A small amount of stress is good for employees. But when stress is unrelenting, it can lead to burnout and have a negative effect on employee health and work performance. This week, we shed some light on how organizations can help reduce employee stress at work.
The shocking statistics of stress.
Stress has been rising in the U.S. for the past three decades. Gallup’s most recent data shows that 49% of Americans report frequently experiencing stress, up 16 points over the past two decades and the highest in Gallup’s trend to date.1
All generations are reporting more stress.
Research conducted by WebMD Health Service’s Center for Research in 2024 found that during the period 2022-2024 nearly one-third of employees experienced persistent burnout (unmitigated work stress), across all the generations. Other studies point to increased stress, particularly among younger generations. The American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2023 Stress in America survey found 18 to 34-year-olds say their average stress level is a 6 out of 10, compared with a 3.4 among people ages 65 and older.2 Members of Gen X (people in their 40s and 50s) also report high stress levels, with 22% confessing to struggling with stress daily.
Stress in the workplace has a real cost.
According to Harvard Business Review, workplace stress is estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than 500 billion dollars, and, each year, 550 million work days are lost due to stress on the job.3 It makes sense, as stressed-out employees are more likely to make mistakes, be less productive, and engage in unhealthy behaviors like overeating, smoking, substance misuse, and lack of exercise. In fact, a Headspace survey found 77% of employees say that work tress has negatively impacted their physical health.
How to reduce employee stress in the workplace.
By helping to reduce stress levels in the workplace, employers stand to see greater productivity, retention, and employee health.
Here’s how to reduce employee stress at work:
Create a culture that encourages and supports boundary-setting.
- Employees should set and communicate regular working hours, and block their calendars for self-care or focus time. Many companies have instituted dedicated focus time with initiatives like “no meeting Fridays.”
- Encourage managers to lead by example by blocking time on their own calendars.
- At the outset of new projects, hold a team meeting to set work expectations, hours of availability, and other boundary-setting details.
- Consider sending reminders to shut down at a reasonable hour and schedule “quiet periods,” when employees should refrain from sending or replying to emails.
- Reevaluate time off and vacation policies so that employees are incentivized to take time off regularly. Possibly schedule mandatory company-wide “holidays” to encourage rest and relaxation.
Offer flexibility in where, when and how work gets done.
Workplace flexibility reduces stress by giving employees a greater sense of control over their lives, and allows them to balance their personal and professional responsibilities in a productive way.
Ensure leadership models healthy stress management behaviors.
Encouraging employees to practice self-care and reduce stress is meaningless unless leaders make a point to role-model stress-busting behaviors. This could include blocking time on their calendars for fitness or meditation, hosting walking meetings, and being open about taking time off to care for their own physical and mental health—or others in their life who need care. Doing so signals that looking after one’s mental health is a priority, empowering others in the organization to do the same.
Open the lines of communication between employees and managers.
Managers should create an environment of psychological safety in which employees feel comfortable expressing concerns. Weekly check-ins about how employees are feeling and what’s on their plate are key. It’s also important for managers to acknowledge employees’ lives outside of work and offer flexibility to accommodate personal demands. Finally, train managers to demonstrate more caring, compassion and understanding of the feelings and circumstances of their employees, and give them the tools to have conversations about mental health.
Embed mindfulness, meditation, and resilience into the corporate culture.
In addition to clarifying thinking and increasing resilience, meditation and mindfulness can help employees learn to cope with work-related emotional stress, such as confrontation and criticism. If you have not made these kinds of resources available to employees to help support stress management in the workplace, think about how you can add them to your well-being program.
Promote and leverage your well-being program benefits.
The mind-body connection is undeniable—when we’re feeling healthy, we’re more resilient and less stressed. So, be sure to promote your well-being program’s resources for increasing resilience, improving mental health, boosting physical activity, and eating well. Wellness challenges that inspire employees—and give them permission—to step away from their desks and move throughout the day are also a great idea.
Employee stress isn’t going anywhere soon, but organizations can take steps to bring it to a more manageable level. A work and leadership culture that supports holistic well-being, taking time to recharge, and setting boundaries will help.
