Reducing Stress – and Boosting Optimism – on Your Team

As one of the top staffing firms in South Florida, Future Force knows most employers are focused on the bottom line. While this is important, it’s also critically important to take into account the people who are helping you achieve profitability. If your workforce is stressed and stretched thin, then the long-term consequences will be lower productivity, increased healthcare costs, and high turnover. However, if workers feel optimistic and happy, then the sky’s the limit.

So if your employees are strained and stretched, what can you do to buoy them? Here’s a look:

Lead by example.

If you’re always stressed and negative, then it’s going to impact morale on your team. Instead, be careful about the tone that you set in the workplace. You don’t have to sugar coat bad situations, however, as a leader, you must be encouraging and optimistic.

Shut down the complainers.

Even if you only have one of them on your staff, complainers have a way of poisoning the entire team. That’s why it’s so important to shut them down as quickly as possible. You don’t want their negativity to spread. So pull them aside and have a private talk with them. They may not even realize that their behavior is negatively impacting the whole team.

Be goal oriented.

If your company has had a rough couple of years, it can be easy to lose focus and optimism. However, better days are ahead – and in order to get to them, you can’t dwell on the past. You must create a plan for a brighter future, outline the specific steps it will take to get there, then show each employee how they individually can contribute toward achieving those goals.

Help employees manage stress.

You don’t need to break the budget in order to help your employees manage stress. For instance, make sure employees take breaks regularly and use their vacation time. Schedule a monthly brown bag lunch session during which your team members can open up, talk about daily stressors, and offer each other support and guidance. Whatever you do, your goal should be to create more positive energy – and a more positive environment in which employees feel supported and encouraged.

Another way to create a more positive workforce is to hire for attitude. If you’d like some help with the process, call the team at Future Force. As one of the top staffing firms in South Florida, we can help you hire skilled, dependable employees on a full-time, part-time or temporary basis and ensure they get up to speed – and productive – as soon as possible. Contact Future Force today to learn more.