Tracking Workplace Stress

Companies who control workplace stress add money to the bottom line.

Some surveys show that most companies, however, do not control workplace stress, and they lose thousand of dollars ( millions for larger companies) every year.

Other surveys advise that 60-90% of all medical claims are stress related -- these medical costs should be enough to get our attention. We're going to have to do something about the stress that is pushing our health cares costs up.

I'll give you some statistics on this in future blogs (email me if you just can't wait). Today, though, I want to show you some ways to track stress in your company.

1. Require strict reporting f absences. Watch for changes or trends; the more absenteeism, the greater the chance that stress is a factor. Keep numbers by department.

2. Develop a report on tardiness. Are some departments worse than others? Are people arriving late because they dread the upcoming stress?

3. Seek generic information from your health insurance company on the number and expense of medical claims. Categorize information by type of ailment and observe how the frequency of visits compares to major corporate activities or stressful times of year. You might find that stressful periods coincide with or precede an increase in medical claims.

4. Get professional assistance in analyzing how stress might be at the root of physical ailments. The experts might recognize cause-and-effect relationships that escape the attention of those who aren't as well trained in stress control.

5. Keep a record of complaints or grievances filed by department. Those departments that have greater numbers of complaints are likely ready for some stress-control strategies.

6. Analyze accident reports from the perspective of stress involvement. Research how stress might have been the root cause of accidents.

7. Develop a wy to log errors in judgment or misstatements. This will help you evlauate the cost of stress for your company.

8. Note changes in the way people relate to each other and the types of action that cause some people to become more arumentaive at times. You can use this information to control stress for the entire organization or for specific individuals who are more sensitive to stressful situations.

9. Review customer service problems from a stress perspective. Determine whether some kind of stress reduction could improve reelations with customers or reduce the number of errors involved with order taking, preparation, shipping, or invoicing.

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