The secret to a successful business isn’t happy customers, but happy employees. After all, without a dedicated and hardworking workforce, you wouldn’t be able to serve your customers anyway. As an entrepreneur, you will be used to handling high levels of stress. However, your staff aren’t and shouldn’t be. When stress builds within a company, it can result in more sick days and lower productivity.

With that in mind, here are six ways to combat workplace stress. 

1. Hire The Right People

A happy office environment may be difficult to cultivate, but it’s easy to destroy.

Just one wrong hire can ruin a good mood for everyone. Regardless of whether they gossip, slack off, or break the rules, you don’t want a bad worker on your team. Thankfully, you can avoid this by improving the hiring process. Before taking on a new employee, make sure you check their references. 

2. Make A Healthy Environment

The environment around you can have a big impact on your mood. Because of this, you must work to provide the best workspace for your employees.

There must be adequate lighting, quiet work areas, and office plants. It’s also vital that the space stays clean and tidy.

To make this easier, you should purge the office of clutter and hire a cleaning service to tackle the mess. 

3. Bring In Professional Help

While it would certainly help, your employees aren’t masters of all trades. They may be able to operate their equipment well, but that doesn’t mean that they can fix it when it breaks.

To keep the office running smoothly, you should turn to experts, like Egis Technologies, Inc. Managed services give you have peace of mind that issues will be dealt with before they cause problems. 

4. Allow Flexible Work Hours

Today’s workforce has outgrown the nine to five schedule we’re used to. Although some employees are productive during these hours, many others work best earlier or later in the day.

This is particularly true for employees with children and other important responsibilities. Allowing your staff to pick their work hours means that they will always work when feeling their best. 

5. Think About Staff Benefits

Paying your staff a competitive salary doesn’t necessarily show your gratitude. When you take your employees for granted, you cultivate a negative atmosphere at work. The simplest way to prevent this is to say thank you.

There are many staff rewards you could pick, so make sure you choose wisely. It’s vital that the rewards you give employees suit their individual preferences. 

6. Listen To Employee Feedback

The best leaders understand that they don’t know everything. Rather than assume you know how to overcome workplace stress, you should ask employees for advice. After all, they’re the ones experiencing it. Make sure you introduce an open door policy and a suggestions box for staff to give ideas. It also helps to ask for feedback during annual performance reviews. 

Workplace stress can ruin productivity, so make sure you combat it in your business.

 
© New To HR