Feeling Stressed?

Managing employee stress levels can lead to lower rates of absenteeism, happier employees and a healthier bottom line. In its latest report on work-life balance, the Conference Board of Canada outlines some options for managing workplace stress.

"Employers play an important role in helping workers handle the stress of balancing work and personal responsibilities," says Kim Bachman, co-author of the study.

Programs that focus on employee well-being include stress management programs, counselling services, courses in time management, and childcare and eldercare referral and information systems.

About 66% of respondents to a study on rising health care costs felt their Employee Assistance Program was effective in reducing employee stress, while 50% felt it was effective in reducing absenteeism.

Fortunately, organizations are embracing the wellness concept. About 52% of respondents reported having a wellness program for their employees. In 1993, only 33% of organizations reported offering these types of programs.

"Those who use these programs are seeing the benefit," Bachmann says. "On the other hand, if working conditions are causing the stress, problems will resurface unless conditions are changed."

The average worker now sends and receives about 190 messages per day (voice mail, e-mail, fax etc.) and is interrupted an average of six times per hour, according to a study sponsored by Pitney Bowes. Information overload is just one of many working conditions contributing to job stress.

When stress levels increase, job satisfaction can suffer. Forty per cent of respondents who felt little stress in trying to balance their work and family responsibilities reported being very satisfied with their jobs. Only one-quarter of those who were under a great deal of stress felt the same way.

Recent evidence has linked employee satisfaction to customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Sears US, for example, found that an increase in employee satisfaction of five points on their survey scale will result in an increase in customer satisfaction of 1.3 points, which in turn results in a revenue increase of 0.5%.

This report, "Solutions for the Stressed-Out Worker," is the third of a four-part series looking at issues of work-life balance including stress, corporate culture, workforce solutions and eldercare. The second phase of the study will look at how Canadian employers have responded to the issue of work-life balance over the past decade.

The work-life balance research study was funded in part through Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada & Xerox.