Help Employees Feel Less Stressed
On Monday, I
blogged about what laboratory professionals should do about recession-related job stress. Many people may be feeling overworked because of the laboratory staffing shortage or anything else that could be potentially affecting your workload.
Being overworked can be a serious concern. A study by the Families and Work Institute, New York, finds almost half of employees who feel overworked report having poor health; 21 percent of those who feel overworked display signs of clinical depression. Overworked employees are also more likely to "experience anxiety, make mistakes at work, harbor angry feelings about their employer for expecting them to be on the job for long hours and resent coworkers who don't pull their share of the load."
But, according to Karla Brandau, CEO, Workplace Power Institute, Lilburn, GA, there are things managers can to do combat this and help their workers feel less overworked, and therefore, stressed. 
She says managers can help their employees by:
- offering training in time-management principles;
- discouraging the practice of working through lunch;
- insisting employees use vacation time;
- encouraging non-interrupt zones during the day so workers can focus on their tasks; and
- helping employees be more effective.
What have you done for your employees to help ease their workloads, or what has your manager done to help you?