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HR Support Services for Small Businesses: Let’s talk about Stress

Stress is a word that probably most people use on a daily basis to describe a number of issues – ‘I can’t decide what car to buy’, ‘my flights have just been cancelled, ‘I don’t have enough hours in the day’, ‘I’m going to have to work all night to finish this work’, etc. But clearly, we will all have opinions on just how ‘stressful’ the above situations are. Likewise, everyone has a different capacity when dealing with stress and as a result the word itself is often used indiscriminately and not taken very seriously.

We are all guilty of overusing the word and in some cases it can become a competition – ‘who is the most stressed, who has the biggest workload and who copes the best’. This may just be perceived as workplace banter but for some employees the word stress will have a very different meaning.

According to studies, 1 in 6 people in the UK are suffering from depression, anxiety or stress, the cost to the UK for dealing with such conditions is £26 billion each year with an estimated loss of 70 million working days.

Despite these huge numbers, such conditions are often swept aside or ignored, often because employers are uncomfortable with dealing with them. Likewise, because of the overuse of the word stress, people often don’t take such complaints seriously. Ever heard or even used the phrase ‘oh stress is just the new back pain’?

Also consider if you have ever mentioned to a colleague or a friend that you are feeling stressed at work. Was their reaction ‘ok let’s talk about this’ or perhaps more likely they simply proceeded to tell you about ‘their stress’? Imagine for someone who is genuinely feeling overwhelmed, how this may affect them? It’s likely to make them feel worthless for not being able to cope and, more worryingly, to decide not to open up again.

Whilst stress can happen in any role in any workplace to anyone (it doesn’t discriminate) there is no doubt that sales environments can be highly stressful. With continual targets, competition, the need to be the best, continual improvements, changing markets etc. it’s not for the faint hearted.

And of course it’s important to remember that stress itself isn’t always a negative. For many people, the pressures provide a healthy level of stress that drives them forward. But for others, stress is far from positive.

HR Support Services for Small Businesses and How to Deal with Stress

It’s important we don’t assume that if people can’t deal with the stress of work, then they are just in the wrong job; after all stress can strike at any time, including after many previous successful years. This will often be due to other influences occurring in someone’s life, perhaps family or personal problems that just tips the balance and leaves them unable to cope where they may have previously thrived.

In these instances, employees can often feel embarrassed and they will try to cover up their issue and not discuss it with anyone, occasionally they may be successful in overcoming the problem on their own, but unfortunately this is often not the case.

If you have experienced such a bad experience of stress, either in the short or long term; then you will know that it can have terrible effects. It can result in loss of self-confidence, risks to your health, poor sleeping, relationship breakdowns and an inability to function effectively on a day to day basis. This is not the same as when you have a bad day, but rather a continual feeling of dread and worry that without help and treatment can lead to devastating outcomes.

So what can employees and employers do to avoid stress and manage it when it does occur?

  • Firstly, it’s important for employers to train their managers effectively in people management skills. They need to be able to manage their employee’s workloads, ensure they are adequately trained and that goals are realistic and achievable. This doesn’t mean employees cannot be stretched but they must have the tools and means to achieve success; as there is no benefit to either party for an outcome to be failure.
  • In addition to the above, employers must train managers to recognise the signs of stress and how best to manage it. Employees are often reluctant to seek help when stressed because they feel they will be treated differently or that their job will be at risk. Therefore, they must be reassured so that they can move forward. For some, this may be to consider workplace counselling, coaching and to review their workloads.  Managers can then put in place changes to workload where required and support and training needed to help the employee back on track. Solutions don’t need to be expensive; often it’s a simple case of a manager providing hands on support.

HR support is equally essential to the success of managing stress. This will be to fully support managers and ensure appropriate policies are in place to deal with these issues. Likewise, where in some cases it isn’t possible for the employee to continue to work in their current role, HR can advise all parties of the options available to them.

For employees, it’s important that you look at how you are managing your time and if improvements can be made, take regular breaks and ask for support when needed.

Where things become of concern, you should talk to a trusted friend or colleague and confide in your manager or HR should things become too much.  Of course for anyone that feels they are suffering from stress, depression or anxiety and they don’t feel able to talk to friends or colleagues; it is important that they speak to their GP, who can offer support and treatment options. It’s also important to remember you are not alone and help is available to help you manage this difficult time.

This is a guest post by Heidi Thompson, HR Consultant at Workplace Law. Visit for HR support and training in managing employment relations.

Human Resource Outsourcing Services: Providing Experts for Your Company

Do you lack experts and time in your company to get the job done? If you do, then you need to outsource human resource tasks to an outside company. This means that you need to hire a company to do some of the job your company has to do in order for profit to grow.

It is a fact that some of the jobs that you need to do require professionals. However, if you hire a professional in your company, it will usually be too expensive and will take a lot of time. If you outsource it to outsourcing companies and freelancers, you will be saving a lot of money in terms of salaries.

Human resource tasks, such as payrolls, benefits administration, business processes and employee management are now outsourced to other companies, usually offshore in order to save on business expenses. Human resource outsourcing is now becoming a booming business in countries such as China, Philippines, India and other developing countries. They offer cheap and quality services for companies who are outsourcing human resources.

Since outsourcing saves a lot of money, your company will be able to cut costs in human resource jobs. Also, there are a lot of professionals in these developing countries that are competent and are qualified to do your human resources jobs. They will be able to provide you with quality services at a very competitive price.

Another great thing about outsourcing your human resources jobs is that it will allow your company to focus on more important factors than human resources. It will effectively let you manage your company’s priorities more efficiently.

Your company will also be able to save a lot of money on building your own in-house human resource department. This is because the outsourcing companies already have the technology and you don’t have to invest a lot of money by developing your own in-house human resources department. The outsourcing company will be the one to provide the technology for you. They will only charge you with the services they do.

However, with all the advantages that human resource outsourcing can provide you, there will always be some disadvantages.

Since you will be letting other companies handle your human resources jobs, you will be providing sensitive information to them. Make sure that the outsourcing services you hire has a strong organization that will be able to keep your company’s information, whatever it is, confidential.

Another disadvantage is that when you outsource your human resource department, you will be directing your clients to the outsourcing company. This means that you will be losing direct communication with your clients and it might weaken your relationship with your clients and potential clients. Because of this, you have to make sure that the quality of the outsourcing company’s services remains at par with your standards.

These are the things you should remember when you are considering to outsource your human resources department. Keeping all of these in mind will ensure quality in the services of the outsourcing company.

So, if you need a growth engine or a way to access human resource technology without spending a lot of money on technology or reduce administrative overheads in order for your company to focus on more important issues, you should consider outsourcing as a great tool for your company. But always remember that strategic roles of your company should always be kept in-house.