It doesn’t have to be a real plant, it can be an artificial plant as it will require less effort to keep it. It is also important to get enough natural light in the workspace. In addition, it can reduce the need for lighting during the day that can save on energy costs.
Not only that, HR can organize a weekly or monthly group activity with the whole team. Whether it’s sports day, movie day, or even as simple as getting dinner together. This activity can help employees to relieve their stress and feel attached to the company and their team.
Flexible Hours and Remote Working
Make an option where employees can choose their own working hours to boost their productivity. Because each employee might have a different time where they can work to their best. Allowing employees to work remotely also good for employees well being. In addition, it is also great for office morale. By providing this option, it shows employees that the company trusts them enough.
Encourage Positive Relationship
Making friends at work is not always easy because, in one team, it might have someone who just graduate from college, someone who already has 5 years experience or even someone who’s on the managerial level. But, hours spent together at work can help build a friendship. With dedicated quality time on team-building, employees can bond even faster.
HR department can organize a team-building activity for employees to become closer with each other. In this team-building activity, the whole team can put down their differences, thus will make the experience truly precious for them.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance becoming hits nowadays among modern and millennial employees. Work-life balance can be described as the balance between professional life and personal life. An employee who has a work-life balance tends to work productively and has high performance. On the other hand, an employee who doesn’t have a work-life balance usually has poor performance and works ineffectively. Thus, HR department should encourage employees to have a work-life balance. HR department also should make sure that managers do not request their employees to work outside their working hours.
