Okay—Let's admit it—Stress is here to stay. It's not stress elimination
that we are after—it's Stress Management.
A recent study from Harvard reported that American workers worked 164 more hours per year than they did in 1975. That's an additional twenty 8-hour work days. It is a fact that employers expect more from employees than in previous years. Now it is time for employers to accept the challenge to help their employees learn the coping skills they need to go with this increase in responsibility and expectations.
Employees need to learn how to personally handle and respond to the stress of daily performance (deadlines, schedules, production, family and personal needs), avoiding overload and anxiety while remaining productive and healthy. Workers are worried about job security while trying to balance their needs for growth and development in their careers.
Stress Management in the workplace is a cooperative effort between employer and employees.
 | Employers can help by making the workplace a place with open communication, offering Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), truly listening to employee concerns, and offering training events that address actual concerns for growth within the business and for the individual, and having realistic expectations for performance. |
| Employees can help by having realistic expectations of their own responsibility for growth and development. While employers can make a huge difference in the workplace atmosphere, it is still a fact that learning and using stress management strategies and techniques is a do it to yourself—do it for yourself adventure. |
Workplace Stress Management is a Team Effort.
To sum all this up, employers have a responsibility to offer programs
that help employees learn practical stress management skills, but
individuals must actually learn these skills and put them into practice.
The team is the thing!