Stress Awareness Month - is your team under stress?

Employer advice

The importance of each and every person’s wellbeing in the work place should be the talking point of not only April throughout Stress Awareness Month since 1992, but every day. Supporting your employees the difficulties that come along with stress in the work place can lead to a happier workforceas well as an improved quality of service to your clients.

According to a survey carried out by Forth, 85% of UK adults experience stress on a regular basis and research by Robert Half UK has found that nearly two thirds (63%) of UK employees experience stress in their jobs. The pressure of work is not the only common contributor, money, health concerns and failure to get enough sleep are only some of them. What may be perceived as a stressful situation by one person, maybe of little concern to another, and some individuals are better able to handle stress than others. Signs your workforce are dealing with too much stress include;

  • An agitated team- frustrated, and quiet, not motivated to go above and beyond their call of duty.
  • Frequent mistakes -when you’re rushed, your work is rushed too. Mistakes might mean your team just don’t have the time to look and review their work. In social care when vulnerable people are being cared for, this can lead to serious problems.
  • High attrition – are people leaving your organisation and do you know why?

Encouraging positive wellbeing leads to healthy and well-motivated employees and can have an equally positive impact on the productivity and effectiveness of a business. Nearly half (48%) of businesses offer tools designed to promote wellbeing in the workplace. You can try activities such as exercising, listening to music, meditation and most importantly reach out to others when it just gets a little too tough. Employers can make changes to boost team relationships like dedicate more time to mindfulness, make posture top priority, encourage healthy choices, recognise good work and help them to find solutions to their ongoing work problems. In return your employees will only appreciate the time spent ensuring they aren’t going through it alone. 

Think about the pressures and emotions that come along with being care givers within the care sector alone, add on the pressure of maintaining your staff numbers, your staff performance and the legislations and legal requirements of your client’s wellbeing and care. Alongside the long list of responsibilities and managing your work life balance, when do you have time to fill your permanent roles? Trying to put time aside to advertise, CV sift, shortlist, interview, reference and then employ staff is not as easy as it seems when time is not on your side. Working alongside a dedicated Permanent Consultant to help fill your roles take the stress away from your recruitment. BS Social Care have a pool of candidates who’re already looking for roles that meet your criteria and if we don’t, we resource them.

If you are finding your team is reducing, stress might be a factor. We can help you fill your roles and look atw ays of attracting new candidates to your organisation. 

This blog was brought to you by Carla Gunn, from our Northampton branch. 

.