Employers across the country are being sent a clear message from Australian workers: workplace stress is a significant issue and employers need to put in place strategies to address it.
That’s according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher of the new report Workplace Wellbeing.
The report found stressed workers are two and a half times more likely to look for a new job in the next year compared with employees who are not stressed in the workplace.
Moreover, 85% of workers also reported that they believe employers are responsible for creating an environment that proactively addresses stress in the workplace.
These are some of the latest revelations from the a future that works campaign in its most recent report, Workplace Wellbeing which surveyed the views of over 1,000 Australian workers.
McMillan said the results are a wake-up call for Australian businesses.
“These results should make all employers across Australia stand up and take notice,” McMillan said.
“The risk for employers is clear, if they don’t act, employees will walk.”
Other headline results in the survey include:
- 73% of workers are stressed about work;
- 51% of workers believe unrealistic workload expectations have the greatest negative impact on wellbeing in the workplace;
- 25% of Australian workers would sacrifice company perks for better wellbeing in their workplace;
- One in five would sacrifice a promotion (21%) or a pay rise (19%) for better wellbeing; and
- Only one in ten Australian workers (12%) believe business decisions are made in the best interest of the wellbeing of employees.
McMillan added that these results clearly demonstrate that Australian workplaces need to engage in a meaningful and practical renewal process.
“If these issues are not addressed, workers will continue to suffer and ultimately so will businesses,” he said.
Moreover, according to recent research by software firm Bridge by Instructure, employees adopt various ways of overcoming stress – some benefit both the employee’s health as well as the wider organisation, while others can have a serious impact on productivity.
The study found that many turned to yoga, exercise or meditation (30%) while others listened to music (15%), took a walk (15%), tackled hard projects first (14%) and even learned to say no (13%).
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