MANAGING STRESS: YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE
With employee sick leave at its highest level for over a decade, what can organisations do to protect their employees, and their bottom line?
In our new whitepaper, we found the answer: it lies in a preventative approach to managing workplace stress.
This whitepaper is our small contribution to bringing about a world where we can all be in purposeful jobs that we love and by doing so create thriving businesses for a better future. We’ve chosen experts that have influenced how we’ve created the WONE Method for workplaces at Walking on Earth. Dr Elissa Epel brings her years of scientific research on the impact of stress on our bodies, Arianna Huffington brings her experience of marrying performance with wellbeing at her company Thrive Global, and Ruchika Sukri draws on her lessons learnt from the inside, leading wellbeing at Google.
We studied over 1000 employees from organisations spanning various industries globally, to understand key insights and trends on workplace stress. Based on this data, and with contributing insights from our experts and network of business leaders, our key findings reveal the true cost of workplace stress together with a blueprint to effectively manage it.
More than one in three employees are plagued by chronic stress
“We’re using technology to advance all areas of our working lives but we’re leaving the most important one behind: our people. Whilst technology and science are advancing, the quality of our working lives is declining. We’re more stressed than ever before. In an era of ‘human capital’, people feel like they are being treated like cogs in a mechanical machine. We have normalised a society where the majority of us are suffering chronic levels of workplace stress. And this is taking a serious toll on our health.”
- Walking on Earth founder and CEO, Reeva Misra
Our research reveals the true cost of stress, both to employees’ health and to businesses’ bottom lines. Over a third of employees (38%) are experiencing chronic stress everyday, and three in four workers (74%) are actively seeking wellbeing solutions to help them manage stress in the workplace. There is a real, unmet need that businesses need to address.
Stress is pervasive; according to research, 83% of employees experience workplace stress. In 2021, poor mental health cost businesses an estimated £56bn in sick days, presenteeism and staff turnover. And the numbers are increasing. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report estimates that low engagement is costing the global economy US$8.8 trillion; that’s 9% of global GDP.
Reeva argues that the solution lies in finding ways to monitor and regulate our stress response: “Stress doesn't always have to be bad for us; it’s an evolutionary response made for our survival. By combining the latest research in AI technology and neuroscience with ancient preventative health practices, we can calculate the optimum balance of stress, helping us unlock a hidden advantage that allows us to thrive and be at our best.”
Regulate stress to unlock your hidden advantage
We’re calling for a new approach, harnessing recent advances in AI technology and science to help employees regulate stress levels during the working day through the delivery of micro moments of recovery.
“We’re encouraging businesses to take a new approach to helping employees manage stress at work, by delivering micro moments of recovery throughout the working day. If we can learn how to regulate our stress, we can break the cycle of chronic stress and turn it from foe to friend,” continued Reeva.
Our research reveals that 76% of employees are able to dedicate less than 2 hours a week to their health and wellbeing. Micro moments delivered by the WONE platform solves the time barrier, resulting in 8x engagement compared to industry average.
WONE’s stress management platform helps employees to understand and manage their health before stress becomes chronic. The WONE Method is a three step system, where the platform measures stress, provides recommendations personalised to the employee’s needs via an AI coach, and delivers interventions of preventative health solutions delivered by world leading experts.
Address stress to retain a changing workforce
Taking action now is crucial for businesses that want to retain a changing workforce. Our findings reveal significant differences between generations. Set to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030, Gen Z are more likely to expect their employers to provide wellbeing solutions. According to research from Gallup, the main factor that Gen Z employees look for in their workplace is ‘an employer who cares about my wellbeing’, putting this ahead of the organisation’s financial stability and leadership ethics.
Our own WONE Index results reveals that, on average, 67% of employees feel their mental health and wellbeing is supported by their company - the proportion is significantly lower amongst Gen Z employees, at 52%. Yet, when we look at usage data for the WONE platform, Gen Z users engage at more than double average rates, with 95% of Gen Z employees actively using the solution.
You can download the full whitepaper, Managing Stress: Your Hidden Advantage, here: https://resources.walkingonearth.com/stress-whitepaper
For more information about WONE and their precision health platform for workplace stress, please visit https://www.walkingonearth.com/
