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Positive Stress Management for your Employees

Positive Stress Management for your Employees

Posted on 29 OCT 2020 at 09:46h in Business, Human Resources

Stress: The Ultimate Tension

Stress. We are all familiar with it. It ruins our mood, it affects our performance, and overall is just more of a bane than a boon. I am sure that almost everyone would have experienced at least some form of work-related stress at some point in their life before. But here’s the thing. Is all stress negative? Before answering that, let us delve further and analyse the trends and information regarding stress here in Singapore.

A Local Context

Notoriously, Singapore has been known to have a highly stressful work culture. As a matter of fact, in 2019, it was reported by the Lifeskills Institute [1] that in Singapore, the number of people feeling stressed working was 8% higher than the global average, at 92%. Furthermore, out of 40 countries surveyed, Singapore was ranked 32nd in terms of work-life balance, while also spending $3.1 billion, or 18% of its total healthcare expenditure, [2] on illnesses related to stress. There is a need for workplace practices to be managed with a employee management system to be reconsidered such that the health of every single employee is looked after.


Understanding Stress

Stress can be viewed under many different lenses. But perhaps the best framework to utilise would be Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Heirarchy Needs

This framework posits that for people to remain motivated, they progress through a tier of the 5 needs as shown on the diagram on the right. Starting from the bottom, individuals traditionally achieve lower needs before progressing towards the top where they become the best version of themselves. When these needs are impeded in one way or another, affected individuals will suffer from various issues such as low productivity and low morale. What can this lead to you may ask? Stress, is unfortunately, the answer. Thus, it is certain that management across all organisations should seek to arrange their work processes to help reduce the stress their employees feel so that they may reach their full potential.

( To see the factors that could help employees reach each tier of the hierarchy, click here [3] )

Stress Reimagined – Eustress

Now that we know a little more about stress, let’s go back to the beginning and ask ourselves yet again. Is all stress negative? And the answer is, well, no. Stress can indeed be a positive and beneficial thing if it is understood properly. The key is to structure workload such that employees are challenged, yet feel empowered in being so. This term is known as "Eustress". It is defined as a form of stress [4] that keeps us aware of the conditions surrounding us and stimulates us to reach our targets.

So, what does this all mean? As an employer, avoid overwhelming your employees with mundane and repetitive tasks. Instead, focus on structuring work processes such that the payoff is of intrinsic value to employees, be it as individuals, or as a group. Having a great HRMS software with an efficient Employee Database Management system helps with this as it aids in optimising work conditions to cater to employees’ needs and ensure communication is a two-way channel. By creating such an environment at work, employees will not feel overburdened, and will be equipped with all they need to go above and beyond their best.

Lessons to be Learnt
Learnt

By combining the concepts of both Eustress and Maslow’s Hierarchy, it can be noticed how organisations can be strengthened from within, by focusing internally on employees. Establishing a culture that focuses on Eustress helps set a firm foundation for employees to progress up through each tier for the mutual satisfaction of both employees and the organisation as a whole.

And to help get you started on promoting Eustress at work why not try out QuickHR’s HRMS software. With QuickHR, reduce your employees’ mundane and repetitive tasks and allow them to focus on the work that matters. Simplify your HR processes and workflow with our leave, claims, payroll, timesheet & scheduling and many more functions. Try out QuickHR today!



Once again, we hope that you’ve enjoyed a good read. And remember, Think Now, Think Far, Think QuickHR.

* Get in touch with us at https://www.quickhr.co/ to find out more about our state-of-the-art HRMS solution!


Citations:

Goh.T. (2019, November 21). Singapore spends $3.1 billion on stress-related illnesses annually: Study. The Straits Times.
https://www.straitstimes.com

Gagua.F. (n.d.). 5 way companies fail to engage employees. Singapore Business Review.
https://www.sbr.com.sg

[1] https://lifeskillsinstitute.sg/are-you-part-of-the-92-singapore-stress-report

[2] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/singapore-spends-31-billion-on-stress-related-illnesses-annually-study

[3] https://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/commentary/5-way-companies-fail-engage-employees

[4] https://mtalvernia.sg/education/stress-can-be-a-good-thing/

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