Pump up the volume! Capacity is the amount that something can produce. As a human resource skill, it's the ability or power that someone possesses to do or understand something. In business terms, it's what employees, colleagues, and competitors can physically, mentally, and emotionally generate. Capacity is not innate but it can be increased. In conjunction with its cousin, unrealised potential, the two create concrete outcomes.
Capacity is the power to perform, grasp, analyze ideas and cope with problems. It’s a blend of strength and ability. A superpower in today's fast-moving business environments. Work smarter, not harder. Those that don't increase their capacity and productivity, get left behind. No longer does slow and steady win the race, but accepting and running with change, all the while building capacity and stress resilience.
The capacity gap
When workplace demands are higher than an employee's or workforce's current capacity, an inevitable capacity gap follows, and stress appears. Stress helps overcome that gap but in the long-term it can lead to serious health problems and consequently a decrease in engagement and loss of productivity.
94% of workers report experiencing stress at their workplace and 41% say that stress and anxiety affect their work productivity and co-worker relations more than any other factor.1
Furthermore, as employees climb the corporate ladder, workload and responsibilities increase. Unless strategies are implemented to increase their capacity and personal energy levels, there is no other choice but to simply work more, or in other words, longer hours. This deficiency in capacity can lead to burnout, sleeping issues, health problems, troubles with thinking clearly….it sounds like a boost of vitamin C wouldn't hurt.
Workplace stress causes around one million employees to miss work every day and businesses lose up to $300 billion yearly as a result.2
The search for long-term, quality solutions is leading companies to frequently choose multidisciplinary approaches as a means to improve employee engagement and combat absenteeism. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, efficient and holistic systems for employee improvement is the key solution companies are using to achieve their goals and conduct successful operations.
Mind the gap
Companies spend around 75% of a worker’s annual salary to cover lost productivity or hire replacements.3
It's imperative to bridge this capacity gap as the costs of ignoring lagging employee productivity are high. While there are abundant strategies for increasing employee engagement, they don't get to the heart of the problem, that is, how to "mind the gap". Stress resilience now comes into play.
Like a delicious glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice packed with vitamin C that's core to kick-start the day, stress resilience is the foundation to expanding one's capacity. It can be thought of as "bouncing back" from difficult experiences. It's not a "have" or "don't have" trait. Resilience involves behaviours, thoughts and feelings that can be learned and developed.
It is a process of adapting well in the face of adversity or significant sources of stress - such as workplace pressures. Learning how to increase stress resilience which consequently expands capacity levels can positively transform business performance.
So now the only question is, how will you help your business and key employees stay healthy with optimal doses of the newest vitamin C?
- 1-3: 42 Worrying Workplace Stress Statistics (The American Institute of Stress, 2019)