People comment on anxiety being more prevalent in employees these days than before. Part of that is down to the changes we’ve been through as a society over the last few years, and part of it is because anxiety probably wasn’t spoken about as much in the past. Issues always existed to cause anxiousness among employees – but what are the three leading causes of this? In this post, we look at some of the key ways workers are feeling anxious:
Lateness
Anxiety is high among employees when they’re running late every morning. They’re desperate to get to work on time, but traffic issues and public transport problems mean they’re a touch behind schedule. It’s even worse if the employee is a parent who needs to deal with childcare before getting to work.
The problem is that your employees start the day in a highly anxious mood, which can affect their overall performance. To deal with this, you should consider a few options. A lot of staffing agencies will use agency time tracking apps these days, which let employees clock in via their phones. These apps are also great for helping employees message employers and explain any time-related issues. You could also implement more leniency for employees with children – or adopt a flexible work schedule where people can work from home and not worry about lateness anymore!
Performance
Loads of employees worry about their performance at work. Am I doing this right? Will this need to be corrected? Can I improve this in any way? Sometimes, it’s good to have a bit of anxiety here as it pushes you to work harder rather than to do the minimum amount of work every day.
However, you don’t want to constantly live in anxiety whenever you do a work task. Employers can help by reassuring employees that they’re doing good jobs. We like to give negative feedback in the workplace, but not much positive feedback. When employees do good jobs, let them know! Simple reassurances will help workers feel appreciated so they don’t worry as much or run the risk of burning out by overworking.
Job Security
Similarly, job security is a major cause of anxiety – probably the biggest one of all. Employees worry that they’ll lose their jobs without much notice. As an employer, you need to put things in place that reassure your employees again.
Once more, positive feedback helps. If an employee knows you think they’re doing a good job, they’ll worry less about job security. Giving out bonuses or raises and promoting from within can also foster a better work environment in your workplace. Employees will feel valued when they’re being rewarded for their work, meaning they’re not as likely to worry about being let go.
Obviously, the list of anxiety-inducing issues goes on far longer than this. When it comes to the top three things that cause stress at work, these are right up there as the most common. For employers, you should focus on implementing ideas/strategies to combat the problems, allowing your employees to feel less anxious every day.
