BOSTON, Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The impact of stressed employees on the organization is a major human capital issue. According to the National Business Group on Health/Towers Watson 2013/2014 Staying@Work™ Survey, 78 percent of employers identify stress as the top risk factor for their workforce, leading to lost productivity due to unplanned absence. As further evidence, a new meQuilibrium-conducted survey of more than 1,200 individuals indicated that more than 40 percent of respondents have quit a job due to stress. Today, at the National Conference on Health, Productivity and Human Capital, meQuilibrium‘s CEO and co-founder,Jan Bruce, will be presenting on the business outcomes of building resilience in a highly stressed employee population.
While some amount of stress in the workplace is essential for productive performance, excessive stress greatly affects the health of an organization and meQuilibrium’s research demonstrates 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 ranged from saying they were sick (81 percent), to needing a mental health day (32 percent) or claiming there was a family emergency (20 percent).
“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,” said Bruce. “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.”
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 of work over a 30-day period, and resilient employees are 50 percent less likely to report an intent to quit.
meQuilibrium’s digital coaching platform delivers clinically validated and highly personalized resilience solutions to employers, health plans, wellness providers and consumers, helping to improve outcomes in managing stress, health, engagement, productivity and performance.
At the event, Bruce will be joined by Tanya Benenson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Strategic Health Initiatives, Comcast NBCUniversal and Wendy Lynch, Ph.D., founder of Lynch Consulting National Conference on Health, Productivity and Human Capital to co-present “Using Resilience Training to Impact Business Outcomes in a Highly Stressed Population” at 11:45 a.m.– 12:45 p.m.
Visit meQuilibrium at the 29th National Conference on Health, Productivity and Human Capital October 6-8, 2015 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, booth #406.
Survey Methodology
meQuilibrium’s stress at work survey was conducted via SurveyGizmo between September 9-21, 2015. The data reflects responses from 1,239 subscribers to the organization’s weekly newsletter.
About meQuilibrium
meQuilibrium is a digital coaching solution that helps users build resilience, beat stress and adopt healthy behaviors for life. The clinically validated, HIPAA-compliant platform delivers an individualized experience to improve outcomes for employers, health plans, wellness providers and consumers. meQuilibrium services two key markets: large enterprises, eager to stem the estimated $300 billion they lose each year in employee absenteeism and lost productivity due to stress, and payors and health plans seeking to drive differentiation and innovation in an era of consumer-driven healthcare. To learn more about meQuilibrium, visit www.mequilibrium.com.
SOURCE meQuilibrium