Employers urged to act as ‘state of mind’ key to workforce productivity
UK employees spend more than a third of their time at work feeling stressed, according to study into performance-related stress and anxiety.
The research, from performance psychology firm Star Consultancy with more than 600 employees, found that the average staff member feels stressed, anxious and worried on 84 days out of the average 240 working year (35 per cent of the time).
More than two-thirds of those questioned said this level of stress reduces motivation, productivity, and self-confidence, and 62 per cent cited it as the main reason they don’t always perform at their best.
Just under a third (28 per cent) said they feel “stressed, anxious or worried” at work twice a week, with a fifth reporting they feel like this at least once a week. And more than one in 10 (14 per cent) admitted that they feel stressed or anxious at work every day.
Worryingly, 29 per cent of workers know of at least two people who have been or are taking anti-depressants.
The majority of workers (66 per cent) point to increased workloads as the primary cause for this pressure, with deadline highlighted as cause by 53 per cent of respondents. Other external factors also mentioned include: ‘other people/relationships’ (34 per cent); lack of control or responsibility (30 per cent); or a lack of confidence (22 per cent).
However, only 6 per cent of workers said they had told their manager about their stress and anxiety issues and 11 per cent said they ‘suffered in silence’. More than a quarter reported they would ‘try to analyse the problem myself’, while 30 per cent of those affected by stress talk to a colleague or a friend for support.
With 7 per cent of respondents reporting that they have taken up to five days off work because of stress, anxiety or depression, researchers said that this was a “call to arms for employers”.
The findings highlight the need for both employers and employees to understand the nature of stress and for bosses to put state of mind first to ensure a healthy, high-performing workforce.
Chantal Burns, Star Consultancy founder and an expert in employee state of mind and performance, said: “We seem to be living in stressed-out Britain, which is a massive call to action to address the root causes of a growing problem.
“While difficult and demanding situations are inevitable in the workplace, regular or chronic stress is not and it’s damaging employees’ health and mental well-being, as well as the company bottom-line though poorer performance and increased sick leave.”
She said that a person’s own mental attitude and mindset is a major contributor to stress or success rather than just external factors, yet research respondents ranked it bottom as a cause of stress. This “mental blind spot” reveals a “glaring contradiction” in the way people perceive the root causes of good and poor performance, she said.
“There is a wealth of scientific evidence proving that it is our thinking and mindset – and only this - that causes our feelings of stress and anxiety. This is the big misunderstanding that I’m looking to expose,” Burns added.
The research forms part of a wider study into workplace performance and the perceived cause and effects of stress, anxiety and worry in the British workforce.