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Burnout risk as 45% of firms ignore staff stress

Waterlooville

New research has revealed that 45% of UK businesses do nothing to help alleviate workers' stress, despite the fact that work is the most common cause of stress.

A study of 3,000 UK workers carried out by Perkbox for its 2018 UK Workplace Stress Report has found that work is by far the most common cause of stress (59%) and 25% of those polled said they struggle to be productive at work when stressed.
Yet 45% of British businesses do not offer anything to help alleviate stress among their staff. Sectors that are least likely to offer measures to help staff deal with their stress levels are:

Hospitality (where 64% do not support staff wellbeing);
Leisure industry (63%);
Transport (55%);
Construction trades (54%);
Health and education (both 45%)

One in ten workers polled say they have called in sick due to stress and 7% say stress has prompted them to look for a new job.
Chieu Cao, cmo and co-founder at Perkbox, said: "It's worrying to see how few businesses seem to be considering stress levels within their workforce their problem. And it is particularly ironic to see that almost one in two workers within the healthcare industry say their bosses do not do offer anything to help them alleviate stress levels.
"This can have hugely damaging effects on morale, productivity and sickness absence - all of which ultimately contribute to a company's overall success - and it is important for bosses to recognise the contribution that work makes to employee stress levels."

Simple ways to support staff can be effective, said Cao. "Introducing measures that help to reduce stress or encourage positive coping methods need not be particularly involved or expensive - even free things as simple as introducing flexible working, considering requests to work from home from time to time, or enforcing one-to-ones with managers to allow employees to discuss concerns and motivations, can go a long way to help."

Source: StartupDonut