Clearview National March 2019 - Issue 208 | Page 77
BUSINESSNEWS
We can’t stress enough…
The importance of addressing work-related frustrations asap
» » NEW RESEARCH REVEALS THAT 43%
of employees in UK small businesses have
changed their jobs because of work-related
frustrations and stresses that were not
addressed by management, according to new
research out today.
One-third of respondents also admitted to
calling in sick because of work-related stress,
according to the new report ‘Causes and
implications of workplace stress in SMEs’ by
Process Bliss.
The main sources of SME workplace stress
were having to chase colleagues for updates
(33%) and a lack of information or clarity
when asked to do something (31%). Other
sources of workplace stress cited were a lack
of control over a situation (28%), a lack of
guidance/direction from the boss (26%) and a
lack of response to emails (25%).
“Many of these issues come from people not
being given sufficient training or a functioning
process to follow that enables them to do their
job well,” said Alister Esam, CEO, Process Bliss.
“At the same time, managers are checking up
on, and micro-managing staff because they
have no way of seeing whether employees
are following that process correctly. This
harassment is stressful, contributing to a culture
of mistrust and causing people working at
SMEs to leave in significant numbers.
“The biggest problems, a lack of clarity
from management when asking for
something to be done or a lack of guidance
from the boss, simply should not be factors
in workplace stress. They are easily avoidable
by providing the right training or having
functioning processes to work with.”
With almost two-thirds (63%) of
respondents admitting they were not clear
about all of their company’s processes, training
and process management are clearly key issues
for business managers to solve. The most
common process failures were employee/new
starter onboarding, procurement and credit-
checking, while HR disciplinary processes
and customer onboarding were also cited.
Such process failure was having a significant
impact on the business too; 43% say their
company has lost customers because of failed
processes.
“Many companies document their
processes, but it is clear that many
employees aren’t aware of that fact or find
them inaccessible,” continued Alister Esam,
CEO, Process Bliss. “As a result, they
effectively operate without them which
leads to errors, micromanagement and
mutual distrust between staff and bosses.
A process must be supportive and usable
to employees rather than a document that
nobody reads. This ensures employees have
all they need to do their jobs, nurtures
greater levels of trust for managers and
reduces workplace stress.”
38% of respondents say that working for a
small business was more stressful than working
for a bigger firm, while 32% say they do not
feel trusted in the workplace, suggesting there
is much work still to do in addressing SME
workplace stress.
“Doing more to reduce stress in the
workplace is hugely important and should
be a key priority for SME bosses during
2019 – staff retention is vital,” concluded
Alister Esam. “Employees do their best work
when they are motivated, engaged, trusted
and work in a reduced-stress environment
and leave a job when they are unhappy and
demotivated. Workplace stress can come from
many different sources and while no boss can
eliminate stress completely, there are lots of
measures that can be put in place to ensure
day-to-day frustrations are reduced.”
The ‘Causes and implications of workplace
stress in SMEs’ report is available for
download here (https://processbliss.com/
wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Causes__
implications_of_workplace_stress_in_
SMEs_FINAL.pdf ).
An online survey of 1,000 employees within UK small businesses was undertaken by TLF Research. (www.tlfresearch.co.uk/) in December 2018.
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