How Employers Can Recognise and Combat Stress in the Workplace
May 2025
A Guide from Sense – Supporting Better Health Through Technology
In today's fast-paced working world, stress has become one of the most significant challenges impacting employee wellbeing and business performance. Chronic stress not only leads to burnout and poor mental health, but it also reduces productivity, increases absenteeism, and contributes to higher staff turnover.
As an employer, your role in recognising and responding to workplace stress is critical. With the right approach and the right tools you can help create a healthier, more resilient workforce.
Understanding Workplace Stress
Workplace stress can be triggered by a variety of factors, including:
Heavy workloads and long hours
Lack of control or autonomy
Poor communication or unclear expectations
Job insecurity
Work-life imbalance
Exposure to difficult or unsafe working conditions
While a little pressure can help drive performance, ongoing, unmanaged stress leads to mental fatigue, disengagement, and physical health issues such as headaches, heart problems, digestive issues, and more.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), over 17 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in a single year. Ignoring stress not only affects your people, it impacts your bottom line.
That’s why proactive stress management should be a core part of your wellbeing strategy.
How Employers Can Support Employees in Managing Stress
Here are practical steps employers can take to create a lower-stress, higher-performance work environment:
1. Foster a Culture of Openness
Create an environment where employees feel safe to speak up about stress, without fear of judgement or repercussions. Train managers to have supportive conversations and recognise signs of distress.
2. Promote Work-Life Balance
Encourage regular breaks, fair workloads, and discourage excessive out-of-hours communication. Consider flexible working arrangements or hybrid options where possible.
3. Equip Managers with the Right Tools
Managers are your first line of defence. Provide them with training and digital tools—like Sense's employee wellbeing platform—to spot patterns of stress (e.g., poor sleep, low recovery rates, decreased activity) and respond early.
4. Use Health Tech to Monitor and Prevent Stress
Platforms like Sense give employees insight into their own wellbeing — tracking sleep, stress levels, heart rate variability, and other health indicators. This data empowers both employees and employers to take early, informed action.
5. Offer Mental Health Resources
Ensure access to mental health support such as counselling services, employee assistance programmes (EAPs), and regular wellness workshops. Make these resources visible and accessible.
6. Encourage Physical Activity
Exercise is a proven stress reliever. Support initiatives that get your workforce moving — whether through onsite classes, walking challenges, or discounted gym memberships.
7. Recognise and Reward Employees
Feeling undervalued can lead to chronic stress. A culture of appreciation—through regular feedback, recognition programs, and opportunities for growth—can go a long way.
How Sense Can Help
At Sense, we use cutting-edge health technology to help employers create data-driven wellbeing strategies. Our platform enables early identification of stress-related patterns by monitoring real-time health data (with full employee consent and privacy compliance), allowing for preventive action instead of reactive solutions.
By giving both managers and employees greater insight into stress, recovery, and resilience, we help businesses build healthier, happier, and more productive teams.
Final Thoughts
Managing workplace stress isn’t just an HR initiative — it’s a leadership responsibility. When employers take proactive steps to support mental and physical wellbeing, everyone benefits: employees feel valued, businesses see stronger performance, and workplace culture thrives.
Let’s make stress management smarter.
Let’s make it Sense.
