Stress And work-life equilibrium are universal concerns of employees and companies around the world. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared worker stress a hazard of the workplace that costs American business more than $300 billion annually. The impacts of a stressed-out workforce include increased absenteeism, decreased worker productivity and employee turnover–and naturally exorbitant medical and insurance expenses.
Employers and workers both realize that people bring their greatest value to work when they are physically, mentally and emotionally fit. Corporate wellness programs must have a multidisciplinary approach to stress management. Here are five strategies to handle anxiety head-on and create a healthy workforce by design.
1. Design a Healthy Workplace
Everyone has a right to feel secure and fit at their workplace. The path to designing an environment 
free of unnecessary frustrations starts with the fundamentals–clean water and air. Ergonomic workstations, toxic-free office supplies, and cleaning products are also great places to begin. Many businesses are making incremental changes in offices and workspaces to promote employee health and promote healthy behaviours like nap/meditation rooms, cafeterias with healthy food alternatives, fitness facilities, bicycle sharing, and outdoor walking trails.
2. Embrace New Technologies
Technology, data, and enhanced insight into what motivates employees to stay healthy are shaping the future of corporate health programs, which connects employers and fitness centres. In an effort to stay competitive and present with health initiatives and perks, a rise in technology’s existence in worksite health is inevitable. Corporations are also embracing health tools driven by technology. A good example is the O2CHAIR–a clinically-validated health tool that optimizes breathing to reduce employee stress.
3. Customize Employee Stress Management Programs
As each individual differs, so do their measures to reducing employee stress. Joyce Odidison, the creator of Interpersonal Wellness Services, Inc., a life and business coaching training institute, says that when she speaks to organizations about their health programs, there’s often an overwhelming number of choices.
4. Develop an Internet Support Network
Online resources like wellness portals help employees remain up-to-date and establish interconnectivity. Employees are more likely to become engaged in health when it’s at the access of the palms–especially with the rising number of employees tele-working. Millennial-friendly YouEarnedIt is a worker engagement platform that incorporates wellness incentives with employee participation “gamification” actions. Employees are motivated and engaged by earning points which may be redeemed for prizes.
5. Make an Authentic Culture of Wellbeing
At its best, work could be a source of satisfaction, creativity, effectiveness, and joy. The secret is to genuinely build a culture of care. To handle stress, companies typically offer courses (e.g., yoga, meditation/mindfulness, time management, stress management, etc.), counselling, or perks and onsite amenities (e.g., rest pods, quiet rooms, free massages, games/activities). To genuinely promote work-life equilibrium, however, corporations must make an authentic culture of health. Human resources cannot make this in a vacuum; it requires commitment at every level of your company.
The Bottom Line
Unmanaged stress on your company erodes morale, productivity, and endurance. A Successful corporate stress management program should encompass all the dimensions of health — physical, mental, psychological, social, ecological, and spiritual. Helping your employees deal with both immediate stressors, as well as encouraging workers to find ways to decompress by themselves, will both be priorities.
