PREVENTING WORKPLACE STRESS MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE

Tackling anxiety at work benefits employee health, increases their productivity

Stress is a recognized endemic for people across the world, but it has now become an overwhelming challenge facing the workforce and is having a crippling effect on health and productivity. As awareness increases amongst employers around the globe, Andrés Oppenheim, the General Manager for a luxury Swiss clinic, Nescens Clinique de Genolier, believes there is a market to introduce in-depth preventive health checks as a way to combat stress and burnout.

“The corporate check-ups that we offer at the Nescens Clinique De Genolier see international organisations sending their top executives to get cleared for a full bill of health,” said Oppenheim. “The investment that these organisations are making for employees in executive positions is good business sense to have them go through a series of health checks over the course two or three days, and come back relaxed, de-stressed and motivated knowing they are in the clear.”

Citing Willis Towers Watson’s ‘Staying@work’ survey for workers in the GCC, Dr Martin Zarate Lagunes, a specialist in general internal medicine, geriatrics and gerontology for the clinic says the fact that high-stressed workers take more time off work and have a higher amount of unproductive day sets a worrying precedent for employee health. “The impact stress has on one’s health can be far-reaching and detrimental, and can often manifest in a variety of ways. These symptoms of stress, whether it’s sleep deprivation, high blood pressure, or headaches, are compounding and can lead to fatal attacks such as a stroke or heart failure. Even when we talk about levels of anxiety, we can see that a large percentage of the workforce is susceptible. Speaking specifically only within the UAE, around 90% of employees are made up of expatriates and, with the added stress of being away from friends and family, can significantly attribute to anxiety.”

With comprehensive packages, the clinic uses the results to provide medical insights, pin-pointing any future risks to the clients’ health. Added Oppenheim, “Health is priceless, and prevention is always better than cure. Avoiding a stress-related illness, for example a burnout, is economically much more advantageous than treating it when the disease is already there. We see it as an investment for the future. This ensures a healthy relationship with their employees and will safeguard the productivity of their workforce.”

Nescens Clinique De Genolier is a luxury Swiss clinic exclusively dedicated to preventive medicine and anti-aging programmes offering bespoke checkups for a host of international clients. The clinic employs experts with over 20 years’ experience in the field with a wide access to peers, colleagues and professionals through the Swiss Medical Network. For more information, please visit www.nescens.com or email info@nescens.com.