subject: Corporate Wellness Programs Reduce Stress [print this page] Within most businesses the daily pressure to perform and be positively productive creates some level of stress and anxiety for employees. Because of the relationship that connects the strains of the workplace with susceptibility to illness, some companies are adopting a plan to help reduce the stress levels of their workforce and increase employee productivity. It has been proven that stress leads to poor heart function and hypertension, but stress can also cause a decrease in the white blood cells which control the body's immune system. With a lack or deficiency in the ability to ward to disease and illness people are more prone to contract sicknesses that are viral. Coughs and colds are examples of such airborne viruses and there are other even more serious illnesses that can be spread easily through a lack of immunity that has been brought on by stress.
Even though there are many different causes of stress, people that are under pressure react differently in different situations. Where speaking to a group in a meeting might be stressful for one individual another person might enjoy the opportunity to present their ideas to a group. Likewise time constraints for completing a project may be a reason for anxiety in one individual where someone else might thrive under the looming deadline and present their best work. Because stress is based on emotional response there is no real way to predict how one person will react under pressure. However through monitoring the individual heart rate and indicators of stress, such as an increase in blood pressure or pulse rate, organizations can help to alleviate the strains that come from anxiety and stress. Using monitoring equipment and computer software to track the normal conditions of the heart, science and technology have been able to develop a system for tracking stress and taking steps to reduce the anxiety at the onset of a stressful encounter, before an individual loses their ability to function productively.
Before the strain and pressure of a stressful situation can begin to affect the overall health of an employee, measures can be taken to reduce or eliminate the stressful environment so that an employee can relax and calm themselves down. The technology of the corporate wellness program is performing a two-fold mission. First the employees that are able to control their stress are healthier and take fewer sick days, which in turn leads to fewer doctor visits and medical claims, which can lower the insurance premiums of the company. And secondly, the productivity of the individual is increased as the pressure they put on themselves to perform is lifted away. By being able to do a job without the anxiety of an impossible expectation, people that were once stressed out can know that they can do their job and do it best when they are not worried about their performance or time limitations that typically stress them out.
