Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to raise awareness of the causes and cures for our modern-day stress epidemic. Prolonged stress can significantly impact our wellbeing. Multiple factors can influence our stress levels including financial uncertainty, big changes in our lives and the workplace. Around 17 million sick days are lost annually due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety. Additionally, the average working adult experiences stress for almost a third of their working day.
As employers, we have a legal duty of care to look after people at work. We are not responsible for how people choose to live, however, if there are ways in which we can help make life easier for anyone, surely it is worth doing it.
Big grand gestures are great but they can be costly and not actually hit the mark. What is stressing out your staff and how can you help? I recently overheard an employee talking about a spin class on a Friday morning she’d love to attend, however the timings didn’t quite work out for her to get to work on time. Exercise is so important for our mental health, it wasn’t at all difficult to adjust her hours by half-an-hour so she could attend her spin class. This small act meant a great deal to her, it made her happy and will help to boost her confidence. And I know her Fridays will be much more productive as a result of this.
Having to ensure reception and phones are manned from early morning to early evening is hard, it is much harder you to be flexible than it is me for example, but all I would say is, if they ask, or if they mention it, it’s important to them. From 1st April, all employees from day 1 can make two requests for flexible working. Whether they make a request or you overhear a conversation, really consider it. It is so easy to say “well they accepted the job working those hours on those days, it is what it is” and to make a small change can take a great deal of time, there is no doubt about it. However, if it means the difference between losing a great member of staff or keeping morale high in the admin team, seriously consider it. You may not be able to make the change immediately, however ensure they know you will consider it when you employ additional staff to the team (an ideal time to consider changing existing staff hours). Alternatively you may not be able to accommodate their full request but you may be able to make a change which helps them out a couple of days in the first instance.
And I know I say this over and over again but you are important too, you are a key member of staff and your well-being is important. Don’t be so busy considering everyone else you forget about you, you can only give what you possess.