The Next Generation of Productivity Tools
Just about everybody seems pretty stressed out at work. However, I’ve seen how a certain amount of stress can be valuable, since work teams that aren’t worried tend to get blindsided by the competition. A little stress can also help foster alertness and drive up revenues. Along the same lines, deadlines and innovation initiatives are stressful by nature, but they are also critical tools for business survival.
It doesn’t take much, though, for clarity-inducing stress to boil over into unproductive anxiety in the workforce. Here are some statistics on stress in the workplace from the American Institute of Stress:
• 80 percent of workers say they are stressed on the job and about half say they need help in learning how to manage that.
• 42 percent say their coworkers need help managing stress but don’t ask for it.
• Stress on the job is more closely correlated with health problems than financial difficulties or family issues.
• One in four workers say they have felt like screaming or shouting on the job due to stress.
• Personality conflicts and unmanageable workloads account for 74 percent of workplace stress.
• 60 percent of unplanned absences are traced back to mental health problems related to job stress.
Many business leaders don’t appreciate the financial impact this has on the greater economy. In fact, job stress destroys over $300 billion in productive capacity every year due to:
• Accidents
• Calling in sick
• Employee churn
• Lost productivity
• Direct medical and legal costs
• Workers’ compensation awards and FELA judgments
This is why telehealth services, rather than collaboration tools, scheduling services or task managers, should become the primary productivity app. Cognitive behavioral therapy delivered over an employee’s own private phone can treat the root issues related to memory loss, demotivation, distraction, personality conflicts and lack of concentration.
From the standpoint of a benefits manager, delivering occupational therapy over a telehealth app removes the biggest obstacle that workers cite in refusing to use their mental health benefits — the stigma. Although mental health has made great strides in social acceptance over the past few years, fear of social consequences is still common.
Instead of going to see a therapist, many workers say they would rather rely on their own coping mechanisms, which are rarely effective or healthy. On the other hand, using a productivity app on a personal phone is something that is both private and socially rewarded.
Stress and mental health issues are closely bound up in each other. Stress can activate an underlying mental health issue or just cause the same category of problems as one. Either way, therapy over a telehealth app is the most efficient mechanism to make sure workers can cope with a stressful life.
About The Author
Dan Miller is the Co-Founder Level Therapy. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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