When employees do not communicate properly, it can cause misunderstanding, issues, and stress.  Deadlines, presentations, and social issues within the office can cause mountains of stress that interfere with productivity and employees’ emotional stability. 25% of employees in the United States think of their jobs as a huge stress in their lives, and often this stress can lead to cardiovascular disease, workplace injury, cancer, ulcers, impaired immune function, and more. Lowering your stress with a chair massage is ONE of the MANY benefits!

A study from Emory University revealed that stress is the second most impactful risk to medical expenditures and is one of the most common health issues in businesses. One useful and very helpful way to deplete stress within the work environment is to encourage work-life balance. This can be done through “lunch and learns,” where a speaker addresses common stress factors during employees’ lunchtime and explains practical ways of dealing with an undesirable situation and avoiding the infiltration of stress. Further, yoga classes and onsite massages are affordable and very viable methods to reduce stress and promote employees’ implementation of a work-life balance into their lives.

While many of the methods listed above can defeat stress once it has infiltrated the office environment, another way to avoid stress is to ensure that it doesn’t become an issue in the first place. One major underlying issue is faulty, or the lack of, communication. Especially about employee issues or ongoing, many managers and bosses are unaware of the outside stressors that plague their workers. With effective communication, managers can provide ways of alleviating stress within their employees’ lives by affording them opportunities to take care of their families, take a mental rest day off from work, or more. Further, it is important to listen to employees and hear what they think about their current workload- if they feel that there is too much pressure to complete a lot in a short amount of time, their productivity will wane and they will not be as efficient in completing tasks. Additionally, if the environment itself is stressful (with close quarters, loud noises, and surrounded constantly by technology), many workers feel more stressed and unable to produce their best product. Managers should consider letting workers sometimes work from home or be able to spend a few hours a week working away from the computer on other tasks that need to be completed.

Finally, another great idea for office de-stressing is bringing in an outside wellness program that can come talk to employees about health-related issues, can provide specific classes to teach practical ways to de-stress, and can even alleviate stress on-site by providing mobile chair massages.

Consider calling Corporate Massage Kneads and letting us treat you and your hard-working employees. A 15-minute massage could make all the difference and could leave one feeling rejuvenated, renewed, and ready to get back to work!

Source: “Communication key to reducing workplace stress,” written by Nick Stern on March 6, 2015, for the Daily Record, http://www.welladvantage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WA-THE-DAILY-RECORD-ARTICLE-ON-WORKPLACE-STRESS.pdf