Helping Employees Cope in High-Pressure Work Environments

High-pressure work environments can fuel productivity and ambition but can also cause stress and burnout. To prevent staff from being overwhelmed in these types of environments and to reduce high staff turnover rates, employers can implement certain strategies.

Set targets and metrics for success

Coping with stress can be more manageable if you can estimate how long a stressful task will last. By giving your staff clear goals and metrics for measuring success, they can better plan their activities, which enables them to gauge the time required to handle a stressful workload. It also allows staff to plan how they will attain their targets and helps them break down their workload into smaller, more achievable milestones.

Provide additional support

You should provide staff who work in high-pressure environments with the support they need to achieve their targets. Being more approachable will encourage employees to ask you for guidance. You could also establish a mentoring system at your workplace to ensure that employees receive the support that they need.

Sometimes, it’s worthwhile treating your employees with coffee, doughnuts, and pizza, especially when there’s a lot of work or deadlines to meet. You can also reward your employees for their dedication by granting them flexible working hours when possible.

Don’t overload your staff with work

It’s never wise to overload your employees with too much work. That’s a recipe for them to develop feelings of resentment that will erode any loyalty they may have felt towards the company. Instead, try calculating how long each task requires to complete, then assign them to employees who have enough time to complete them. If there’s too much work for the staff to manage alone, you may want to consider new strategies. This might entail hiring new staff or prioritizing tasks more efficiently.

Give staff time off

Having to focus hard for long periods can be tiring for staff. To avoid burnout, give staff enough time off and regular breaks during the day to better sustain themselves. It’s important to encourage them to have lunch breaks away from their desks and make sure that everyone takes their annual leave. Instilling a work culture that avoids over-working, late-night shifts, and after-work emailing is a good way of setting boundaries and gives staff the time they need to rejuvenate.

Don’t micromanage staff

Your staff feel empowered when they are given a degree of autonomy and trust to carry out their duties. You should strike a balance between micro-managing staff and giving them freedom in their decisions so they feel adequately supported. You want to avoid making them feel that they aren’t able to do anything without seeking permission first. Find ways to empower staff to take responsibility and to grow professionally.

Define job roles clearly

Employees can often be left feeling confused about what their goals are when job roles are not properly defined. This can sometimes lead to increased workloads, feeling resentment towards management, or strained relationships with work colleagues. It’s good practice to clearly define all roles and responsibilities associated with job contracts and that deadlines and performance indicators are explained to staff in detail. This will help them understand what is expected from them.

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