Level 4: Getting people away from the edge of the cliff
The aim at this level is not only to educate people to manage and get better at stress as described in levels 2 and 3, but also for employers and governments to create work environments that minimizes stress. Since the number 1 cause of stress is work related, there is a lot that employers can do to create less stressful work environments. Fortunately, it is in employers’ best interest to reduce stress for their employees since stress leads to more missed days at work, less productivity, lower morale and increased health care cost. The annual costs to US employers in stress related health care and missed work was $300 billion in 2015. Ways to create less stressful work environments include reducing employees’ workload, providing flexible work hours and ability to work from home, providing adequate paid leaves, reducing corporate politics, training leaders and managers to be more supportive and caring for their employees, creating a supportive and collaborate work culture, and establishing events and employee groups that promote health and wellness and that foster greater connection among employees.
For example, my company has redesigned our office to a concept of no assigned seats, no individual offices for management level, more open spaces and many diverse types of work spaces for different types of work that needs to be done, including regular desks, standing work stations, quiet cubicles, huddle corners and first-come-first serve conference rooms and phone booths. In this kind of environment, we all find that it is easier to socialize with each other, it is more conducive for collaboration, and reduces the perception of hierarchy. It has many elements that helps to reduce stress and most employees find it a much more enjoyable place to work. More and more we are seeing companies redesigning their office spaces in this way.
Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s impossible to avoid stress completely, but we can manage it. Since stress is one of the most frequent health problems, each individual, company, the healthcare system and the government have a responsibility to contribute to better managing it. When someone is already suffering from serious physical and mental health issues induced by stress – at the bottom of the cliff – the key intervention is to treat that illness. Once the individual is out of the bottom, the most important is to educate him/her about how to manage stress. There are many types of stress management techniques, some are emotional such as writing, engaging in hobbies, meditation; some are behavioral such as better time management, prioritization, and incorporating stress reduction techniques throughout the day; some are physical such as exercise, yoga and engaging in relaxation techniques; and some are cognitive – may be some of the most powerful, which is changing the way we perceive stress – from something that harms our health to something that is helpful for our performance and that makes us more social and empathetic. At the highest level – moving people away from the cliff – employers have a big role to play. They can make the work place less stressful by reducing workload, creating more pleasant and stress-reducing office spaces, and creating more collaborative and supportive work cultures.
