How to Manage High-Stress Employees at the Office

Over 77% of U.S. employees say they have experienced burnout in their current roles.

When was the last time you talked to your employees about their physical and mental strain from work?

The answer may surprise you to know how much stress employees feel in their current roles, even if they find passion in it. The working world encourages a hustle mindset that is detrimental to work-life balance. We are here to share four techniques to lower the high stress levels of your team members.

Continue reading below for easy ways to encourage more empathy for your employees’ well-being. 

Lead by Example with On Hours

How often have you received a team email or communication way outside of regular work hours? The answer is probably within the past few days, but this can stress employees even more.

Receiving these messages outside of closing time instills the sense that a team needs to always be on. However, the always-on mentality can destroy a sense of work-life balance.

As a manager, you should lead by example by adhering to work hours. Communicate with your team what an entire workday is (for example, 9 AM – 5 PM ET). Further, don’t respond outside of office hours and ask any who send after-hour messages to refrain from such behavior.

Enforce Vacation Time 

Unlimited vacation time is a complete myth. Companies that offer this supposed limitless time off see the least amount of employees going offline.

Rather than offering unlimited vacation time, you can enforce time off for your employees by requiring them to take ten personal days a year. Creating this rule shows team members you not only want but need them to take off.

Even taking one day off can ease workplace stress and help employees find steadiness in work.

Offer Personal Development Courses

A work culture solely focused on getting through tasks can stress employees even if they’re the most work-enthused people. We all need to find connections to personal growth in work.

You can create this focus by offering courses on personal development and encouraging your employees to take part.

A team meditation or free subscription to Headspace or Calm shows your employees that you care about their physical and mental state. You can also build personal development into a manager’s role by having them work with individuals to encourage their growth.

Learning and development is a fantastic method of turning stress into strength, as Stress-Away shares.

Decrease Meeting Time 

Many employees encounter high stress levels in a long to-do list and discomfort in not checking off the boxes at the end of each day. Why are many not as productive when it comes to working hours? Endless meetings keep employees away from times of focus and deep work to succeed.

Flow is a state in which someone loses themselves, positively, in their work. But this state of opportunity, creativity, and productivity only occur when you create the space for it.

Allow your team members to feel this flow and boost endorphins by adopting a team culture of fewer meetings. Some ideas include: 

• Decreased meeting time
• Prioritized agendas to adhere to strict timing
• One or two specific meeting days a week with back-to-backs

Often, a meeting really can be an email. By instilling this notion into your culture, you create time for your employees to avoid the stress of not getting to enough of their tasks during the day.

Don’t Stress Employees Out

The current work culture often favors those who are always on. Yet hustle culture can stress employees to the point of burnout. As a manager, you can instill these helpful tactics above to create a sense of empathy and compassion.

Want to learn even more ways to up your managerial skills? Check out our blog for other ideas!