In today's human-capital workplace, stress can be a company's greatest asset or worst liability. The right amount of stress can drive your staff to achieve at high levels. Excessive stress can hurt morale, slow productivity, and lead to a variety of maladies, from chronic absenteeism to workplace violence. In this article, we talk to Barbara Parton, a business consultant who specializes in increasing the value of a company's human capital, to learn more about workplace stress and find out what you can do to manage it.

Stress is "not a bad thing, but a necessary thing," according to Barbara Parton. Like a stringed instrument, people need a certain amount of tension in order to perform. Too little stress, and the instrument won't produce the right sound. Too much stress, and the string snaps. Companies need stress to drive production, however, stress can easily escalate, and left unchecked, it can have a negative effect on a company's bottom line. Research shows that the following costs can be directly attributed to excessive stress:

• 21.5% of healthcare costs
• 40% of turnover costs
• 50% of presenteeism (low productivity)
• 50% of unscheduled absences
• 33% of disability and workers comp costs

Unlike cars or machinery, there is no ready gauge or monitor to diagnose human stress. As a result, companies often implement changes with little to no information about how their workers will be affected. There is no depth-finder that reveals how much more, or less, stress employees need to be productive. Moreover, the executive suite can have an isolating effect on leadership, impairing perceptions of the reality at lower levels. Executives also have more training and experience in handling stress, and are prone to overestimate what the average employee in accounting or operations, for example, can handle.

Insight into stress is elusive, yet it is possible to understand and control it, according to Barbara Parton. To manage workplace stress, leadership must look beyond their direct reports and gather concise information about the people at all-levels of the organization. "Get to know your workforce," says Parton. Interview people to find out about their life condition: job, financial, environmental, personal, family, social. Listen to feedback and look at turn-over rates. What do the demographics say? A picture of your company's condition, and needs, will soon become apparent.

Barbara Parton works with companies to find viable solutions to stress-related problems. In one case, Ms. Parton worked with a client faced with chronic absenteeism and high presenteeism (low productivity). After conducting an organization-wide stress audit, Ms. Parton discovered that the majority of employees were not suffering from workplace stress, but considerable home-life stress. The mean age at the company was 48. Issues such as elder care, healthcare, and family changes were rife in the organization; boosting stress levels, and lowering on-the-job productivity.

Working with Ms. Parton, the company was able to institute flexible-leave and employee assistance programs to combat stress. Leave time was made available to employees with family issues, along with information about hospice, elder care, and other support services. Counselors were hired to address anxiety disorders and help employees develop coping mechanism and support structures. Willing to tackle the stress problem head-on, the company soon realized a turn-around in employee productivity.

The level of sophistication demanded of today's workers is greater than at any time in the past. With so much responsibility placed on human beings, smart companies are making investments in their human capital to support productivity and minimize stress. Still, compare the IT budget of your average company to the people budget, and the disparity soon becomes clear: companies are not investing enough in the critical systems that get the work done, their human systems.

As we move further into the human-capital age, and more responsibility falls on human shoulders, stress will become an inescapable factor in determining corporate success. We are not "human doings" only human beings, and with that comes the hard truth, people can not do it alone. Therefore the responsibility falls on managers and leaders to act in the interest of their employees and implement programs that simultaneously promote production and well-being throughout the organization.

Barbara Parton is the CEO of The TranSpective Group. She brings 22 years of professional experience to the design of development programs that definitively impact productivity improvements, accessed through the 'human factor.' Ms. Parton is certified in the "Bio-Behavioral Model of Stress," pioneered by Dr. Lyle Miller and Dr. Alma Dell Smith. You may contact Ms. Parton at: bparton@transpective.com.

Recruiters World Special Reports is a timely, in-depth news series that explores vital issues and trends affecting the human-capital industry. Published monthly, Recruiters World Special Reports is presented and distributed exclusively through Recruiters World in Review. Also watch for new articles as they appear on the Recruiters World home page.