The constant and relentless pressure in the world of today means that we have to look at how to manage this within our businesses as it is commonplace, yet ultimately not recognized or widely included in company strategy as an item to combat.

Stress manifests itself as positive and negative however stress when positive is often at the right level to motivate employees and create innovation, yet there is a fine line. Infact this ‘positive’ type of Stress is strictly not ‘Stress’ it is by definition ‘Estress’

Negative Stress is what we all should be worrying about.

The implications of negative stress are severe and stretch further than absence; we are looking at employee disengagement and lack of focus leading to lack of productivity and consequently loss of profit. Stress also provokes an exodus of company talent and skills leading to huge recruitment bills & training bills wasted on resignations.. all down to this ‘little’ thing we call stress.. Businesses need to sit up and take note.

So how does Stress occur? There can be multiple factors which create stress caused by both organizational as well as individual issues. Organisations of today are continuously growing and changing which creates pressure through lack of resource, fear of job security, lack of communication at the lower level of organisations through improper change management as well as cultures of micro-management or lack of support. Individual factors can be personal issues, lack of confidence and low self-esteem, perceived lack of respect within an organization or poor relationship with management or peers.. the list is endless.

Stress can be overwhelming and as a result the role of Business Coaches has become prominent today to target the key assets of Business…its people! Coaches target at an individual level or within small groups and work to identify key stressors in order to begin improvement work.

Employee well-being is at the forefront of a successful Business, yet why aren’t more of us sitting up and taking notice? Working in collaboratively to find innovative ways to manage stress, motivate and engage employees so they start feel like they can achieve more, become more involved in the workplace and grow in confidence should be on the agenda of not some but every Business.

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January 5, 2016