3 Pro-Tips to Abolish Career-Related Stress Today!
“Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so”. ~ William Shakespeare
According to research, some of Shakespeare’s quote above rings true. His words speak to how the perception of career-related stress varies from person to person. What is considered a stressful situation to one person may not be to another. What is important here is the ability to cope with stress. Without proper coping mechanisms, or the means to release stress build up, the greater the possibility of burn out or negative mental health outcomes. In this article we will share three tips for dealing with career-related stress in support of living a happier, healthier and more balanced lifestyle.
Let’s start with common sources of career-related stress contributing to burnout:
Not making an adequate contribution to their organization
Do not feel their efforts are appreciated
Role conflict
Work overload
Lack of predictable and clear expectations
As a leader, watching for signs of burnout or negative mental health behaviours is not only the right thing to do but it is good for business. While everyone is replaceable at work, the skills lost when an individual is off work due to illness sets the entire team and sometimes the entire organization back.
Your role as a leader is to provide an environment that is conducive to healthy workplace practices. Your positive role modelling and behaviours should be seen at all levels of the organization. Here are a few positive role modelling examples:
Sending emails during regular business hours only
Attending and been seen at workplace wellness events
Taking vacation time (and not responding while off work) and encouraging team members to do the same
These are simple yet effective ways to cultivate a resilient workplace culture that is supported by healthy habits at work.
It is also important to acknowledge that as a leader you may identify an employee who you see is struggling, but ultimately it is up to them to acknowledge that there is a problem brewing. To address the concern, there must be trust in place. This conversation could quickly turn sour if the employee feels threatened about their performance. Being clear that this is about their health and well-being is key. An honest and authentic conversation about their well-being will ensue when there is an already established positive manager/employee relationship. This generally happens when there is regular and consistent communication.
Assuming there is trust and that the concerned manager asks their employee to respond to this question.
“Do I have career-related stress”?
While we hope the answer is NO, for argument's sake, let’s suggest the answer is YES. The illustration below outlines THREE different approaches to address career related stress.
Source: Strengthening Mental Health Through Effective Career Development: A Practitioner's Guide
ACTIONS LEADERS CAN TAKE
Reduce career related demands - can you shift workload? This could be a temporary lifting of duties or perhaps something more long term. Understanding the skills, abilities and current team workload will help you to determine if you can shift a project to another team member or perhaps you need to take a closer look at increasing your headcount. While this may take some time, in the interim, you can also address coping mechanisms.
Increase career related coping - This could be through shifting their perspective or mindset, or it could be a skill gap and some training may be required. Career related coping is common when an employee is in a new role. This is a good time to look at additional mentoring or professional development like a certification or training that may relieve your employee of undue stress.
Stress management - Finally taking a more holistic approach to stress management. What external coping mechanisms does your employee have in place now? Is it time to dust off their bicycle, or roll out their yoga mat? This is also a good time to look at workplace wellness programs that might not only benefit this particular employee, but your team and organization as a whole.
SUMMARY
Encouraging healthy workplace habits, including positive leader role modeling, consistent communication and conversations addressing workplace demands and supporting skill development and competencies to cope with career related stress is not only good for business but it is the right thing to do.
In closing, we will leave you with an additional resource, a short video highlighting key focus areas for cultivating stronger workplace mental health strategies all in support of reducing career-related stress.