One in three employees have people with mood disorders in their surroundings

The poor mental condition of Poles is an increasingly serious problem today. According to the MultiSport Index 2023 report, one in three surveyed employees admit that there are people with mood disorders in their surroundings. According to this survey, as many as 47% of employees declare that they are overwhelmed by too many tasks and 35% admit that they experience anxiety and irritability. Employees talk about problems with concentration and memory (29%), motivation and commitment to work (27%) or too low efficiency and not completing tasks on time (20%). Both the cause and the effect in such a situation may be chronic stress, which 90% of employees struggle with at work (of which 28% every day or almost every day). Half of those who are stressed also admit that they take this anxiety home with them. This situation also has a negative impact on the efficiency of enterprises.

Constant overstimulation also does not help in regeneration. According to researchers from the University of San Diego, the average person hears about 105,000 words every day, which in combination with other stimuli can translate into as much as 3 GB of data. According to Piotr Szostak, Benefit Systems expert, one of the authors of the MultiLife Programme, the modern lifestyle affects both the health of employees and their efficiency, which is crucial from the perspective of employers. According to the expert, it is important for companies to create conditions that support the physical and mental regeneration of employees, also through appropriate benefits.

– Currently, three out of five employees in Poland claim that they do not receive any anti-stress support from their employer. What’s more, one in ten employees admit that they have taken time off due to poor wellbeing or work-related problems, which – from the perspective of organisational effectiveness – is certainly not good news for employers. Therefore, mental health prevention is fundamental. If we take care of employees’ health well in advance, no one will consider benefits in the form of stress relief, which 71% of employees in Poland are currently interested in – comments Piotr Szostak, Managing Director for MultiLife Strategy and Product Development at Benefit Systems.

A good solution for employers to support their team (even in the case of smaller companies or employees performing their duties remotely) are programmes that reduce stress and help calming down after an intense day of work. Despite their availability, only 7% of enterprises currently offer them.[2] Meanwhile, the consequences of long-term stress can go further than one may think.

– Studies show that intense and prolonged stress at work is the cause of acute myocarditis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, angina pectoris and heart attack. Other effects of stress include musculoskeletal disorders, gastrointestinal diseases (peptic ulcer disease, metabolic disorders), endocrine diseases, diabetes (mainly in women), hyperthyroidism, autoimmune diseases, immune disorders, skin diseases, allergies, migraines – enumerates Dr. Dorota Molek-Winiarska, psychologist and habilitated doctor in the field of social sciences.

As the expert points out, abandoning activities connected with stress reduction and supporting the wellbeing of employees also affects the company’s finances.

– According to T. Cox’s research, 1 dollar spent on the implementation of the programme at the individual level brings up to 5.5 dollars in profit for the organisation due to the increase in work efficiency and the reduction of stress symptoms. Other data shows that the average return on investment of 1 dollar in preventive health programmes translates into 6 dollars and 13 dollars (13 dollars due to the reduced absenteeism and increased productivity). Dutch studies showed that a 3% drop in absenteeism resulting from stress-reducing programmes translated into savings of EUR 40 million. According to the British studies, it can be GBP 1.13 million within two years of implementation – adds Dr. Dorota Molek-Winiarska.

According to Piotr Szostak, this is another proof that spending money on building a culture of wellbeing in a company should be treated primarily as an investment that brings profits in the long run.

– The demand for solutions supporting regeneration, stress reduction and work-life balance of employees will grow. This is a trend that is getting stronger and stronger. Properly implemented, it can have a positive impact, e.g. on the number of sick leaves and employee turnover. With this in mind, we launched the MultiLife Programme, which provides a variety of services to support employee wellbeing in four key areas: psychology, health, nutrition, and development. Thanks to MultiLife, an employee can, for example, arrange online consultations with experts who will help them introduce healthy habits, plan a diet, take a yoga or mindfulness course, and use a city bike or an exercise platform to do a short workout before work. It is the employee who decides which area of wellbeing they want to strengthen at a given moment – sums up Piotr Szostak.

MultiSport Index is a comprehensive survey of physical activity (exercise undertaken at least once a month) and sports activity (regular physical effort undertaken at least once a week) of Poles. The survey is conducted on behalf of Benefit Systems by the Minds&Roses research agency. The MultiSport Index 2023 survey was carried out on a representative random sample of 1,400 Poles aged 18+ using the computer-assisted telephone interviewing technique (CATI) between 30 January and 3 February 2023.