Unmanaged stress can have a serious impact on employee performance and overall wellbeing, which in turn, has crippling consequences on company output.

The results of poor stress management and workplace pressures can include decreased proficiency, higher absenteeism rates, low company morale, counterproductive team work and employee health related problems. Effectively assessing stressors, stress types and implementing the necessary measures to create healthy stress management programs can be the differentiating factor of a mediocre business to a productively efficient one.

What are stressors?

It must be noted that stress factors are subjective and what one person may find stressful, others may not necessarily experience as negatively. The way in which we experience and react to stress is described as an emotional condition which triggers physical, psychological and emotional responses from the individual.
Formally, a stressor is defined as an event or context that elevates adrenaline and triggers the stress response which results in the body being thrown out of balance as it is forced to respond.

Examples of Stress Triggers

• Environmental stressors (elevated sound levels, over-illumination, overcrowding)
• Daily stress events (e.g. traffic, lost keys)
• Life changes (e.g. divorce, bereavement)
• Workplace stressors (e.g. role strain, lack of control)