Holly Smevog, a member of the Association for Consulting Expertise, recommends how employers can help workers manage stress and ultimately stay engaged in their jobs.
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Q: How can we encourage employees to stay with us longer?
ACE Advises: Help them manage stress. Stress is not always bad. Sometimes stress enhances focus and helps employees meet deadlines. But prolonged stress takes a mental and physical toll. Over time, stress in the workplace will undermine morale, reduce productivity, and lead to high employee turnover.
The COVID-19 pandemic wore down people’s resilience in the face of difficult conditions. This is especially true at work and continues to affect high level performance. Continuing stress leaves workers less tolerant of negative emotions, and more likely to disengage, or quit.
Future causes of stress and challenge are unpredictable. Over the long-term, increasing mental fortitude across the team creates an environment where stress is met with greater resilience. Helping employees build skills to recognize stressors, remain emotionally calm, and choose how to handle stressful situations transforms the workplace.
Workplace mental fitness training programs share a basic premise: people who commit even small amounts of time each day to practice mental fitness exercises will have a more positive sense of how they feel, think, and act. Mental fitness strengthens neural pathways that lead to realistic and objective thoughts. Participants in mental fitness programs report much happier and more fulfilling days at work, better communication and interaction across the team and increased job performance. This translates to higher retention rates.
When employers look at cost effectiveness, encouraging employees to develop mental fitness might be the best way to show support and encourage employees to stay on board.
Holly Smevog, an ACE member and professional career and mental fitness coach, is principal of Portland-based HMS Career Coaching. She is on the board of the Maine Career Development Association and is also a member of the International Coaching Federation. She can be reached at holly@hmscareercoaching.com.