In the recent 2013/2014 Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey, employee stress, obesity and lack of physical activity were the top three lifestyle risk factors affecting the workplace. This is any issue that could compromise the efficiency and profitability of a business and its people. These issues include everything from inadequate training to organizational culture to operational safety hazards to ergonomic issues.
Why are today’s workers so stressed? It depends whether you’re an employer or an employee. According to Towers Watson, employers rank work/life balance as the number one cause of stress, followed by inadequate staffing and technologies that enable them to work during nonworking hours. Employees, on the other hand, rank inadequate training and staffing as the number one cause of stress, followed by low pay or low pay increases and unclear, conflicting job expectations.
Stress causes at work may be different for different people, but it is a significant risk to the workforce because stress affects workers’ physical and mental health, which ultimately affects the performance of the organization. Both employers and employees did include inadequate staffing in their top three causes of stress.
2014 is the year to implement a company-wide health initiative. Find the roots of the stress at your workplace, as well as encourage healthy eating habits and increased physical therapy to make your workplace a happy, healthy place to be!
Source: http://www.towerswatson.com/en-US/Insights/IC-Types/Survey-Research-Results/2013/09/2013-2014-stayingatwork-us-executive-summary-report
