Beware the effects of workplace stress

Feb 25 2007 by Dan Bobinski Print This Article

Here in the middle of cold and flu season we've got plenty of viruses and bugs going around. But researchers are discovering that many health issues today don't have a season. It appears that up to 85 percent of all medical problems are caused by stress.

The correlation between stress and health issues is mind boggling. According to Connie Tyne, executive director for the Cooper Wellness Program in Dallas, stress-related diseases will kill 52 percent of American executives.

Perhaps if more managers and leaders understood the root causes and costs of stress they would do something about it and it wouldn't be the problem that it is.

Financially, stress is expensive. But one reason managers and leaders overlook the cost of stress is because it doesn't have a line item in the budget.

Stress takes its toll in workplace accidents, absenteeism, and turnover. It steals money through lower levels of productivity. It's also the hidden demon in medical, legal, and insurance costs.

Researchers at the American Institute of Stress estimate that issues stemming from workplace stress take up at least 20 percent of a company's payroll, and over $150 billion in U.S. productivity each year.

On the emotional side, stress creates strained relationships with family, friends, and coworkers. These distractions not only drain emotional energy, they can lead to anxiety, feelings of emptiness, and depression. Physical symptoms such as weight loss or weight gain, headaches, ulcers, and increased blood pressure can also occur.

And get this: People who get less than five hours of sleep twice a week or more are 300 percent more susceptible to heart attacks.

So should we eliminate stress altogether? No. A certain amount of stress is healthy -- and even necessary. But let's face it: We've glamorized the "power workers" who put in 10 and 12 hour days, are accessible to clients 24/7, and answer e-mail on smart phones during lunch breaks.

But stress is not limited to Type A personalities. Charles Meade, chief clinical officer with Business Psychology Associates in Boise, says that "stress cuts across all tiers of the organization. Executives, managers, line workers, office workers, support staff; everyone can be affected."

Meade goes on to say, "Employees feel stressed when the demands of the job don't line up with the employee's ability to meet those demands. This could be for personal reasons, or that the organization hasn't provided enough resources to do the job, or that the company hasn't done a good job of analyzing what it is it's asking the employees to do."

Of those reasons, "it's usually the last two - the characteristics of the organization - that's the cause of the stress," Meade says.

Ouch. That's a pretty strong indictment.

Now let's look at it another way: "Stressed" is another way of saying "losing control." It's just that losing control is a taboo phrase, so we don't use it.

Example: The computer isn't doing what we want and we're late for a meeting. We're losing control of the situation but we say we're stressed. Or the sales department just promised delivery in two weeks when it will take us four weeks to make the order. We're losing control of our work environment, but we say we're stressed.

I bring up this different perspective because it's often useful in drawing the line. When enough is enough, someone has to take control and say something or the problem can get worse.

Sadly, it often does.

Ongoing stress often becomes chronic, and chronic stress leads to depression. If you don't think this can happen to you, think again. Over 18 million Americans are affected by depression, and most never seek treatment. This is especially true of senior management. It's hard to see themselves as having authority if they're "depressed."

As such, 90 percent of senior managers who are depressed go undiagnosed and untreated.

For power workers and Type-A personalities, I certainly understand the thrill of the chase. But if left unchecked, the cost may be too high. At some point, the question needs to be asked, "how much is enough?" If stress is a feeling of losing control, depression is a feeling of lost control. That's not a place anybody should be.

Perhaps one of the best ways to eliminate stress is exercise. Even going for a walk gives one a sense of control.

Tyne says that "exercise is a chance for all the sugars and hormones in the bloodstream to be used for their intended purpose." She goes on to say that "exercise also feeds our brains some feel-good drugs such as dopamine and beta-endorphin."

And employers: It's not a line item in the budget, but stress has a huge ripple effect on your business. Please give it some attention.

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About The Author

Dan Bobinski
Dan Bobinski

Daniel Bobinski teaches teams and individuals how to use emotional intelligence and how to create high impact training. He’s also a best-selling author, a popular speaker, and he loves helping teams and individuals achieve workplace excellence

Older Comments

There is no doubt that stress causes health problems and depression, and that the costs of these are large.

But the cost to the business in terms of lost productivity, creativity and innovation are far, far higher.

Stress and frustration result from a top-down, command and control driven workplace. Orders, goals, targets and the other forms of top-down control demean, disrespect and demotivate employees.

In this mode, bosses think that employees should listen to bosses rather than vice versa. Nothing like having to follow the orders of people who are so removed from the workplace that they don't really understand what it takes to get the work done.

Thus, employees become greatly frustrated and stressed. Eventually, they become apathetic just to protect themselves and their families. In this state, they don't apply their brains to the work and thus fail to unleash their natural creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment.

As such, employees are less than 20% as productivity as they would be if they were highly motivated and committed. This is a huge loss to the business which can only be corrected by throwing out the command and control model and adopting one in which bosses continually ask employees what they need to do a better job and then give it to them.

To read how I managed to get out of this minefield, go to

http://www.extensor.co.uk/articles/int_simonton/interview_ben_simonton.html

Best regards, Ben Author 'Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed' http://www.bensimonton.com

Ben Simonton

Thanks, Ben, for you comment. I couldn't agree more with your findings.

This topic (and others) are going to be part of my forthcoming book, Exploding the Myths of Motivation. Nice to hear that others are advocating along the same line. Perhaps if we continue making these noises the gears will all fall into place and what we're saying will make a difference.

Thanks again,

- Dan Bobinski

Dan Bobinski

Thanks, Dan.

One of the others who is toiling in this vineyard is Peter Hunter, author of 'Breaking the Mould' and one who like myself has actually created high performance in a group of employees. He is on the other side of the pond, but is right on target.

Best regards, Ben http://www.bensimonton.com

Bennet Simonton