Stress effect on employees & companies

“Health and safety at work is not only essential for workers’ well-being but is also very important economically to companies and society. Studies suggest that between 50% and 60% of all lost working days have some link with work-related stress”.

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

Stress is proven to provide a harmful effect on both individuals and companies. When a level of responsibility, general amount of work or work content do not match employees´ resources and capabilities, a stress start occurring. Similarly, negative working environments, characterized by a toxic leadership style or non-efficient HR practices lead to increased absenteeism, loss of productivity, mental and physical health decline. Leading to depression and anxiety, stress makes it hard or impossible for employees to make a quality job, and for companies to maintain its productivity.

Taking care of employees' mental well-being
For every US$ 1 put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of US$ 4 in improved health and productivity
the World Health Organization Stress effect on employee level
  • 1. Unability to relax or concentrate
  • 2. Difficulty thinking logically and making decisions
  • 3. Feeling tired, depressed, anxious and irritable
  • 4. Decreased commitment to work
  • 5. Experiencing various physical symptoms: heart problems, trouble sleeping, increased blood pressure, headaches, musculo-skeletal disorders

 Stress effect on organizational level
  • 1. increasing absenteeism and staff turnover
  • 2. decreasing commitment to work and productivity
  • 3. increasing unsafe working practices and accident rates
  • 4. increasing complaints from clients and customers
  • 5. adversely affecting staff recruitment
  • 6. increasing liability to legal claims and actions by stressed workers
  • 7. damaging organization´s image among its workers and externally

What a company can do against stress and how VR technologies can help organizations combating it?

Application of VR cannot be considered as a one-for-all solution for maintaining the workforce’s mental well-being in organizations, but rather as one of the mechanisms, that helps to turn employee-oriented ideas into practice.
In order to create an atmosphere, which benefits both the company and its employees, organizations should take steps on several levels – individual, organizational and leadership.

Direct benefits
for organizations

  • Increase of employees´ productivity

  • Decrease of burnouts and turnover

  • Decrease of internal (other employees) and external (customers, clients) conflicts

  • Improvement of working climate

Indirect benefits
for organizations

  • Advancement of HRM practices

  • Contribution to corporate CSR practices

  • Creation of an employer brand

  • Attraction of more qualified personnel

Companies using VR technologies for their employees´ well-being tend to possess a set of other positive characteristics.
An employer that is is progressive and caring enough to consider the application of VR technologies for the improvement of well-being of its personnel, is likely to be the one with an overall healthy environment or who is willing to improve an existing one.