While some amount of stress in the workplace is essential for productive performance, excessively stressed employees greatly impact the health of an organization. The impact of stressed employees on the organization is a major human capital issue.

meQuilibrium’s recent research findings demonstrate that 78 percent of people categorize their current stress levels at medium to very high. Furthermore, 31 percent admit to missing work due to stress. When asked what excuses they use to miss work, responses range from saying they were sick (81 percent), to needing a mental health day (32 percent) or claiming there was a family emergency (20 percent).

This survey by meQuilibrium was conducted on more than 1,200 individuals, who indicated that more than 40 percent of respondents have quit a job due to stress. Jan Bruce, CEO and Co-founder of meQuilibrium states, “Leading-edge thinking in human resources dictates: Take care of your employees and they’ll take better care of your business. Stress threatens their well-being profoundly and resilience is the most successful antidote to stress in the workplace.”

As further evidence, the National Business Group on Health/Towers Watson 2013/2014 Staying@Work™ Survey finds, 78 percent of employers identify stress as the top risk factor for their workforce, leading to lost productivity due to unplanned absence.

Data from meQuilibrium’s book of business, along with data from a study validating the meQuilibrium assessment against several well-established psychometric tools, show employees that exhibit higher levels of resilience are more likely to be present, more productive, more engaged and less likely to leave their jobs.

Key findings indicate that 81 percent of employees with high resilience scores, missed no days at work over a 30-day period, and resilient employees are 50 percent less likely to report intent to quit.

Bruce concludes, “Resilience helps people reframe challenges to minimize their stress-related effects and to feel more confident and empowered, ultimately improving productivity and engagement while reducing absenteeism and turnover.”

See: Managing Stress @ Work

Here are some quick easy tips to reduce stress levels at work:

• Take good care of yourself, the problem with stress is that it can make people sick both physically and psychologically. So an effective way to reduce stress at work is to relieve tensions and work pressures. You can also engage in activities that you really enjoy like yoga, watching TV, gardening, or reading.
• Shift in mindset, which doesn’t draw parallels of job satisfaction with the perfect employer or paycheck. So it isn’t about what happens at work but how we perceive events that impact our stress levels.
• Identify your negative emotions. Take deep breaths to relieve stress and to recognise how you are feeling. This also helps to know where these emotions are stored in your body and what act of yours, like for example, can relieve you of day-to-day stress.
• Resolve sources of concern that cause stress. If you are stress about a task or project, clarify the scope and in case of conflict with a co-worker, communicate to resolve misunderstandings.
• Express gratitude for your everyday at work, which could be as simple as thanking your colleague for the assistance offered in a project or treat your co-workers for building up a cooperative team.
• Hang out with a great crowd. The people you meet make an impact on your levels of satisfaction at work and how you feel about the day. Meeting positive energetic people can brighten up your spirits to feel recharged to work. Instead co-workers who are always complaining and stressed out can dampen your moods at work. So hang out with people who help you reduce workload, while relieving you of stress and tensions of everyday life.
• Keep connect alive with what you love about your job and nurture this passion for success. Strengthen your connection and build networks to make a difference to the society and world of work. This is especially useful if your talents are used on job, instead of partially using a skill to complete the task. Talent is latent until and unless it is optimally utilised.

If you’re struggling with day to day workload and pressures, these tips will help you manage and reduce stress effectively.

Also read: How to Manage Chronically Ill Employees with Excessive Absenteeism?