Managers should be vigilant about workplace stress because it is avoidable with the right approach, an expert has said.
Companies who ignore the signs of workplace stress in their employees find it impacts at a later date, according to a consultancy.
Tom Stewart, managing director of System Concepts, said managers should make efforts to prevent employee stress, including noticing the signs and not mistaking them for the effects of hard work.
An employee suffering from stress is more likely to take time off and this has a knock-on effect within the business as colleagues take up the slack, he said.
Mr Stewart said: "Because stress is often treated in a humorous way - if you're not stressed you're not working hard enough - there is a tendency for the people who are really suffering to keep quiet and you don't spot them until it's too late."
A recent poll from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) suggested workers are feeling stress at work because they are worried about their jobs.
It concluded 19 per cent of workers thought their employer was struggling to stay afloat and many felt their boss was piling on the pressure - some 39 per cent told Nesta they were being instructed to improve or maintain their performance.
Recruitment consultants, estate agents and call centre staff were the most anxious respondents to the poll.
Meanwhile, a new study from employee satisfaction experts Maven Research reported 61 per cent of interviewees said they were feeling under more pressure than a year ago.
Some 15 per cent of workers added they were getting professional help in the form of psychotherapy, counselling or medication to try to alleviate and manage their stress.
Workload, pay, IT systems and paperwork were cited as the main contributors to stress at work but Maven suggested management of workload, social isolation at work and uncaring management were strongly implicated.
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