Stress in the workplace is becoming a major issue for organisations and according to the latest statistics, there were 488,000 cases of work related stress, depression or anxiety last year, which equates to roughly 1.5 workers out of every 100 in the UK.
Whilst this may seem low, it actually means a loss of 11.7 million days across all businesses (or roughly ten per cent of each affected worker’s time).
Not surprisingly, public service occupations such as health workers and teachers show the highest levels of stress with reasons such as workload pressures, including deadlines, too much responsibility and lack of management support, cited as being the main factors.
These are merely the official statistics for those who actually time off and do not include the millions of workers who still come into work but who may be demotivated by their job or where they work because of factors such as low pay, few opportunities for promotion and a lack of challenging work.
But it is not only organisations themselves that may be to blame with the American Psychological Association suggesting earlier this year that external factors such as politics, the speed of change and uncertainty in the World has also led to workers in the USA reporting higher levels of stress than ever.
As a result, employees just can’t take any more and leave their jobs resulting in further costs to appoint and train new staff. A recent survey reported that employee burnout accounts for 20-50 per cent of companies’ annual employee turnover.
Given this, some have argued that the fall in productivity across both the public and private sectors in recent years is not due to any economic factor but the human element i.e. workers who are suffering from high levels of stress have a lower engagement, are less productive and have higher absenteeism levels.
Whilst employers are trying to do a number of things to reduce the stress felt by their employees in the workplace, it is often not enough given the other pressures on the organization.
As a result, they are increasingly turning to external experts to help them to make the most of their workforce and ensure that through being happier individuals, staff will also become more productive over time.
And as employees spend an average of 90,000 hours at work during their lifetime, this should be a key strategic priority for every organisation. When people aren’t happy with their jobs or their employers, they don’t show up consistently, they produce less and their work quality suffers.
In contrast, studies show that happy people are less stressed, get promoted more often and are more creative, productive and healthy.
More importantly, this has a major economic impact on a nation’s competitiveness - a recent Gallup poll in the USA showed that unhappiness among workers is costing the American economy over $300 billion per year in lost productivity,
So how do you ensure workers are happier especially at the beginning of the week when they may be more demotivated?
One innovative programme that addresses this specific issue has been developed here in Wales.
“Monday Like A Friday” was created to encourage those about to start their working week to come together to enjoy a range of activities that will boost them for the next five days.
Currently taking place at the Dead Canary bar – the top nightspot in Cardiff according to Trip Advisor - it aims to connect and uplift participants through a range of activities including dancing to a live band at 7am and motivational talks from inspirational speakers to encourage a different view about their life and work.
And whilst cocktails are served in Cardiff’s leading club early on a Monday morning, they are all non-alcoholic (unlike on Friday nights!)
Such an approach that ensures individuals go to their workplace with a spring in their step are becoming more important in making sure that employees are motivated and happy on a Monday (or any day of the week for that matter).
And whilst it remains a complex issue, there is definitely increasing evidence that reducing stress levels within the workplace and improving the satisfaction and happiness of employees can increase performance.
As the Harvard Business Review recently noted, the positive emotions aroused by being engaged, fulfilled and valued at work have a host of benefits. Happier employees function better, are more creative and adaptable, have more energy, make smarter decisions and handle better complexity. Simply put - happy people perform better than unhappy ones.
Given this, perhaps it is time for the Welsh Government to consider promoting this philosophy amongst Welsh businesses to improve their productivity and to encourage the public sector to do the same, given the high levels of stress experienced by public sector workers.
Indeed, all organisations should look to make every day seem like a Friday and look carefully at what they are currently doing to encourage and support their employees as, ultimately, a happier workforce will result in a more productive economy with benefits for all.