How Stress Impacts Your Bottom Line and What to Do About It

Financial Implications 
Stress has a major impact on an organization’s bottom line. Employees experiencing high levels of stress are more likely to suffer from absenteeism and report that their performance has declined due to stress. Attraction and retention issues, the loss of skilled workers due to burnout, and the added price of healthcare support for the physical and mental health needs of employees mean that efforts to reduce stress in the workplace are an investment well worth the cost.  

While organizations have limited ability to affect an individual’s personal resources—their mood, skills, health, and so on—employers do have the power to curate a physical workplace and organizational culture that promote the well-being of employees. Organizations must do what they can to “do no harm” and provide the necessary tools for employees to deal with whatever stressors they may be facing. 

4 Tips to Reduce Stress in the Workplace 
Research shows there are 4 design steps you can take to help reduce employee stress in the physical workplace. 

1. Seek to create an ambient environment. Design workspaces with access to natural light, comfortable room temperatures, and noise management. 
2. Make the workplace legible or easy for employees to navigate—knowing where everything they need, including coworkers, resources, and meeting spaces, is located creates a more stress-free environment.
   
3. Provide a variety of spaces that meet the needs of different types of work. Support both collaborative and individual workspaces to reduce the stress an employee may have about workstation options.
4. Design with user control in mind. Give employees autonomy over how and where they do their work in the office—like the ability to adjust their work chair, table, desk, orientation, or privacy level for their individual comfort.

The Need for Social Support 
Successful organizations embody an organizational culture that fosters trust and transparency, providing employees with significant levels of social support. Employers need to keep in tune with the desires and demands of their employees to help alleviate stress in the workplace. 

Strong organizational values and culture promote the wants and needs of employees. Today, flexibility in the workplace—where, how, and when work gets done as part of a work from anywhere approach—leads to greater stress reduction for employees. Giving employees the ability to take care of their personal life while still completing work tasks offers the best of both worlds.

Organizations have the power, tools, and ability to make changes or policy updates to reduce the stress levels of employees, leading to better outcomes for all. When stress levels are low, employees are happier and more productive. It’s a win-win—low stress is good for people and great for organizations. To improve employee morale, productivity, and well-being, organizations need to invest in workspace designs, applications, and accessories that work to reduce stress.