How To Tackle Workplace Stress And Encourage Employee Productivity

Are you a business owner struggling with worker efficiency?  Here are five factors to consider to tackle workplace stress and encourage employee productivity...

Guest post by Michael Zhou 

5 Factors Affecting Employee Productivity

In any workplace, these things go hand in hand:

• Productivity
• Innovation
• Efficiency

If you are an ambitious entrepreneur, you want to cultivate those factors at your workplace. But is your workforce sufficiently productive and efficient? 

Imagine this:

Your employees energetically start their day, stay laser-focused, and at the end of the day somehow finish their given tasks.  A win for All!

Have you ever given a thought to what does their workload looks like?

How often does staff take their work to home?

While it is true that your staff must confront workplace woes that could weaken their motivation levels, it is to your benefit to monitor this and not to let their productivity plunge.

So which strategies can you implement effectively? 

In helping those that work for you, here is how to tackle workplace stress and encourage employee productivity:

1. Energize Your Employees

Employee motivation and well-being are extremely important factors that can make a big difference between your company’s success and failure. To that effect, you have to find ways to motivate your employees and at the same time keep their stress levels low. In turn, you should prioritize energizing your team so they are happy giving their 100%. 

Recognizing and appreciating their efforts, and offering rewards for their great work is a smart place to start. Your work culture as well as the office environment should nurture each and every employee to love their work and excel.

Another important consideration is retaining your best performing employees.  As the employer, show your gratitude for your team members' work by:

• Offering incentives
• Give awards
• Take them on trips
• Throw occasional parties

It is indeed a good idea to surprise them, and make special effort to personalize your rewards. That way, your staff will develop a great sense of belonging to your company, and be compelled to contribute towards success.

2. Encourage Interactive Activities

There is no need for your employees to work around the clock like a cyborg. Also, there is no point in being serious all the time since a serious workplace environment is more stress-prone. Alternately, cultivate a fun and interactive atmosphere in your workplace.

Studies have also shown that fun and interactive activities at a workplace make employees more innovative and productive. There is also a growing body of research suggesting happier people work harder. A playful workplace helps:

• Draw new talent
• Relieve stress
• Increase motivation
• Build relationships among coworkers

How to increase employee productivity in the workplace? Nothing builds camaraderie in any work setting more than healthy interaction and humor.

3. Communication Is The Key

When it comes to combating stress and encouraging productivity and efficiency, two-way dialogue is extremely crucial between an employer and employees.

Conversing one-to-one with your team members will help you create a game plan in order to solve their concerns or problems. In response, your employees will confide with you more often regarding important workplace developments.

In other words, a healthy communication reduces their stress and anxiety. A good communication also allows you to be receptive about their out-of-the-box ideas. This will always make the situation better for everyone, which is why it is a win-win strategy.

4. Give Your Employees Enough Room To Be More Creative

Creativity is an essential ingredient for any organization to thrive, which also gives you a competitive edge.

You need to cultivate an environment where your employees have space to think and relax. This will intuitively spark creative thinking for them to keep their projects moving forward. Additionally, you should organize regular brainstorming sessions where staff can share innovative suggestions regarding projects and their processes.

Giving employees more room to think freely and encouraging them to make proper analysis of various aspects of a task can work wonders for your organization. It will give you two-pronged results – the employees become more productive and efficient, and they will be able to tackle any stress effectively.

5. Be a role model

If you want your team to climb the ladder of productivity and performance, you need to exhibit managerial and leadership excellence. You should lead by example so your employees are inspired enough to follow suit.

The fact is as the leader of your organization, you are constantly under the magnifying lens; However, you can use this opportunity to inspire and motivate your staff.

So how can you become a role model?

You can exhibit the following attributes:

• Always show a positive attitude despite the circumstances. When you show strength, calmness, perseverance, and optimism even in stressful situations, your employees are likely to approach the same way
• Earn and build trust by being honest with your employees
• Encourage integrity by making decisions for the betterment of business without any personal preference
• Cultivate transparency and accountability. 

Wrap-Up

All business owners know the importance of employee productivity.  Stress is a part of today’s professional life and falling into its trap can heavily hamper your business.

So don’t let yourself or your employees be taken over by stress. Rather, effectively tackle workplace stress and nurture employee productivity. The above given tips can help.

Author Bio

Senior VP of Business Intelligence Development, Michael has assisted many Fortune 500 companies with expertise on the web as a whole, including ground-zero marketing efforts that benefit both consumer and vendor. He is also working with iCustomlabel. Michael is a thinker, communicator, marketer, competitor, people person, and all-around busy bee.  Follow him on Twitter and Google+.