Stress at work is an emerging concern among in SMEs. In order to remedy this, it is necessary to pay close attention to the working environment, as well as to the tools used on a daily basis.
To guarantee success, it is necessary for SME managers to curb this stress.

To what extent is stress at work present in SMEs?

According to a study by HSE, The total number of working days lost due to stress at work in 2017/18 in Great Britain was 15.4 million days. This equated to an average of 25.8 days lost per case.

In most cases, these disorders are caused by:

• Allocation of the workload of an employee, on leave or on leave, to other team members.
• Too many and disparate tasks assigned to each employee due to a moderate workforce.
• Loss of time due to tools and equipment that are not effective or efficient.

Another survey conducted by OpinionWay estimates that 70% of SME managers are victims of stress at work. It is therefore a very important to create a work environment that is more comfortable. To improve working conditions, there is still one lever that is all too often forgotten: work instruments/tools.

What are the tools to reduce stressors?

For the past ten years or so, in large companies (more than 250 employees), there has been an emphasis on well-being at work. From the introduction of new recognitions to the hiring of CHO (Chief Happiness Officer), new means have been put in place to fight against professional stress.

One of the ways to contain stressors is to introduce tools that:

• Limit human errors: methodical note-taking that prevents oversights.
• Accelerate time-consuming processes: to avoid the need to transcribe information to a computer at the end of the day.
• Optimize the internal communication flow: digitization makes it possible to circulate information more quickly.

With the right tools, it is possible to alleviate stress. For example, by using professional smartphones, it is easy to digitalize data capture on the move. With tools such as Trello, Heflo or Kizeo Forms, it becomes easy to relieve stress from frustrating and worrying workloads on your mobile teams.

“How can technicians in the 21st century still take notes on paper, enter them again in electronic format and send them by post? It doesn’t make sense, they waste a lot of time every night!”. Philippe Gellet, CEO and founder of Kizeo.

Anxiety and pressure are common in the corporate world. From the large enterprises to SMEs, work stress is a plague that must be contained at its source. Measures should be taken to prevent the occurrence of psychological disorders. However, let us not forget that any job requires tools. Therefore, it is necessary to get back to the essentials by equipping oneself with “flexible”, “collaborative”, “intuitive” or even recreational tools.