Stress management: a prerequisite for business transformation

If your company is undergoing a transformation to adapt to changes in the business environment, it is essential that you ask yourself: can stress affect this process?

We live in a stressed society. Stress has become part of our lives and we see it as a normal part of today’s world. Stress takes hold of us in both our professional and personal lives.

And companies are no exception to this reality; at every level of the organisation, employees are affected by stress, and the problem is that feeling stressed has become so commonplace that we have grown accustomed to it.

Nowadays, with markets moving at such a rapid pace, business transformation is vital if companies are to remain competitive. To this end, it is essential that they remain alert to any factor that might affect the process; stress is a disruptive factor in work performance that often goes unnoticed and which undoubtedly hinders or slows down business transformation.

Stress management within every organisation must be treated as a priority, given the worrying levels of distress experienced by the general population, due to the volume of negative stimuli they receive from their environment and the pressures inherent in their activities, both at work and in their personal lives. And there is no doubt that work performance is increasingly directly linked to an employee’s emotional and psychological state. The higher the level of distress, the lower the performance, and vice versa.

A business owner, executive or manager must ensure that their staff maintain a high level of performance, that their work can be ranked amongst the best, and that their ability to resolve specific problems is swift and accurate. To this end, they must be able to identify and understand any disruptions that may arise and hinder business transformation.

How can a manager identify these disruptions?

By establishing direct communication with staff, taking an interest in what bothers them, but also in what they enjoy, and by fostering communication within the team. Herein lies one of the great virtues of a good manager: it is not just about knowing how to run the business, but also about understanding what affects their staff.

It is therefore not unreasonable to bear in mind certain criteria for tackling the problem of stress’s impact on staff, such as:

1. Taking into account the psychological profile of employees
2. Considering the levels of stress staff may experience due to working conditions such as ergonomics, noise, temperature, hygiene, workload, interpersonal relationships and financial circumstances
3. Organising regular stress management sessions through team-building activities
4. Encouraging communication between different levels of the organisation
5. Planning training for the team that includes strategies for time management, activity planning, negotiation techniques, conflict resolution and the development of interpersonal skills
6. Encourage teamwork, freedom of participation and creativity
7. Assess the leadership style and make changes where necessary

Looking at the above criteria, we can see that when a company realises just how detrimental stress can be to work performance, it must carry out a comprehensive review of its processes and find ways to identify and address its weaknesses. Stress management is a process of continuous improvement for the organisation as a whole, resulting in happier employees with greater concentration and better results.

Stress management is linked to the main driving force behind businesses: their staff. Focusing on this core strength is the best way to achieve the desired results and bring about the necessary business transformation.

As we know, business transformation involves change, so here is an article on change management: Change management in business: when change is a necessity.