The results are damaging to both the individual and the organisation, with a quarter of executives admitting to having to take sick leave in the past year as a result of these types of symptoms. Despite the scale of the problem, organisations are turning a blind eye - fewer than one in 10 have carried out any form of stress audit in the past year. Only 17 per cent of organisations offer their people any type of employee assistance programme, leaving the majority of individuals to seek out their own 'stress busters'.
Executives have a range of techniques to cope with workplace stress - some more healthy than others.
In future, more than one in ten said they would like to try less conventional therapies such as acupuncture, tai chi, aromatherapy and homeopathic remedies. However, executives send a clear signal that training in stress management would benefit employees throughout their organisations. In today's organisations constant change is prevalent, posing major challenges for the way we work. In the past year, almost a quarter of executives say their organisations have been involved in mergers and acquisitions and nearly a third report expansion into new markets. Nearly four in ten managers say their organisations have changed the focus of their activities or company culture and technology has driven change in almost half of organisations.