Business Best Practices
Is Workplace Stress a Predictor of Performance? The HCM Method to Reduce Stress & Improve Performance
Apr 6, 2018
Blog written by Andrea Reeves, HCM Implementation Specialist.
April is Stress Awareness month, and we all know that stressors are an unavoidable. To my way of thinking, the best way to reduce stress is to recognize your stressors while appreciating what brings you satisfaction, happiness, joy, results, and so on. Easy, right? In the workplace, balancing your stressors can be done by eliminating organizational deficiencies and spending more QT with real people than your mountain of paperwork.
The top three causes of workplace stress
Workload, Overload
Conflict
Work life balance
Focus on cultivating team wellbeing with open communication about organizational efficiency.
- A positive environment— An disengaged or unhappy employee can make work a living nightmare. It’s time to enhance the focus from engagement to wellness. Engagement still puts a lot of weight/focus on the company’s goals. Wellness shifts the focus to the individual, inspiring mindfulness and accountability, more naturally aligning personal missions with company mission. By focusing on improving your wellbeing and the wellbeing of others, you’ll see team performance increase. To achieve this, you must start from the beginning.
Talent Acquisition. It begins with recruiting the right human capital for your organization. Of course you want people with the talent and capabilities needed to get the job done, but if you search for people whose mission—whose why—could align with your company you will untap a talent pool who will be passionate and dedicated.
2. A supportive environment—Create a collaborative dynamic that is focused on training and cross-department awareness. Encourage those around you to work together to yield results. A democratic environment will open conversation and improve team performance.
Onboarding & Performance Management. Strong orientation is also key to reduce frustration and stress as it ensures your employees have clearly been made aware of their roles and responsibilities, as well as key expectations. This process should be ongoing, transforming into skill development, consistent feedback and recognition. Performance tracking allows for proper training and timely feedback. Let your people know what they are doing well but also how they can improve. Stress is reduced when there is direct interaction and involvement, and people feel empowered to grow their skillset.
3. Open to process improvement – Workload and juggling work/ personal life are leading causes of stress. Cognitive overload and burnout will drive performance into the ground. Managing stressors in the workplace requires being in constant communication about the work that is triggering the stress. In other words, it means being aware of your team’s day-to-day. What obstacles come up? Is it consistent? Is there a knowledge gap or a tool gap? Is your team taking lunch? Are they talking to each other or drowning in paperwork? Being in a state of continuous improvement, and conducting regular GAP analysis will help pinpoint deficiencies that are weighing down your people.
Human Capital Management. Integrate Teams & Tools. Optimizing organizational efficiencies and time management will straighten the path to reduced employee overload, improved productivity, and overall work-life balance.
Cloud based Human Capital Management technology allows Supervisors and Managers to have direct access to the work of their teams. HCM allows you to easily recognize successes, life events, and opportunities for employees to perform at the highest level.
It is a one sign on solution to automate HR, integrate teams & tools, & engage employees in the process. (All great stress reducers.) From recruitment through retirement HCM provides a multitude of benefits that empowers employees, reduces paperwork, and improves the overall efficiency for a successful organization.
Improving team management & human performance is time-sensitive. It’s time to manage your time better with one single sign on. Learn more about eliminating unnecessary stressors and increasing productivity in the video below.
