Well-being or Stress?

Stress is often a bad business case – and frequently, the organisation is not aware of it.

In addition to the direct and visible costs associated with sick leave, unfinished work, and potential temporary employment, there are also large costs in terms of reduced productivity leading up to a potential sick leave, reorganizing work, and occasional job changes after the stress-affected employees return to work. The former part alone is estimated to cost ½ to 1 years' salary – depending on the job level.

One of NRCWE’s (The National Research Center for the Working Environment) main reports regarding stress is, and has for many years been, “stress affects the individual, but must be solved collectively”. Despite this, stress is often identified and handled as an individual problem. When an employee is affected by stress, help and support is often provided by offering psychological counselling, stress coaches, and allowing the employee to take “the necessary time to restore”, but preventative measures and changes/adaptations within the organisation are typically overlooked.

Our experience also shows that if the stress challenges are to be handled thoroughly, a collective effort, involving all levels within the organisation, must be implemented. It is not sufficient with lectures and courses for employees or managers. Read more about Stress Turn-around.