By Dennis McNamara

Maintaining a good workforce is a key ingredient in developing and maintaining a successful business. When employees leave, there are costs attached including: replacement, training, decreased productivity, and potential loss of customer satisfaction.

A recent study by the Families and Work Institute came up with some interesting information about how employees perceive and react to the workplace. Workers responded either "sometimes, often, or very often" to the following:

70% feel used up at the end of the day

60% are emotionally drained from work

57% are burned out or stressed by work

Additionally, 38%said that stress has caused at least minor health problems and more than a third of workers are somewhat or very likely to make an effort to find a new job in the next year.

A key factor in decreasing stress levels in employees is focusing on work/life issues. Employees are finding themselves working longer hours, taking more work home, and commuting more than they did 20 years ago. There are more families where both parents have to work as well as many single parent households. The impact of these changes is that employees have less time to meet the needs of both work and family.

In another study, employees recently identified flex time as their most desirable non-income benefit.
A national EAP has found that those companies that invest in work/life services have a return of eight to one. If you have any questions about what you can do, please call Dennis McNamara at Asante EAP, (541) 608-4238.