Everything Lewis wrote was so intricate of meaning and required depth in understanding, so we thought who is better to introduce today’s topic, which is to raise awareness of mental health importance in the workspace. Is depression real? Isn’t it just sadness? It will be the sort of question you may hear from people unaware of such a terrible fate. On the opposite spectrum, you may have people who look down on the inflicted with pity as they were born with a tail, and their association would bring trouble of the worst kind. Both the extremes are detrimental to this issue. For starters, depression is not just sadness (if it is, it is of the ultimate), and people experiencing them are not weak (agreed there are no complete understanding of depression), but the stressed/depressed do have high levels of hormone imbalance (Cortisol affects the neurotransmitter serotonin to trigger the condition).
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say, ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say, ‘My heart is broken.’
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say, ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say, ‘My heart is broken.’
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
An employee inflicted with such a condition will showcase boredom, complacency, lethargy, irritability, crying spells and much, much more at the job. So, effective leaders with a good performance management strategy will not only be able to help the employees who are already struggling but can prevent such effects from happening to the other employees. Therefore, gear up as we share seven tips by workspace behaviours that will reduce your employee job stress.
Tip 1: Clear Objectives and goal expectations
One of the subtle causes that go unrecognized but influence the most stress in the workplace is not knowing what is expected of them. Your employees working with unclear goals cannot meet the expectations, to put it simply. Unclear goals have a butterfly effect on their performance and in turn on your company’s performance. This is where Objective and Key Results (OKR) come into play as a crucial tool. With the OKR system, the goal is defined and will be at the forefront of your employees’ vision.
Tip 2: Prioritize and execute
When you are a developing company, it is easy to get involved in multiple initiatives and projects. But it is better to keep in mind to give your 100% without burning out your employee’s energy and motivation
Tip 3: Flexible working hours
The main reason that stress is imbalanced at the workspace is that people are not built alike, and they, for a fact, don’t feel alike. Each employee has a different style and capacity to approach work. So, a uniform system may not be the best idea. You can therefore give autonomy to the employees to have a say in their goal-setting (Objective and Key Results are ideal with this option) and also choose the working hours that make them the most productive.
Tip 4: Positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement not only helps your employees suffering from depression or stress by uplifting them with meaning to their effort, but it also helps prevent employees from being exposed to such conditions. Leaders can use the Objective and Key Results program to give such appreciations and feedback regularly.
Tip 5: Qualitative reward system
The idea of rewarding employees based on their quantity of work has done more damage than good in the long run. Nothing has contributed to long working hours and burnouts other than the desire for reward based on the quantity. So having a reward system in place to appreciate the quality of work based on quantity is recommended. Use Objective and Key Results software to measure the impact of the work done.
To wrap it up
Leaders should have an effective strategy to ensure the reduction of employee stress. Performance management programs such as Objective and Key Results enforces this sentiment. Try the Datalligence OKR trial to start your fight against stress and depression. To know more on how you can help employee performance check out our blog archive.
