4 alarming stress statistics, common cases, and how to resolve them
Wednesday, February 14, 2024 - Dignify
Stress can have detrimental effects on people, teams and organizations. Our team wanted to dive deep into this and find just how impactful stress is. We came across an excellent study by Caitlin Mazur of Zippia, which is only one year old and cited extensively by reputable organizations, including but not limited to the American Institute of Stress. Here are some of the stats from that Zippia study that stuck out to us:
- 83% of US workers experience work-related stress
- Over 50% of workers are disengaged from their work due to stress
- Companies spend 75% of an employee’s salary covering lost productivity or replacing workers
- 80% of US workers said they were stressed due to ineffective company communication
Stress loses companies money, and a lot of it. When employees aren’t as productive as they could be, you’re losing a lot of potential gains that would have been realized if they were. And if they leave the company because their stress isn’t getting any better, not only do you lose all the talents and value they added, but you also have to front the cost of replacing them – and in today’s labor market, replacing someone is harder than ever.
The fourth statistic plainly shows how good communication is deeply connected with ideal stress management. The truth is – stress will never go away. Nobody can guarantee the complete absence of stress, because it’s impossible. But what we all can do is take steps to actively manage it for ourselves and for those around us so that we can minimize its effects. As a leader, you have a lot of avenues available to you to do this for the people in your care.
Start by opening a dialogue in your team about the issue. Before you even get started on how to manage stress for others, get the perspectives of those experiencing it to assess how extensive the problem is and what concrete steps you can take to mitigate it.
Once you have your team’s input, do everything in your power to take the appropriate steps based on the information they gave you – and make sure to communicate what you’re doing transparently to them.
Because cases of stress can and will vary from person to person and team to team, try as much as you can to get to the root of the problem and address it directly rather than passively or indirectly.
Have people that are asking for more flexibility and working options? Work with them to modify their schedules or working options. If their issue is scheduling, see if you can work with them to adjust their hours to a time that’s more suitable for them. If they are requesting the option to work from home or on a hybrid schedule, make an honest attempt to transition everything they need for their job into their home environment. It’s always better to adjust an employee’s hours or allow them to work from home than it is to burn them out or fail to retain them entirely.
Are people feeling burnt out and overworked? Allow them to schedule a certain number of mental health days or more PTO. Encourage employees to use their PTO and place an expectation that they use the time to completely disconnect from work so that they can refresh and focus on themselves. Or, even more fundamentally, see if there’s something you can do to distribute their workload more so that they aren’t regularly overbooked and overworked.
Are people not getting along? Find out why and start building a culture of dignity where people can understand and credit each other for who they are. When people understand and appreciate each other for who they are, they are substantially more likely to be able to resolve conflicts in a productive way. Furthermore, conflict is substantially more likely to be healthy and yield positive conclusions for the company.
With stress being such a widespread epidemic in today’s workplaces, and the massively detrimental effects attached to it, addressing it is hardly optional. While the stress levels and reasons will vary from place to place, the numbers show that wherever you are, it’s more likely to be a problem than not. Addressing It won’t be easy, but even one step in the right direction is a lot better than none. If you struggle in taking those first steps, consider contacting a consultant or a coach that has the expertise necessary to get you started comfortably.
Mazur, Caitlin. “40+ Worrisome Workplace Stress Statistics [2023]: Facts, Causes, and Trends” [Article]. 11 February, 2023. Zippia. https://www.zippia.com/advice/workplace-stress-statistics/ [Accessed January 17, 2024]