Not all stress is created equal. By understanding the distinctions between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ stress, HR can strike a balance between keeping employees motivated and protecting their wellbeing.

Despite its laid-back reputation, Australia is currently one of the most stressed-out countries in the world.

According to a recent report by global analytics firm Gallup, 48 per cent of Australians reported high levels of stress at work in 2022, making them the second most stressed workers globally (alongside New Zealand).

A concrete strategy to tackle workplace stress is no longer a nice-to-have. Following the introduction of a new Code of Practice for managing workplace psychosocial hazards earlier this year, employers now have a positive duty to address the risk of stress and other mental health issues at work.

Stress is not only one of the most significant risks to employee mental health, but also one of the most costly to employers.

According to Safe Work Australia, mental stress is the most common reason for serious workplace injury claims related to mental health, resulting in over 11,000 claims from 2020-21 alone.

When considering the best strategy to manage workplace stress, it’s important to remember that not all stress is created equal. Research shows that there are both healthy and unhealthy forms of stress.

‘Bad stress’, or distress, is what most of us picture when we think about feeling stressed. It tends to occur when we are in overwhelming or anxiety-inducing situations that feel out of our control. Bad stress tends to be a long-term issue, and can be severely detrimental to energy levels, engagement and overall wellbeing.

‘Good stress’, or eustress, is a positive form of short-term stress that we experience when we feel motivated and enthusiastic about something. This type of stress is not only useful but critical in helping us deal with challenging situations, says Dr Michelle McQuaid, Founder of the Wellbeing Lab and upcoming speaker at AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition in August.

“Without good stress, we don’t learn and we don’t grow,” she says.

“Good stress is our body’s way of letting us know that something that matters to us is on the line, and it needs a bit more of our attention and energy and effort to get the outcome that we want. It makes us feel uncomfortable and anxious so we pay attention to what is happening.”

By understanding the causes and effects of good and bad stress, HR can effectively manage risks to wellbeing without compromising motivation and productivity.

Good versus bad stress

To determine whether the stress we are experiencing is healthy or unhealthy, it’s important to understand how our bodies naturally respond to stressors, says McQuaid.

“The cortisol hormone [associated with the ‘fight-or-flight’ response] gets aroused with stress,” she says. “When stress is unhealthy, it tends to be the accumulation of too much cortisol over too long a period of time, and too much cortisol impairs our memory and tends to cause us to want to isolate ourselves from others.

“But cortisol is not the only hormone that gets triggered when we have a stress response. There’s a whole cocktail of hormones, and some of them are very healthy.”

One of these positive hormones is adrenaline, she explains. When our adrenaline levels go up, our heart rate increases and we feel more alert and energised. This can help us approach work in a more productive and detail-oriented way.

“Good stress is our body’s way of letting us know that something that matters to us is on the line.” – Dr Michelle McQuaid, Founder, The Wellbeing Lab

Another hormone triggered as part of our stress response is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which McQuaid describes as ‘like Miracle Gro for our wellbeing’. Studies have shown that DHEA acts to moderate the stress response, and that a person’s DHEA-cortisol ratio correlates to their tolerance for stress. 

“Oxytocin [the hormone associated with love, empathy and trust] can also be stimulated through our stress response,” says McQuaid. “That’s when we feel like we’re going to look after each other through a hard time and get to the other side of it as a team.”

Whether this hormonal reaction to stress feels positive or negative often comes down to whether or not we feel in control of our situation, she says.

“When we feel able to respond to [a situation] in a way that turns it into a challenge, a learning opportunity or an opportunity to ask for help from others and create connections, then that stress is more likely to lead to good outcomes for our growth and development.

“When that stress feels overwhelming for us and we feel it’s out of our control and we can’t have an impact on it, it isolates us and cuts us off from other people. That’s when stress is likely to become unhealthy.”

How can employers encourage a culture of good stress?

The fact that healthy stress can be a force for good at work does not mean that employers should go out of their way to pile up their employees with challenging work to drive better productivity and innovation, says McQuaid. Instead, the key to a culture of good stress is ensuring that the stress comes from a meaningful place.

“Meaningful stress means meaningful learning and growth,” she says.

“[We need to ask], ‘What are the things that are actually helping us learn and grow towards our shared goals? As a team, what are we trying to figure out together?’ That way, the stress and anxiety that might come with that actually feels like it has a higher purpose.”

Read HRM’s article ‘How to push employees (without pushing them too far)’.

In order to ensure that there is a meaningful purpose behind stress, she suggests a number of proactive strategies employers can use:

1. Set learning targets as well as performance targets.

“If we’re going to have that learning culture in an organisation, we need to set learning goals. Performance goals can often feel really stressful, because some of it’s in our control, and sometimes it’s not. Whereas learning goals tend to reflect the effort. 

“We’re not suggesting for a moment that we get rid of all performance goals. But when we have learning goals, those are the things that tend to feel within our control.”

2. Normalise stress and struggle.

“Stress and struggle are a part of learning and growth. [Talking about] what’s working well right now, what we are learning and what we can build on helps lower our stress and builds our confidence, because it normalises the fact that we all struggle as part of learning and growth. And we don’t need to be ashamed of it.” 

3. Reflect on past experiences and challenges.

“[Managers] should be helping teams think about where we’ve been stressed or struggled in the past, how we got through that and whether we could use the same strategy now. 

“It’s also important to ask, ‘Why was it worth it?’ Sometimes when you’re in the middle of a stressful moment, and you think, ‘This isn’t worth it,’ remembering that you’ve gotten through hard things before and what you gained from that can also help make that stress meaningful.”

Our stress response is determined by two factors, says McQuaid: our internal mindset and our external circumstances. Employers can take steps to help coach their employees in stress management to help them reframe their attitude, but the onus cannot be put solely on the employee to manage their stress levels.

“To a large extent, yes, our stress response is within our control,” she says.

“However, if we are in a work situation where we have a boss yelling at us or we’re being harassed or we’ve got unachievable job demands – any of those psychosocial risks that workplaces need to be mindful of – then just because I have a healthy stress response, that doesn’t mean that the stress of those circumstances should be discounted, and that organisations should wipe their hands of it.”

Don’t miss out on hearing from Dr Michelle McQuaid on managing psychosocial risks, promoting employee wellbeing and more at this year’s AHRI National Convention and Exhibition in August. Book your spot today.