Research by Cubiks reveals that stress is still a taboo subject in today’s workplace. A susceptibility to stress is very much considered to be a weakness that employees cannot afford to highlight without fear of repercussions.

Findings

– Complaining of stress will damage your career prospects –
76% of survey respondents thought that their career prospects would be damaged if they complained of stress, and managers confirmed that they are right to think this. 79% of managers said they would be less likely to employ a candidate if they suspected that they were prone to stress and 87% would be less likely to promote an existing employee if they had doubts over their ability to handle stress.

– Stress levels are rising and will get higher – One in four
said that their average stress levels at work were either high or very high and almost half expect these levels to increase in the next 12 months.

– The economic downturn is influencing stress levels – Only 9% considered poor compensation and benefits to be a major concern, which indicates that those who have not been affected by redundancy or restructuring are grateful to be in employment. Job insecurity was stated as being a cause of stress for almost half of all respondents.

– It’s not just emotive tasks such as dismissing staff or
announcing redundancies that cause stress for managers – A large proportion of managers said that core people management tasks such as handling performance appraisals or conducting the recruitment interview were a significant source of stress for them. This suggests that managers are not receiving the training needed to perform in their role.

– Few organisations provide facilities for stressed employees. Only one third (34%) of respondents said that stress was recognised as an issue in their workplace and just 31% of respondents said that personal counselling services were available to them. Fewer still (27%) said that their organisation has any formal process for handling grievances or concerns relating to stress.

Are people in your organisation free to discuss stress, or is it a difficult issue to bring into the open? Post your comments below.