How to Deal With Work Stress and Anxiety: A Guide for Workplaces

Understanding Work-Related Stress

Most people experience stress at work from time to time. High workloads, strict deadlines, and changing responsibilities can place pressure on individuals that they might struggle to cope with. Work-related stress is the reaction many employees experience when they are unable to manage the demands being placed on them at work.

Stressed-out employees may exhibit negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviours as a result and find that their personal and professional lives are being affected. If left unaddressed, prolonged and extreme work stress can evolve into physical health problems, anxiety, burnout, and reduced wellbeing.

Understanding the causes and signs of employee stress is important as it can help you take the first step towards creating a happier, healthier workplace and providing employees with the support they need.

Causes of Stress at Work

There are many potential causes of stress at work. These can be a result of expectations within the workplace or stem from problems at home. Some common examples include:

• Excessive workloads
• Conflicting demands
• Feeling a lack of control over work
• Unclear responsibilities
• Poor support from management
• Experiencing bullying, harassment, or discrimination
• Work life imbalance
• Changes in workforce

Employees at all levels can experience stress at work, and it often develops gradually as stressors build up. While some external pressure can initially be motivating, prolonged pressure often becomes harmful if left unaddressed.

Signs and Symptoms of Employee Stress

Stress can impact people in different ways. There are four main ways work stress can impact people: behaviourally, psychologically, emotionally, and physically.

Behavioural symptoms

• Avoiding tasks
• Working longer hours
• Taking extended periods off work
• Struggling to meet deadlines
• Making more mistakes in their work
• Seeking reassurance

Psychological symptoms

• Being unable to concentrate
• Finding it hard to make decisions
• Making problems feel bigger than they are
• Minimising or overlooking successes
• Reduced confidence in themselves and their ability
• Imposter syndrome
• Perfectionism

Emotional symptoms

• Irritability
• Tearfulness
• Low moods
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Feeling overwhelmed and unable to switch off

Physical symptoms

• Tiredness and fatigue
• Nausea
• Headaches
• Muscle aches and pains
• Chest pains

The Impact of Stress at Work

Severe work stress or prolonged periods of stress can have a detrimental impact on both employees and employers:

Impact on employees

• Poor mental wellbeing
• Increased risk of anxiety and depression
• Social isolation or withdrawal
• Reduced sleep quality
• Burnout
• Increased sickness

Impact on employers

• Increased levels of absenteeism
• Increased levels of presenteeism
• Higher staff turnover
• Reduced productivity
• Lower team morale
• Higher risk of mistakes or lower-quality work output
• Increased training and recruitment costs
• Lower return on investment

How Can Employees Manage Stress at Work?

As an employee, there are a number of ways you can start to manage stress and anxiety at work more efficiently and get the support you need.

Identify what is causing you stress

The first step to better managing work stress is to identify what is causing it in the first place. Whenever you encounter a stressful situation at work, make a note and look for any recurring patterns: Is your workload too high? Do you have challenging relationships with colleagues? Are you struggling to meet tight deadlines?

Identifying repeated stressors can give you a clearer understanding of what you can control yourself, where you might need extra support, and what kind of support might be most helpful.

Talk to your manager about how you are feeling

High levels of stress can be hard to identify in other people, and it is possible that your manager may not realise you are struggling unless you tell them directly. Talking to your manager or another colleague you can trust will allow you to explore practical solutions for reducing stress together.

Openly communicating any anxieties, you have about workload, priorities, responsibilities, or anything else can help you address sources of stress earlier, before they become too overwhelming to cope with.

Establish reasonable boundaries that you can stick to

Establishing boundaries both inside and outside of work can help you better manage work-related stress and give you a better work-life balance. This can be particularly helpful if you work from home all, or most, of the time.

Outside of work hours, avoid checking your emails so you can separate your work-life from your home-life as much as possible. You should also make sure to take regular breaks during your working day and ensure you use all the annual leave you are entitled to.

You should also learn to say no to additional tasks or responsibilities if you don’t believe you can realistically take them on. It can help to offer a reason why you can’t take on extra work, such as having conflicting deadlines or higher-priority tasks to complete.

Maintain a healthy work-life balance

It is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Make sure you are taking time to pursue hobbies and interests outside of work, build and maintain your social connections and relationships, and get plenty of exercise.

Learn self-help techniques for managing stress

If you start to feel overwhelmed with stress at work, it can help to practice some easy self-help techniques to calm yourself down and manage your symptoms. Consider doing the following when you start to feel the effects of stress taking over:

• Deep breathing exercises
• Following meditation videos
• Yoga
• Journalling
• Practicing mindfulness
• Breaking large, overwhelming tasks down into actionable steps

Seek professional help if you need extra support

Sometimes, extreme work stress can become too challenging to manage alone. If you have been experiencing symptoms for several weeks that are affecting your daily life and work performance, it might be time to seek professional support.

Therapies, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, can help you reframe your thinking and teach you strategies for effectively managing stress and anxiety. If your symptoms become severe, you might also benefit from speaking to your GP.

Protect your physical health

It is just as important to look after your physical health as it is your mental health. Regular exercise, a consistent sleep routine, and eating a balanced diet can all improve your physical health and boost your mood and energy levels.

You should also ensure you are taking breaks from screens, particularly if you spend the majority of your work day sitting behind a laptop or computer monitor.

How Can Employers Support Stressed-Out Employees?

Employers are required to look after the mental health and wellbeing of their staff. Here are some strategies that employers can follow to reduce employee stress levels and improve support provisions:

Establish open communication channels

Employers should encourage regular conversations about wellbeing in the workplace. By creating open communication channels with your employees, you can build a culture where staff feel comfortable raising concerns early before they become larger issues.

Managers and members of the leadership team should be trained to sensitively and confidently discuss mental health concerns with their team, and scheduling regular one-to-ones provides a private space for employees to discuss their stresses and anxieties about work.

Understand sources of employee stress

Having open communication channels in the workplace can help you identify the root causes of stress in your employees. Employee surveys, feedback, and discussions in one-to-one meetings can all provide good insight into recurring issues that are causing stress.

Knowing what causes your employees stress can ultimately help you address it, find a solution, and prevent further issues. It can also indicate what you should be monitoring on a closer level, such as workload and staffing levels.

Agree on realistic goals and expectations

It can help to collaborate with stressed-out employees to set achievable objectives and clarify responsibilities. This makes sure you are both on the same page and prevents any misunderstandings between parties.

You should continue to check in with the affected employee about the progress they have made towards meeting their goals or objectives, and continue to refine them if and when that is needed.

Make reasonable adjustments

Making reasonable adjustments in response to concerns raised about stress can help make work feel more manageable for the impacted employee. Examples of reasonable adjustments you might offer as a solution include:

• Implementing flexible working arrangements
• Temporarily adjusting workload or responsibilities
• Providing additional supervision or support
• Allowing more rest breaks
• Offering support with work prioritisation
• Providing additional training
• Having a phased return-to-work plan after a stress-related absence

After making reasonable adjustments, you should monitor the effectiveness of the strategies used and consider how the rest of the team might be affected and if they might need further support to help them cope with any changes.

Implement wellbeing initiatives

Workplace wellbeing initiatives play an important role in reducing employee stress and promoting positive mental health. They should not replace efforts to find and address the root causes of employee stress, but they can be helpful for teaching employees practical strategies for managing workplace pressures and stressors.

Offering mental health training, stress management workshops, and wellbeing resources all contribute to creating a happier, healthier, and more supportive workplace culture.

Signpost employees to available help

Employees experiencing extreme work stress might not know what support is available to them or where to turn for help. As an employer, it is important to make information about available services clear and easily accessible.

You should regularly communicate what support is available for your employees, such as Employee Assistance Programmes and access to private therapy, and signpost them to appropriate help as soon as possible. Early intervention can help prevent stress from escalating any further.

Build a positive working environment

Having a positive working environment can make employees feel valued, well-supported, and safe. There are many ways to develop a happy and healthy work environment, including promoting open communication, recognising and celebrating achievements, and addressing workplace issues quickly and fairly.

You can also try to promote collaboration and socialisation throughout your team by arranging regular team-building activities and social events. Close-knit teams that respect one another are more likely to feel like they have a wider support network, making them feel more fulfilled and motivated at work.

Available Support to Help Employers Manage Work Stress

Employers don’t have to manage employee stress all on their own. There is plenty of employee mental health support available to offer to their team to promote positive mental health and effective stress management.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy commonly used to help people understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are connected. When people experience high levels of stress at work, they may develop negative thinking patterns that increase feelings of pressure, anxiety, and self-doubt.

CBT helps people identify these negative thoughts, reframe them, and shift their perspective and mindset. They are also taught to develop practical strategies for coping with stressful challenges in the workplace.

Sessions can be delivered to employees through face-to-face or remote sessions online, giving them complete flexibility.

Training Courses and Workshops

Mental health training courses and workshops can be delivered to help employees and employers develop a better understanding of work-related stress and mental health. Courses might cover topics like mental health awareness, stress management, and avoiding burnout.

Training can provide managers with the confidence they need to support members of their team who are struggling with stress or other mental health challenges.

Access Workplace Mental Health Support with Onebright

Onebright provides expert mental health services for employers looking to invest in the mental health and wellbeing of their team. We are proud to support more than 200 businesses across the UK.

We provide a range of services, including counselling and psychotherapy, neurodevelopmental services, mental health training, and wellbeing consultancy.

Contact our friendly team today to find out how we can support you to build a happy and healthy company culture you can be proud of.