While 85 per cent of Canadian employers rank stress as the top health and productivity concern in their workplace, employers and employees disagreed on its causes, according to two surveys by Willis Towers Watson.
In a poll of 111 Canadian employers and another poll of 2,000 Canadian employees, the global consultant found that both groups listed two factors of stress in their top three choices: inadequate staffing and excessive amounts of organizational change.
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But, in subsequent rankings, opinions diverged. According to the survey, employers believe employees are most stressed by lack of work-life balance, excessive amounts of organizational change and inadequate staffing.
While employees also ranked excessive amounts of organizational change and inadequate staffing as two of the top causes of workplace stress, they also cited low pay and company culture. Lack of work-life balance was ranked 8th.
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“To address the issue of workplace stress, employers first need to identify the root causes from the employee’s point of view,” said Julia Graham, Canadian division leader of absence, disability and health management at Willis Towers Watson.
“If workplace strategies are based on inaccurate assumptions, employers run the risk of spending money on initiatives that won’t solve the problem and may alienate employees in the process.”
