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The amount of job stress I feel is reasonable.
Survey Domain: Employee
Survey Theme: Work-Life Balance
Understanding the Issue: The first step is to understand the issues behind the survey performance scores. Unless you are absolutely sure that you understand the issues related to a particular survey item, the best place to start is identifying them, and the section Understanding Issues can help you do so. The activities described in Understanding Issues can be used for any of the survey items.
In today's workplace environments, many employees feel stressed due to workloads and conflicting priorities between work and family. It is important to remember that responses to this survey item are about feelings. The employees responding own that feeling. In other words, while management may think an employee's stress should be manageable, or the workload isn't too heavy, no one can argue with someone else's feelings. Management can provide information to help the employees see the workplace environment differently and to help employees support each other. However, feelings, regardless of what they are, must be respected as being very real for that employee and then addressed appropriately.
Transparent communications, management's willingness to listen empathetically, and supportive peers can ease employee stress levels significantly.
Improvement ideas:
Strive for timely, straightforward communications (transparency) to and among employees, especially regarding those topics that impact work-life balance and job security. Provide talking points for managers, which may include FAQs (frequently asked questions) to ensure accuracy and consistency of communications.
Coach managers on strategies for recognizing stress, and on how to initiate a conversation with employees in an appropriate manner and how to identify and address the sources of stress.
Hold focus groups in areas where stress scores are lowest to determine the root cause of stress and how employees can support each other.
Offer training for managers and employees in conflict resolution, Crucial Conversations, and/or effective communications if conflict or tension among employees are root causes of stress.
Coach managers in effective change management. Employees deal with changes in different ways; some accept it easily and others become extremely stressed. When change is communicated and executed effectively, stress is reduced.
Enlist EAP (Employee Assistance Program) vendors in providing programs and services to support stressed employees, and make sure employees are aware of this resource/support.
Provide support for downsized employees in a professional, compassionate way and communicate this information to remaining employees to help ease their stress. Remaining employees may need support in handling grief, guilt and fear; train managers how to hold these conversations.
Limit required overtime to a reasonable number of hours a month to prevent stress, burnout, and injuries. Since the average registered nurse age has been going up, RNs may be more prone to injuries and FMLA issues related to stress than among other employee groups.
Look at staffing models and explore ways of redesigning jobs and processes that would distribute work more evenly and reduce stress. Engage employees in creating solutions.
Offer meditation, biofeedback or other stress reduction classes either internally or through a third-party vendor.
Show your concern for employees’ work-life balance and respect their need to devote time to family and other activities outside of work. Employees appreciate flexible scheduling when possible.
(MI 74)