In addition to great monetary compensation, providing opportunities for career growth, and good communication, one of the signs of a good employer is someone who cares for the work-life balance of their employees and the mental health of those who work for them.
In a study published in 2020, researchers found that work stress levels have been steadily on the rise since 1995 in all occupations but especially in lower-skilled fields (1). In another study published in late 2024, researchers found that workplace stress reduced productivity, decreased well-being, and increased burnout. (2).
In this study, researchers found that stress management training helped employees manage stress better and created a more productive and fulfilling work atmosphere (2). But how do you go about doing this?
Read on to learn about stress management exercises you can offer your employees and how the BetterMe for Business corporate wellness solution can help you and your workers manage stress levels and improve morale.
If you’re not convinced that stress management can help your employees, here are some science-backed facts that may just change your mind.
Productive employees are the backbone of a company. If your employees are always stressed, it hurts their mental and physical health and can also hurt your bottom line.
In a 2018 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers found that the more stressed the workers were, the more their productivity dropped (3). Three years later, another study published in the Kansas Journal of Medicine correlated these findings, stating that the higher the stress levels the lower the productivity levels of workers (4).
From these studies, it can be seen that less workplace stress makes more productive workers, which can help improve your bottom line.
Mistakes are a part of life and are bound to happen in and out of work. However, being more stressed increases the likelihood of mistakes and if these mistakes happen on big projects or tight deadlines, they can cost you big time.
In a study published in 2023, researchers found that when workers are stressed, they make more mistakes, which negatively impacts their performance. Such employees are less attentive to detail and have more problems with focus and concentration, all factors that lead to reduced performance (2).
If you work in a creative field of any kind, implementing fun stress management activities could be the line between good creative proposals and dull proposals that may not sell or draw in customers.
Research has found that when workers are stressed due to the environment they work in or through excessively challenging work, they’re more likely to lose their creativity and lack motivation for work (5).
Workplace stressors such as interpersonal conflicts and organizational constraints can increase employee burnout, engender negative emotions, and increase absenteeism (6, 7, 2).
These factors affect the performance and health of an individual employee and the performance and motivation of other workers and the company as a whole (8).
Finding ways to help your employees de-stress could reduce these issues and keep performance high.
As an employer, you don’t have to wait until stress awareness month in April to pay closer attention to how stressed your employees are.
Encouraging your workers to engage in some stress management activities before work or randomly throughout the day can help boost their mood and even increase productivity. Here are some quick, easy, and fun stress management activities you can encourage them to try:
We often think about how stress affects the mind, but we rarely realize that it affects how we breathe too. According to the American Psychological Association, when we’re stressed, we breathe faster and take shorter breaths (9).
Breathwork and deep breathing exercises have been shown to be good for your mental health and stress management (10, 11).
BetterMe for Business offers you and your employees breathing exercises that can reduce stress, which may increase focus, job satisfaction, and performance.
While meditation may have previously been seen as a pseudo-science, today, research shows that this practice is a fantastic way to reduce stress levels and improve well-being (12, 13).
A study published in 2015 showed that when subjects engaged in meditation practice, they demonstrated better job performance and expressed better job satisfaction (14). Another study published in 2021 also found that meditation, specifically mindfulness, resulted in reduced perceived stress and higher work engagement (15).
If you’re unsure how to incorporate meditation in the workplace, BetterMe for Business offers guided meditations that your employees can do as a group or individually to help them destress and prevent burnout during work breaks or after work.
When it comes to exercise, people often do it before or after work and rarely during the work day or even while at work. If you’re willing to try something different and outside the norm, encouraging your employees to engage in quick office workouts can be one of your fun stress management activities. BetterMe for Business Zoom app can help you organize quick, desk-friendly activities to boost your team’s productivity throughout the day and improve their physical wellbeing in the long run.
Studies have shown that increased physical activity is good for professional workers as it helps them manage and reduce stress and goes further in reducing their anxiety and irritability levels, in addition to increasing their concentration levels, which helps improve performance (16).
With the BetterMe: Health Coaching app, your employees will have access to several easy and quick 5- to 10-minute desk workouts that can help them destress. If you have workers in wheelchairs or those with limited mobility, feel rest assured that they too will be included in this as BetterMe for Business also comes with wheelchair and limited mobility-friendly workouts.
Muscle tension is one of the many side effects of increased stress levels. Many office workers experience head and neck tension, which can lead to migraines and tension headaches (17).
BetterMe for Business offers yoga exercises in addition to chair and neck stretching workouts that can help relieve any muscle tension your workers may be experiencing. We also have a Zoom App for business that enables employees to do these stretches and workouts together.
This can be a great way to break the ice before meetings or even bond with workers who perhaps work remotely and don’t get a chance to interact regularly.
As mentioned above, taking breaks to stretch, meditate, or simply breathe are great ways to help you manage stress throughout the workday. Here are some more steps that can help you or your team:
This could be a friend, a trusted co-worker, or if you have access to one, a trusted mental-health professional. BetterMe for Business also comes with chat support that can help you solve whatever is troubling you.
You may think that your diet has no relation to your stress levels, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In a study published in 2015, researchers stated that a healthy diet, particularly one that is rich in fatty fish and other seafood, plant proteins, leafy greens and other vegetables, probiotics such as yogurt, nuts, and olive oil could help promote mental health and help with the management of mental illness (18).
If you choose to get BetterMe for Business, you’ll give your employees access to proper nutrition guidance, nutrition guidance, and trackers for any diet of choice, and exercises – all of which will help them stay healthy, improving their mental health and performance.
Stress management exercises such as taking a break to stretch, do yoga, meditate, or perform deep breathing exercises are effective ways to help you stay calm while at work. Outside of work, you should also try to sleep better.
Research has shown that getting adequate sleep can help workers better manage their stress levels (19), which may help them react calmly to any mishaps, mistakes, or inconveniences at work.
Are you curious about how to relieve stress for a woman? Check out this article for some tips and tricks.
Mindfulness can be incorporated at work as a stress management exercise in the following ways:
Encourage your employees or colleagues to be more mindful, considerate, and empathetic when speaking to each other, regardless of the situation at hand.
Nothing interrupts workflow more or increases stress more than bad or confusing schedules. While it’s understandable that emergencies happen, always try to schedule matters beforehand so people are better prepared for the day and don’t have to deal with avoidable inconveniences.
As previously mentioned, our app offers mindfulness practices that can be done daily during meetings or individually and has guided meditations that can help foster this practice among workers.
These are a good way to help you be aware of how you’re breathing and how your body feels, which can help you manage stress and better control your emotions, especially the negative ones.
For those who are wondering what stress management techniques you can quickly and easily use in the office, you can try:
Check out this article to learn more about somatic exercises for stress and how they may help you navigate work-related stress.
Yes, it can. Research has shown that workplace stress can make people suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and may even lead to chronic health issues such as hypertension and diabetes (20, 21).
They allow you to step away from the problem at hand, which helps you recharge and release muscle tension and can also boost creativity and productivity. For those whose work requires staring at a screen, breaks may help reduce eye strain (22).
Implementing fun stress management exercises, open communication, empathy, relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation, and better work-life balance are some of the things that can promote a stress-free work environment and better performance.
Simple actions such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness are excellent work stress reliever techniques that can be done by anyone either individually or as a group.
Work stress can cost you and your business, but it doesn’t have to. By implementing the above-mentioned stress management exercises, you can mitigate this issue, which is good for mental health and overall performance.
If you’re an employer who is looking to boost performance in your workplace and take better care of your workers’ mental health, we highly suggest that you try BetterMe for Business today.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not serve to address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on for making any kind of decision-making. Any action taken as a direct or indirect result of the information in this article is entirely at your own risk and is your sole responsibility.
BetterMe, its content staff, and its medical advisors accept no responsibility for inaccuracies, errors, misstatements, inconsistencies, or omissions and specifically disclaim any liability, loss or risk, personal, professional or otherwise, which may be incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and/or application of any content.
You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or your specific situation. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of BetterMe content. If you suspect or think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor.