Stressed Workers Cost Employers $500 Billion Each Year
From the factory floor to the corporate boardroom, rising workplace stress negatively impacts productivity, employee health, and your organization’s bottom line. In fact, stressed workers cost employers $500 billion annually. It is important to understand specifically what stress is and how our bodies react to it in order to find the best solution to the problem in the workplace. The good news is your organization is able to directly address this issue. Employees spend at least one third of their day at the worksite, which provides you an excellent opportunity to promote better physical and mental health across your workforce.
We often create silos between the office and the home, but they are connected.
“Lots of research shows that your tendency to overeat, over drink, and take drugs are affected by your workplace,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford University professor of organizational behavior. “When people like their lives, and that includes work life, they will do a better job of taking care of themselves. When they don’t like their lives, they don’t.”
Let’s explore two common workplace stressors and how resources at work can help.
Working Too Much
Employees may find it challenging to disconnect. The Pew Research Center found that 47 percent of office workers say email, cellphones, and the Internet have increased their working hours. This can lead to unhealthy behaviors including depression, decreased sleep, or a reliance on alcohol putting your employees at greater risk for high blood pressure and poor nutrition. In fact, a study by Stanford and Harvard University found that working long hours can increase mortality by nearly 20 percent.
Working Shifts
For the nearly 15 million American laborers working evening, rotating, or irregular shifts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that employers should be aware of the increased risk of stress, health, and safety risks. This workforce is often mobile or working restrictive hours making it difficult to sustain healthy behaviors, good nutrition, and access healthcare.
The Solution
To help employees manage their health concerns, including stress, onsite healthcare providers tailor their care using a variety of health services such as health coaching, nutrition education, and behavioral health counseling.
While your workforce improves their health, you’ll improve your bottom line. Worksite health centers increase access to care while decreasing dependence on expensive healthcare services such as specialty and urgent care.
When your organization embraces health and wellness in the workplace, you’re able to design programs and resources to support your employees’ unique health needs. Worksite healthcare can partner with your organization to develop and implement these services to grow a more productive and a healthier workforce.
