10 Hidden Workplace Stress Factors And 1 Game-Changing Step
If you are like most people, you're facing unprecedented levels of daily stress. Working harder than ever before has become the norm. While we can point fingers at staffing levels, remote work, and rapid technological upheavals, there's a deeper issue at play. The pursuit of happiness has morphed into over-scheduled calendars, feelings of inadequacy, and dwindling time for real relationships. Businesses can't afford to ignore the holistic impact of workplace stress. It's not just about those under stress - evidence suggests it's a trillion-dollar problem affecting all of us. The complexity can be overwhelming, creating uncertainty about the best course of action. What's the answer? Here are ten often hidden workplace stressors and one game-changing step every leader can take to create a healthier and better workplace.
Why you need a workplace stress reduction strategy
Managing long-term stress can lower your risk for conditions like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. According to a study by the Mayo Clinic, the personal and organizational side-effects of executives experiencing long-term stress and burnout include:
broken relationships
substance abuse
depression
decreased customer satisfaction
reduced productivity
increased employee turnover
Employees are stressed out. A global study of 14,800 knowledge workers across 25 countries revealed:
49% of leaders and 42% of non-managers are struggling with anxiety
74% of those surveyed are looking to company leadership for help dealing with workplace stress.
The costs of workplace stress and burnout are severe for individuals and organizations. Manufacturing organizations like General Motors report spending more on healthcare than they do on raw materials for their products.
A recent study to quantify the costs of workplace stress found that workplace stressors in the United States account for more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5-8% of annual healthcare costs.
Here is a recent TedTalk on the surprising cost of workplace stress.
Also, we are more connected to each other than we may recognize, and stress is an emotional contagion. Evidence suggests that co-workers can spread stress within a workgroup. For example, someone on your team who is feeling down enters a meeting. Within a few minutes, the entire team's emotions begin to mimic their behaviors and non-verbal expressions.
The following short NPR video discusses how emotions are contagious.
The American Association of Psychology polled more than 1500 employees in the US and found:
87% believe their employer can take action to improve their mental health
59% experienced adverse impacts of work-related stress
44% intend to leave their current company in the next year
21% had a hard time focusing at work
“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody.” George Carlin
Workplace stressors
There is a long and rich history of research into workplace factors with the potential to create stress for leaders. Here is a list of ten common stressors:
Role Ambiguity—A common stressor in the workplace is unclear roles and responsibilities. Whether being asked to do more with less or reporting to a new leader, when leaders feel inefficient and are unsure how to prioritize their work, it creates stress.
Self-doubt—Questioning your knowledge, skills, and abilities can result in feelings of being a fraud. Being assigned a task for the first time and not hearing any feedback can amplify these feelings and create anxiety.
Organizational Culture Misalignment – A lack of alignment or conflict between the company and personal values. Mergers and acquisitions can be a common source of this stress. For example, when a company values rapid decision-making, and the leader prefers strategic thinking, it can add misalignment stress.
Expectations Conflict—Starting your day feeling like you cannot win is not good. When leaders are handed a scorecard that can't be executed with the current team's capabilities, it creates stress.
Role Overload - This type of stress occurs when you are given too much to do and expected to deliver it on time and with high quality. It is unrealistic and stressful.
Inadequate Resources - A lack of staff, tools, materials, equipment, information, and other resources needed to complete the job. When budgets are reduced, investments are delayed, and expectations are not adjusted, it is common to feel stressed from a lack of resources.
Work-Life Boundary Mismanagement—In the distraction economy, many leaders have given up on managing work-life boundaries. However, evidence suggests that not committing to managing personal and professional expectations increases stress.
Stalled Career - Dissatisfaction with career growth opportunities and a lack of hope for a better future. Role potential stress can lead to increased turnover and decreased workplace effort.
Isolation - When you are alone and feel disconnected from others, you can feel you lack the support needed to succeed. The opposite is team cohesion. This is when members are committed to one another and collectively to a task, mission, or cause.
Underemployment – Feeling like you have more to offer than the company currently asks of you. Career transitions, reorganizations, and outsourcing job responsibilities can leave leaders stressed from wanting more out of their work.
How gratitude makes a difference
Grateful leaders experience less stress, and expressing gratitude helps both the giver and the receiver. Gratitude is a positive emotion that balances a negative mindset. Many studies link gratitude with improved health, increased happiness, and decreased anxiety and depression.
An interesting recent study found that those who wrote gratitude letters showed greater activation in their brain's medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in the fMRI scanner three months later. This evidence indicates that simply expressing gratitude may have lasting positive effects on your brain.
Similar to the saying, you are what you eat. If you allow only negative thoughts and feelings into your life, it is harmful to your well-being. Consider the negative emotion of envy. It is impossible to be both envious and grateful at the same time. Gratitude helps create a barrier to negative thoughts and feelings.
The following short video explains some of the science behind why gratitude matters.
Feeling appreciated is linked to well-being and employee performance. A study involving over 1700 working adults revealed that those who feel valued by their leader are likelier to report higher levels of physical and mental health, engagement, satisfaction, and motivation than those who do not.
What is gratitude?
According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude is a sense of thankfulness and happiness in response to receiving a gift, either a tangible benefit given by someone or a fortunate happenstance.
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others." – Cicero.
Gratitude consists of an affirmation of goodness and a source outside of ourselves. Gratitude involves both the ability to acknowledge the good in your life and feeling a sense of thankfulness. Empathy, kindness, and love are closely related to the virtue of gratitude.
Take the following six-question survey to determine and benchmark your likelihood of experiencing gratitude.
The following video is from Robert Emmons, the creator of the survey. In it, he addresses what gratitude means.
Getting Started Step #1: Cultivating Your Attitude of Gratitude
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is something we can all do and is a healthy leadership habit. The best way to get started is to make gathering and giving gratitude easy and gradually increase the practice.
Gratefulness.io is an app that makes getting started easy. I have used it for a few years and found it effective in cultivating an attitude of gratefulness. The app will send you a simple daily prompt asking you about what you are grateful for, and it stores your responses in a private online journal. What you record can be as simple as what comes to your mind or a purposeful reflection on something good that happened that day and why you felt good. I find scrolling through my journal very encouraging, and it also serves as a way for me to track my progress.
Stop. Look. Go. The following video explains how to get started practicing gratitude. It begins by getting quiet, looking through our senses, and then taking the opportunity presented.
If you are feeling stuck about how to get started or have tried to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, executive coaching can help. Coaches work with their clients to foster a mindset shift and implement practical strategies toward meaningful goals, including gratitude-related ones. Through thought-provoking partnerships, coaches guide clients to reflect on achievements and strengths while deepening awareness and appreciation.
Getting Started Step #2: Expressing Gratitude to Others
Giving gratitude reduces your stress, makes you happier, and improves relationships. After listing what you are grateful for each day, take a few moments to practice giving gratitude. Not only will reflecting and journaling what you are thankful for make you happier, but showing appreciation will multiply the positive effects on your emotions.
Simply send a thank you note or, better yet, deliver it and say thank you in person. Here is a simple template from Mental Health America.
So, what is the real workplace stress challenge for you and your organization?
References:
APA. (2021). Facing compounding stressors, many American workers plan to change jobs in coming year. American Psychological Association.
Gallup. (2022). State of the global workplace 2022 report. Gallup.
Harms, Zhang, J., & Perrewé, P. L. (2020). Entrepreneurial and small business stressors, experienced stress, and well being. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Joshi. (2005). Stress from burnout to balance. Response Books.
Williams, N. (2016). Top ten types of workplace stress. Bartell and Bartell.
