05 Sep Now is the best time to think about stress

Both personally and commercially I must add!

‘Personally’ because stress is a trigger for mental health challenges.

Many experience heightened stress when transitioning from holiday mode back to work mode, so this time of the year can be a taxing time for some.

It’s also the time when many parents send their kids off to their first day at Primary or Secondary School, College or University, which can naturally bring in some additional domestic stresses and strains.

Weather changing and radio stations starting to talk about the festive period can all have an impact on mood and thoughts about finances.

So now is a very good time to check in with yourself, monitor your own stress levels, top up your fitness regimes, review your diet and sharpen up the coping strategies you may have learned. Keep an eye on those loved ones as well.

‘Commercially’ because many of your employees will be experiencing the above simultaneously!

The Health and Safety Executive, using statistics from the Labour Force Survey, confirmed that In 2015/16 stress accounted for 37% of all work related ill health cases and 45% of all working days lost due to ill health. So 45% of all working days lost to your business are stress related!

Absenteeism has a huge impact on business productivity, as does presenteeism which is considered to have 1.5x the effect of absenteeism according to TCB Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, 2017.

Add in the costs associated with increased agency use to cover pockets of absenteeism and the effects of presenteeism, plus some of the associated impacts surrounding employment legislation compliance and tri-brand value, and it’s no wonder that stress is considered enemy No1 to personal and business productivity.

If you want to have a conversation about workforce stress identification, remedy and mitigation to drive personal and business productivity I look forward to hearing from you. APeopleBusiness has the answers.