Ever since the global pandemic, uncertainty and disruption have become an integral part of both our personal and professional lives. In this context, a series of lockdowns and limitations have escalated mental stress and impacted working professionals in India, including other countries. To deal with the lengthy series, businesses across sectors have evolved with work-from-home strategy. This is where organizations across industries have adopted the best ways to reduce stress and improve mental health in engaging the new-age employee in the modern workplace.
Neha Tripathi, HR Head, Codestore Technologies, said that everyone who has ever worked has felt the burden of work-related stress. “Even if a professional enjoy their career, it may not be accessible at times. On the other hand, work stress may be overpowering and damaging to physical and emotional health when it becomes chronic. However, with the new normal, we are no longer in a position to maintain a hostile and stressful environment. Modern workplaces are now able to incorporate a plethora of adjustments into their working ways. As a result, here are a few ways a business can attempt to minimize stress and promote mental health for all employees. As a positive culture is critical to the firm’s progressive and vigorous growth,” Neha Tripathi said.
Ways to Manage Stress and Mental Health: Codestore Technologies’ Neha Tripathi has listed following ways to manage health:
Enhance the Environment
Since a lot of stress is caused by the environment, redesigning the organizational habitat is critical, whether it offers a flexible or healthy working culture. Instead of striving to combat stress with junk food, an individual needs to adopt more nutritious choices. Consider every component of the workplace space and what can be done to improve team well-being. Simple measures like the quality of the coffee, encouraging employees to walk during lunch breaks, subsidizing healthy pleasures like yoga classes once a month, or the height of the cubicle walls may impact employee engagement. Adding more Nuts & Fiber Food into your diet will keep you active & hydrated, this will keep you energetic all day long to perform well in the office rather than being a couch potato. Refresh the office with a new color scheme, more plants, or new cutlery. Furthermore, consider installing a ping pong or foosball table to help staff to get their minds off their tension for a few minutes. As a result, making adjustments that promote employee happiness will reduce stress.
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Employee Appreciation
Employees like being commended for a job well done, and acknowledging their accomplishments significantly increases engagement. Each employee has a unique personality, so be careful how and when to recognize them. Some employees value a call-out at a meeting or praise in a company-wide email, while others prefer a personal shoutout. On the other hand, employees will enjoy the fact that the company is aware of their accomplishments and wishes to share with others. This makes people happier and more comfortable, which reduces stress.
Healthy Approach
In today’s digital age, it’s easy to feel pressed to be available 24 hours a day. Setting some work-life limits for business requires a healthy approach that can include not checking email from home or not responding to the phone during mealtime. We need time to refill and recover to our pre-stress level of performance to prevent the detrimental impacts of chronic stress and burnout. This healing process necessitates switching off from work by spending time not engaged in job-related activities or thinking about work. However, everyone has different tastes when balancing work and family life. As a result, building some beneficial responses between these areas can reduce the potential for work-life stress.
Relax and Recharge
Meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness techniques can help melt tension and provide time to unwind from the daily routine. Even a few minutes of personal time throughout a hectic day can help prevent burnout. Listening to an engaging podcast or viewing a video in between meetings might provide employees with relaxing breaks throughout the day. Therefore, taking breaks from thinking about the job has become vital, such as avoiding reading work-related emails on vacation or turning off the phone in the evenings.
Long-Term Vision
To achieve long-term improvements in the business, one needs a long-term plan. Interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and site visits can help determine where the company stands regarding mental health. Leadership visioning activities and goal mapping may help to establish the vision of where they want to go. Training, seminars, and policy changes are a few possible measures. As a result, concentrating on a long-term approach leaves a lot of space for development. Consider providing mental health benefits to employees, such as wellness programs, counseling, and employee support programs.
“In the modern era, it has become an unavoidable reality in the present day that no organization will perform efficiently if the personnel is stressed and burned out. Furthermore, if the business wishes for the employees to function effectively and thrive at work while remaining mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. Taking measures to transform the organization to new heights and vistas is worthwhile. As a result, taking the best actions to decrease stress and enhance health does not have to be massive, modest efforts are equally important in putting a stop to creating a positive culture at work,” Neha Tripathi concluded.
