Stress: Why are we allowing it to rob our productivity?

Since time began, stress has taken a toll on employees’ ability to work, and organisations’ ability to maximise their potential in the workplace.

Back in the time when the pyramids were built, extreme physical stress was likely considered an accepted part of many people’s working life. In today’s more civilised society, we might believe such a threat has gone, however, evidence suggests that the psychological impact organisations have on us remains potentially huge, and can have a hugely detrimental effect on organisational performance.

The cost: not just a lack of discretionary effort

The mental health charity Mind has recently published research linking stress levels to significant amounts of absenteeism, which the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) estimates costs the private sector £4billion per year, and which in the public sector has been estimated to cost the NHS, as an example, around £1billion per year.

Bear in mind that these figures are just the costs of absenteeism. If we are to truly get to the bottom of how costly stress is, we need to add to that at least:

• the cost of higher employee turnover – it is estimated that the cost of replacing a skilled employee is up to four times their annual salary!
• the cost in loss of customers through lower satisfaction with service
• the potential life and death consequences of lesser service delivery or patient care

With a greater understanding of just how damaging stress can be, why aren’t more organisations questioning the status quo?  Not only does allowing stress to take its toll come with all the negative implications described above, but it also negates the huge benefits that organisations can leverage from the opposite of stress and negative wellbeing: namely engagement.

The answers are simple: Human beings not “human doings”

Research shows that regardless of industry, sector, country and a range of other factors, the single, most stressful aspect of anyone’s job is their immediate boss.

Fortunately, our research and experience over the past ten years show that the behaviours managers need to embrace in order to reduce job-related stress rather than increase it are simple and common sense. It’s all about treating employees as human beings, not human doings.

The recipe for success

Today’s climate of increasing pressure has, rather ironically, created an opportunity for organisations to capitalise on reducing stress. Those organisations that are smart know that increasing engagement is key to getting through the tough times, and it just so happens that the leadership behaviours that reduce stress also increase engagement. In fact, some researchers have described burnout and engagement as at opposite sides of a continuum.

More in-depth information on these seemingly elusive leadership behaviours can be found in the report ‘Engaging leadership: Creating organisations that maximise the potential of their people‘ published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

You may well notice a running theme throughout these leadership behaviours: they are not rocket science! While the underlying principles behind engaging leadership boil down to common sense, putting it all into practice still takes a little bit of work.

Here are some practical things organisations can do to get them on the right leadership track:

• Re-examine the criteria you apply for success in leadership roles – at the selection, development, and appraisal stage. Ensure that engaging leadership behaviours are as valued as technical or professional competencies or skills.
• The classic adage applies here – “What’s measured gets done” – you need to make behaviour as accountable as professional competencies through incorporating it into performance discussions, and providing regular one-to-one feedback.
• Remember the classic line – “a leader without followers is simply a person going for a walk” – act on this, encouraging everyone in a line management position to seek regular feedback from their direct reports, either formally (through 360-degree feedback) or informally.
• Never make the mistake of using 360-degree feedback for appraisal purposes, however convenient it may seem. You can ask people to agree to share key insights with their line manager, but they must never be required to reveal their data.

The new direction of leadership

Why aren’t these leadership behaviours more prevalent in organisations today? Because they are not what we study in organisations, not what we measure, and not what we reward.

At Real World Group we believe things can be different.

We are committed to transforming organisations’ effectiveness through ethical leadership, helping them engage the hearts and minds of their employees, and ultimately provide superior services to their customers, communities and stakeholders.

To discover how we can bring transformational thinking to your organisation, please call us on +44 (0)845 601 7708 or email info@realworld-group.com