Stress takes a huge toll on employees’ psychological health, but there’s a lot employers can do to help them deal with it safely
You may not realize just how stressed out your employees are. According to Statistics Canada, one in four workers reports dealing with high or even extreme levels of stress on a daily basis.
The American Institute of Stress notes that occasional stress is fine — and even helpful at times — but chronic stress is linked to an increased risk for depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances, and a host of other issues like rashes and gastrointestinal problems, and can contribute to insomnia and even neurological problems.
That has a major impact on business. According to Statistics Canada, absenteeism due to stress has increased by more than 300 per cent since 1995. That translates to an average cost of $3,550 per employee per year, according to Watson Wyatt Canadian Staying @ Work Survey. There are hidden costs, too: Mood Disorders Society of Canada says workplace stress can result in a lack of engagement, higher staff turnover, costly mistakes, and poor customer service. And the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board notes that can stress can contribute to workplace accidents as well.
Sources of stress
What’s causing all this stress? A 2016 Neilson survey of U.S. employees found six key sources for stress in the workplace: lack of work-life balance, poor relationships with co-workers, excessive workload, a lack of job security, inadequate compensation and lengthy commutes.
Aside from workplace stress, many people are dealing with challenges in their personal lives that will impact their mental health. “Those might include natural life stressors like getting married or having a baby, grief when a loved one dies, or even something like a clinical diagnosis or substance abuse,” says Danielle Stewart, consultant, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services. “Any of those things can make life at work more difficult, since we can’t necessarily divide work life and home life — they naturally bleed into each other.”
Certain workplace conditions can compound stress levels, too. “If you have caregiver duties with aging parents or young children, for example, and you have a very rigid work environment without a lot of flexibility or accommodation, that can be an additional source of stress and that’s where work and home life can have an impact on one another,” says Emma Nicolson, Occupational Health and Safety Specialist, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
Mitigating stress
“In a lot of ways you can think of the mental health of our employees as being synonymous with this concept of stress, “says Jordan Friesen, National Associate Director, Workplace Mental Health, Canadian Mental Health Association. “Stress is very easy to talk about and it also tends to correlate well with mental health.”
Given the amount of time most Canadians spend working, an employer can have a tremendous impact on how much stress employees must handle and whether or not they have a support system to help ensure their mental health. Doing right by employees is good for business, too. A 2010 study by the Mental Health Commission of Canada found the average cost of accommodation of a mental health issue was around $500 per employee, but the average cost of a short-term disability claim was about $18,000.
So, there’s a strong case for taking proactive measures. “We know from research that there are 13 factors (see page 1 brief) — referenced in the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace — that employers are encouraged to address to help mitigate sources of stress for employees,” says Nicolson.
Strengthening workplace relationships
Each of the 13 factors — the list includes clear leadership and expectations, growth opportunities, civility and respect, workload, recognition and balance — share some common ground. “In each case, it really comes down to the quality of relationships people have in the workplace,” says Friesen. “The relationships we have with our colleagues, supervisors, with people leading the organization can really mitigate the stress we experience when work is challenging, or they can add to the stress we’re feeling on a day-to-day basis.”
He adds, “This comes down to the concept of psychological support and in particular emotional intelligence. It means having leaders who can understand the emotional reactions people may be having to stressors in the workplace as well as understanding their own emotional reactions.” He adds, too, that this may be new territory for many managers and organizations will often need to invest in training. “Most people leaders and managers think they have very good emotional intelligence. However, if you look at the actual skills they possess, many don’t have those fundamental skills to supervise in an emotionally intelligent kind of way,” says Friesen.
“Leaders need to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of stress responses,” says Nicolson. “What they’re really looking for with any type of issue is a change in behaviour.” She adds, “If a leader is trained and knowledgeable about how to engage staff to create a safe and trusting environment, then an employee feels safe enough to go to a manager and say ‘I’m not okay today,’ or the manager is knowledgeable enough and feels safe enough to go up to a team member and ask, ‘Are you okay today?’”
Taking action
An important first step in addressing the challenge is to review how your organization is doing, and what sort of change it’s ready for. The stressassess.ca website, developed by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, assesses an organization’s readiness and determines whether it’s at a ‘getting started,’ ‘gaining momentum’ or ‘raising the bar’ stage, then recommends specific actions. Stages could involve creating literacy and building a foundation, then addressing specific needs of an organization, then implementing best practices.
One resource likely already in place is your organization’s employee assistance plan. “That’s one area that organizations tend to look at the wrong way,” says Stewart. “We often think if no one is using the EAP then there are no issues, when in fact it might mean either there’s some stigma at work or people don’t know what resources are available to them.” She adds, “In an ideal world we want to see EAP utilization higher, since that will indicate that the stigma is lower in your organization and people are getting help when they need it.”
Top-down support
“The one thing I always say organizations need for a mentally healthy environment is clear leadership and commitment from the top,” says Friesen. “This could be through a company-wide email or a policy statement.” He adds, “It just needs to be something that demonstrates to the employees in the organization that psychological health is a priority.”
That step, says Friesen, needs to be followed up with action. “That could include things like training for managers and people leaders, or could include running a campaign like notmyselftoday.ca, or adopting the National Standard,” says Friesen.
Eventually, mental health becomes a natural element of business decisions. “It’s important to make sure the psychological component is integrated into everything an organization does,” says Nicolson. “When we talk about change management, for example, it’s important to make sure we understand how that’s going to impact people and not just bottom line or quality of production.”
Evidence of change
There’s evidence change is starting to happen. “There’s a much broader recognition that a psychologically healthy environment is good for business,” says Friesen. “We’re seeing more employers willing to take action. In 2017, for example, we had more than 320 corporations across Canada sign up to participate in the notmyself.ca campaign and as a result that impacted more than 300,000 employees in Canada.” He adds, “10 years ago it wouldn’t have had anywhere near that kind of traction.”
“Without employees you typically don’t have a business so employers are encouraged to create and look after a supportive work environment where workers want to be,” says Nicolson. “And then in turn you’re fostering this culture of wellbeing and caring that really is beneficial not just to the bottom line but to everybody involved.”
• Mental Health Commission of Canada (https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/)
• National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/national-standard)
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (https://www.ccohs.ca/)
• stressassess.ca
• thinkmentalhealth.ca
• notmyselftoday.ca
1. Psychological support
2. Organizational culture
3. Clear leadership and expectations
4. Civility and respect
5. Psychological competencies and requirements
6. Growth and development
7. Recognition and reward
8. Involvement and influence
9. Workload management
10. Engagement
11. Balance
12. Psychological protection
