Are you and your staff fit for business?

The working landscape has changed dramatically over the past few decades; we seem to be busier and more stressed yet have less time to relax.

Whilst we all know of the benefits of having a job, what happens when an employee’s stress begins to outweigh these benefits? It’s been found that 90% of workers are stressed most of the time and this has a serious impact on work productivity and effectiveness.

Achieving a healthy work-life balance

With work-related stress becoming increasingly common and having a negative effect on a person’s physical and emotional health, it’s important to be vigilant to ensure employees’ wellbeing.

A report from Qualtrics, emphasises the importance of companies offering support to its employees, with 20% of employees describing their company as unsupportive of a healthy work-life balance.

Health insurer Aviva also highlights the rise of corporate workplace wellbeing programmes. Some of the benefits include boosted morale and reduced absenteeism. These programmes can benefit both large and small organisations.

Flexible and freelance options

Working on a freelance basis, even for part of the working week, has been shown to have beneficial effects. A report by the Hoxby Collective, a community of 450 freelancers who work for clients including the NHS, Diageo and Deloitte, found that half the working population could be freelance by 2021.

Similarly, flexible working has been shown to improve productivity and with the increasing use of technology and its resultant mobility, the days of the traditional 9-5 may be coming to an end.

A recent global study of 2,000 employees and managers led by Future Workplace and Virgin Pulse found that one third of people now work remotely on a regular basis. And a further study by Stanford University found a huge shift in productivity when employees worked from home.

Shorter hours and happier staff

We seem to be at the start of a global trend to move toward a four-day work week, it is increasingly being trialled in the UK and overseas with reported good success in terms of productivity as well as reduced stress and happier employees.

There’s a trend towards outcomes rather than presenteeism with workers achieving more in fewer hours for the same money with no adverse effect on their job performance.

An improved workplace environment

If you want to assess your staff’s stress risk, the Health and Safety Executive has a stress risk assessment on its website for employers to carry out. It also highlights some of the areas of work that can negatively impact an employee’s wellbeing.

Employee wellbeing and the bottom line

If employees are happier and more engaged they’ll be more productive, more innovative and more likely to go the extra mile for their employers.

Workplace stress has an adverse effect on both the employee’s productivity along with the success of the company and employers should be looking for ways to create a healthier and happier workplace.

Do you need additional financial skills for your organisation?

Productivity and a company’s financial health are inextricably linked. Find out how our specialist finance recruitment team can help ensure your business planning and finance needs are met with our permanent, interim and part-time finance staff. Get in touch today for an initial consultation.

 

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