Pressure – feeling it, using it, managing it…

This week the CIPD reported on a recent health, well-being and productivity study which found that 98% of businesses which actively measure stress felt that it was an issue for their workforce. The CIPD’s own research shows that 70% of employees experience workplace stress and that 21% regularly think about quitting their current job.

Elite sports people feel pressure and often lots of it, but through experience and preparation they learn to deal with the huge demands. They experience self-doubt, nerves and even anxiety but manage to rarely feel stressed, and even when they do they find ways to cope with these peaks. The matching of resources (like skills, capability, energy, mindset) to meet the challenges and demands at personal, team and organisational level is at the heart of great performance. It explains why one person could successfully perform a highly pressured job like business CEO whilst another could be stressed performing a seemingly far less demanding role.

We think it would be much more helpful if organisations talked less about stress and more about pressure – about where it comes from, what it is and how to prepare to respond to it. We’d love a world where stress is a thing of the past but pressure is seen as a positive force towards performance improvement. We’d love to hear from you about your experiences of dealing with, using and managing varying amounts pressure…