Stress Related Absence

Every business owner knows that productive employees are the greatest asset at the company’s disposal. Consequently, regular staff absences can cause major disruption to the venture, and stress-related absence is perhaps the biggest growing problem across the board.

Studies by CIPD show that 37% of UK businesses have seen stress-induced employee absences increase in recent times. Entrepreneurs wishing to avoid a similar fate must take control of the situation right away.

Why Are Stress-Related Absences On The Rise?

Stress-related absence hasn’t grown by chance. The research into the problem, uncovers some very worrying stats, all of which go a long way to highlighting why this spike has occurred. They include:

• Over 6 in 10 believe heavy workloads are at fault;
• Management style is blamed by 43% (up from 32%);
• Almost 2 in 3 have observed people using holidays to complete unfinished work.

The above factors show just three reasons as to why stress-related absences are on the rise, especially as many managers are not properly trained to deal with the issues.

How To Stop Stress-Related Absences

Business owners can’t completely rid themselves of stress-related absences, but should be willing to go the extra mile in a bid to reduce it. Ultimately, it all boils down to the company culture and treatment of employees. Companies can look to:

• Hire enough people to complete tasks;
• Insist on regular breaks, especially from computer screens;
• Invest in their own managerial training.

Stress is a major productivity, and keeping absences at a low will bring significant results for employer and employee alike.