Stress in the workplace is something that needs to be managed continuously if employees’ physical and mental health is to be protected and if your business is to grow and thrive as you would like.

Because of the intense demands that stress can put on people, it’s one of the biggest causes of prolonged absence from work, so knowing how to identify it and how to manage the underlying causes is absolutely key.

If you fail to address stress at work, you put your employees at risk of low morale at best and burnout at worst, with your business productivity on the line as a result. 

Yes, stress can be a motivating factor and help people complete tasks on time or successfully endure significant amounts of pressure but this is usually relatively short lived and what you’re more likely to find is that undue stress leads to a dip in focus, poor decision-making and less creative thinking, causing avoidable errors and driving down efficiency.

Signs that you might have a stress problem in the workplace include:

– High staff turnover

– An increase in tardiness among those who are usually punctual

– Isolation

– Poor communication

– A drop in work quality

Protecting the psychological safety of your workforce is essential as an employer and business owner – and communication is one of the best ways to go about doing this. Fostering a communication culture among team members, as well as line managers and staff, will go a long way to making people feel safer at work.

However, you can also benefit by building your awareness of stress at work, easily achieved by taking the iAS Stress Management course, and also understand how to manage it with our NEBOSH Certificate in Managing Stress which we deliver here at ACT.

This particular course is designed to provide a good level of understanding for anyone keen to learn more about how to address issues relating to work-related stress, including team leaders, supervisors, managers, and health and safety professionals.

What does the course involve?

The course itself is made up of five modules:

– Introducing stress

– Legal, moral and financial arguments

– Causes and signs of stress in the workplace

– Ill health associated with stress

– Stress management

Assessment is conducted via a multiple-choice test completed on the online platform. You simply need to work through all the course materials at your own pace and then complete your assessment within half an hour. There is one free retake of the test available.

Upon completion, you’ll have more in-depth knowledge of what stress really is and how it affects your people and your business. You will also be more aware of what your legal obligations are, as well as the potential financial impact of stress that goes unmanaged.

You’ll be fully equipped with practical strategies that you can take back to your place of business with the aim of reducing stress and promoting wellbeing effectively.

If you’d like to build your health and safety knowledge further, our NEBOSH General Certificate course is a great place to start. It’s designed for anyone looking to develop practical skills and gain a respected qualification in workplace safety, get in touch with the ACT team today.