The 2013 Work Stress Survey, (Everest College, April 2013), found that 83 percent employees surveyed are stressed by at least one thing at work. That’s up 10 percentage points from the same survey released in 2012.
Major stressors found in the survey:
- Pay
- For the third year in a row, low pay took the top spot on the list of stressors, with 14 percent of the 1,019 surveyed citing wages as the most stressful aspect of their work.
- Workload
- Unreasonable workload was cited by 14 percent of those surveyed. That’s a jump from nine percent in 2012.
- Coworkers
- Eleven percent of survey respondents named annoying coworkers as the top stressor.
- Tough commutes
- Eleven percent also named commuting.
- Dashed dreams
- Eight percent said their worst stress was caused by the fact that they were working in a job that wasn’t their chosen career.
- Balance
- Seven percent said poor work-life balance causes them stress.
- Few opportunities
- Six percent said lack of opportunity for advancement causes stress.
- Fear of job loss
- Four percent said they were most stressed by the fear of being fired or laid off.
What Can Employers Do to Help Their Employees Perform?
The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Center for Organizational Excellence released a national survey (March, 2013) that found 36 percent of the employees surveyed felt that their companies provided sufficient resources to help them manage stress. Forty-four percent felt their employers didn’t do enough to help them meet their mental health needs. Below are suggestions for employers to increase productivity and performance:
- Review medical benefits and implement workplace health and wellness program to reduce employee stress.
- Create opportunities for internal career advancement.
- Review organizational span of control and job descriptions for workload assessment.
- Monitor workplace conflict between employees.
- Develop and implement useful performance evaluations to include face-to-face feedback.
- Review compensation and recognition programs to ensure fairness and employee productivity.
- Conduct employee focus groups to encourage feedback on how to improve the workplace.
- Provide flexible work options (i.e. telework, flexible work week options)
- Review organizational financial results and reiterate quarterly goals to achieve profitability.
Reference: Stress assessed: How are your employees holding up? HR Hero, by Tammy Binford, 5/8/2013
