Stress in the workplace is at an acknowledged all-time high and employers today know that it impacts performance, engagement, health, and quality of life. While stress management has been around for years, despite lots of effort, we’ve really only proven one thing: stress relief as we know it isn’t the answer.
Organizations have been spending on wellness, disease management, and behavioral health programs over the past several decades and have been generally disappointed with the results. At the same time people are more stressed than ever. Doctor visits, health events, and even psychological events caused by stress are at a high. There is also an increased awareness that mental and emotional well-being are essential for health and also for performance, optimism, vitality, and engagement in the workplace. The U.S. Surgeon General lists mental and emotional well-being as a top priority. Companies such as Etsy and Comcast have all launched well-being initiatives. Mental health, along with emotional well-being and stress management, are no longer ‘niche’ problems, necessary for only a fraction of the population, whispered about, or treated in secrecy.
All of this is contributing to a pivot in how corporate America thinks about wellness…
Read the full article on LinkedIn.
