A survey conducted in summer of 2010 by the American Psychological Association found that about 75% of participants stressed to unhealthy levels. This 2010 Stress in America survey was given to 3,000 participants by Harris Interactive, who admitted that they were stressed by money, work and the economy. The findings are relevant to the field of Human Resources because results mentioned by a similar survey in 2009 showed that stressed-out workers are more likely to report off sick and use more health benefits. The findings are also significant because they show that stress is still a strong environmental factor and companies need to react.
Many stress management programs are available to employers for their employees. However, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2010 Employee Benefits survey report, only 10% of employers currently offer these stress management programs. That number is down from 19% in 2006.
The article mentions one method of stress management in particular, resilience training. This method encourages employees to face their problems and trains them to survive in stressful situations, recover, then place themselves in slightly more stressful situations to grow and succeed. The article outlines the steps to perform resilience training in the most successful manner.
The environmental factor of stress has an effect on employees and thus employers. Stress plays a role in decreased productivity, absenteeism, and increased use of health benefits. The issue of stress is significant to Human Resource Management because it has a responsibility to keep employees healthy so they can contribute to the productivity of the company. Based on this article, companies need to react to increasing employee stress in order to maintain business success.
Source: HR Magazine, SHRM "Turning Stress into Strength" by William Atkinson (January 1, 2011)
http://www.shrm.org/Publications/hrmagazine/EditorialContent/2011/0111/Pages/0111atkinson.aspx
Great article, Ash! I'm sure that everyone can relate to being stressed at work. I have never heard of a company offering stress management programs. It's probably because so little do. I'm sure if more companies took the time to invest in the well being of their employees, it would lesson stress and improve productivity, customer service and morale.
ReplyDeleteWe offer stress-management literature. Wow, very helpful, I know... My old employer open a gym for us and one employer offered massage thereapy at a cheap cost...
ReplyDeleteHowever,some of my peers have also been able to take an unpaid LOA for stress. Of course, how more stressed do you become when you return to work from a vacation....because you are behind and overwhelmed. I can't see how you can return from stress leave and feel ok to go back into stress. Of course, the root of the problem is trying to handle your job at a higha nd unrealistic expectation, while trying to have a life, raise a family or have hobbies and stay healthy. Obviously, working the hours we do, is the problem and companies do need to react appropriately to address it or it will only get worse.