Perkbox’s new survey reveals the primary causes of work-related stress among the employees

Perkbox, the employee experience platform, surveyed 1,815 employed people in the UK to analyze the changing landscape of work-related stress in 2020. The recent study is compared to that of 2018 data to identify the changing scenario of work-related stress and the solutions offered by employers.

According to the studyOpens a new window , 79% of employed British adults experience work-related stress. Compared to 59% in 2018, the study suggests that work-related stress around the country is on the rise. Just 1% state that they ‘never’ experience work stress, while 17% ‘rarely’ experience stress of this kind. 

The study conducted by PerkboxOpens a new window  also investigates the causes of stress in the workplace. In 2018, the primary cause of work-related stress was ‘long working hours’. In 2020, it appears that many workplaces have become aware of the impact of this and have reduced the problem. ‘Long working hours’ has now dropped to 7th most common cause of work-related stress. 

At present, the primary cause of work-related stress is ‘work-related office politics’ as reported by 37% of the employees. With the growing awareness of toxic work environments, ‘office politics’ presents itself as a pressing issue for HR strategies in the upcoming year. The second most common cause of work-related stress was found to be ‘lack of interdepartmental communications’ as reported by 34% thereby highlighting another area of improvement for HR and business leaders. 

As per the study, other common concerns were ‘own work performance’ which calls for training around self-confidence or prevalence of imposter syndrome in the workplace, followed by concerns of ‘company’s performance as a whole’ and ‘concerns about the work performance of others’.

The study also reveals that the workplaces are taking action to reduce the stress among the employees unlike the result of 2018.  However, almost 19% of workers still state that their work has nothing to do with stress.

The most common method that workplaces offer to help reduce employees’ stress has remained unchanged. Working from home policies is still the most popular way that workplace leaders attempt to assist their employees’ work-life balance, but positively, the amount of workplaces offering this benefit has risen from 21% in 2018 to 39% in 2020.

Other popular policies to manage stress include flexible working hours, regular one to one discussion between employees and managers, and counseling services for staff. 

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Despite the positive attempt, stress levels are still on the rise which brings in the question if more innovative methods, such as stress management or resilience training offered by only 11% of the workplaces, are required for stress reduction. By developing the tools that employees can use to handle stress, workplaces can not only improve the wellbeing of their workforce but can also improve the productivity and engagement levels within the company. Advancements in innovation for methods of stress reduction is an area that we expect to grow in the coming years. 

Top 10 causes of work-related stress

1. Work-related office politics – 37%
2. Lack of interdepartmental communications – 34%
3. The work performance of others eg junior members of the team – 33%
4. My own work performance – 31% 
5. Customer/client satisfaction levels – 26%
6. Tensions with senior members of staff/managers – 26%
7. Long working hours – 25%
8. Poor company culture = 18% 
9. The company’s performance as a whole = 18%
10. Other – 15%

Most common measures in place by companies to help manage workplace stress 

1. Able to work from home – 39% 
2. Flexible working hours – 37% 
3. Regular one to ones between employees and managers -37%
4. Counseling services for staff – 33% 
5. Events to build workers social networks -14%
6. Stress management and/or resilience training -11%
7. My company has no measures in place – 12% 
8. Maximum cap in working hours -5%
9. Other – 4%
10. Ban in overtime – 1% 

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