Stress Awareness Day, Wednesday 4TH November

• Stress has forced one in five workers to call in sick.
• The industries that report the highest rates of work-related stress are health, social work, education and public administration.
• Feeling valued is the most important aspect of a job for 43 per cent of workers

Marks National Stress Awareness Day (NSAD), an annual event organised by International Stress Management Association (ISMA^UK) to promote awareness of the impact of stress in the workplace.

Stress has forced one in five workers (19%) to call in sick, and 93 per cent of these people say they have lied to their boss about the real reason for not turning up[1].

ISMA^UK highlights that the industries that reported the highest rates of work-related stress in the last three years were health, social work, education and public administration[2].

Businesses have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their employees, which includes identifying and tackling mental health issues. It is also in the best interests of the business to ensure employees are happy, as these people will often be more productive[3].

Stressed employees are often more susceptible to burnout, which could mean they suffer a long term illness or eventually quit their job, leading to a loss of talent within a business. According to research, 42 per cent of employees have left a job as a direct result of stress[4].

Accounting for all elements of the recruitment process, including advertising costs and recruiter fees, through to loss of productivity and training for new recruits, each employee lost as a result of stress could cost up to £30,614[5] to replace.

One study[6] into UK workplaces found that motivational techniques are the main driver for job satisfaction, and several studies on the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction have concluded that these variables are inversely related. Managers should therefore focus on motivating employees as one way of ensuring employees feel happy at work.

Delving into employee motivation levels, a 2015 nationwide survey conducted by Argos for Business, the leading provider for corporate motivation solutions, revealed that ‘feeling valued’ by their boss is the top motivational factor in helping them achieve more during their nine to five.

Danny Clenaghan, managing director of Argos for Business, said: “Feeling valued is the most important aspect of a job for 43 per cent of workers and this does not have to cost a business huge amounts. Offering a genuine thank you, a duvet day, a low cost gift voucher or allowing your team to leave 30 minutes early on a Friday, can go a long way in ensuring bosses hold onto valuable team members.

“Rewards and recognising good work both form the basis of a long-term motivational strategy, encouraging employee enthusiasm, and can impact positively on staff wellbeing and improving staff retention.

“Stress Awareness Day is a fantastic initiative that aims to promote awareness of stress and to aid individuals and organisations in changing behaviours with the aim of preventing excessive stress. Hopefully, UK business will use NSAD as an opportunity to put staff wellbeing at the forefront of business thinking and implement motivational strategies that ensure employees feel valued. We’ll be including tops tips to keeping stress levels to a minimum on our Employee Motivation Day social media channels”

For more information about Argos for Business or Employee Motivation Day, visit www.argosforbusiness.co.uk and www.employeemotivationday.co.uk

To engage with National Stress Awareness Day on Twitter, visit @NatMotivateDay and @ISMA_UK

To find out more about National Stress Awareness Day, visit: http://www.isma.org.uk/about-national-stress-awareness-day-nsad/

and social housing, AfB has a range of market leading propositions that help clients to maximise performance, increase sales and make the most of their budgets.

Established for over 30 years, and now part of Home Retail Group, AfB provides clients with access to two of the UK’s leading retailers, Argos and Homebase. AfB works with companies or organisations of any size to provide flexible solutions for a range of issues and challenges facing them today. It also has a range of purchasing and procurement solutions for companies buying single items or in bulk.  In the public sector this can include organisations wishing to control the distribution of funds or grants to tenants or those eligible for welfare support.