"Working for Balance"-The Motley Approach via Nightly Business Report 8-19-08
SUSIE GHARIB: There are about 155 million people working in the United States and almost a third of them work more than 40 hours a week. So between 24-7 access to email and phone calls from the office, putting in a few extra hours at work and making time for family, there never seem to be enough hours in a day. The stress that results is costing employers plenty — over $300 billion a year. So tonight, we kick off our four-part series “Working for Balance” with Erika Miller’s look at one company’s efforts to combat the high cost of stress in the workplace.
ERIKA MILLER, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Maybe it’s the people doing yoga in a conference room during the workday or the workers playing board games in another. Come to the Motley Fool offices in Alexandria, Virginia, and you’ll notice immediately the work environment is unusual. The media company best known for its online financial website, encourages staff to take frequent breaks, whether it’s to play ping pong or video games, shoot hoops or get a massage. The company also gives workers unlimited paid sick days as well as unlimited paid vacation days, provided they clear it with their managers. The company deters abuse of those policies by doing performance reviews three times a year. In the firm’s Hawaiian-themed meeting area, CEO Tom Gardner explains that all this goofing off is part of a well thought out business strategy to reduce stress, boost productivity and keep turnover to next to nothing.
TOM GARDNER, CEO, THE MOTLEY FOOL: When you give people the flexibility, you give them an opportunity to really love the place that they work. And when they start loving where they work, they start performing better. It’s actually a very economic decision on our part. We’ve thought through all the implications of what we’re doing in developing our culture and they have economic underpinnings to them.
MILLER: You probably think it’s expensive for Motley Fool to offer employees all these perks, but the company says its benefit costs are leaner than most, just 25 percent of worker salary versus an average of 33 percent for similarly sized companies. The company credits its anti-stress culture with keeping down medical costs.
GARDNER: Last year, our health premiums were down 8 percent. So our insurance costs actually went down last year in an environment where the average company is paying 10 to 15 percent more.
MILLER: Analyst Tim Hanson says the playroom and company-sponsored basketball league do more than relieve stress, they encourage teamwork and the exchange of ideas.
TIM HANSON, SENIOR ANALYST, THE MOTLEY FOOL: We rent a gym every Thursday night. We play outside on Mondays. And that’s great because it’s nice to get outside with people from work in a non-work environment. You make a lot of friends. We’ve got a real collegial atmosphere around here and I think that’s really an important part of it.
MILLER: And don’t be fooled, online managing editor Luann Dicosmo says she and her colleagues work every bit as hard as they play.
LOUANN DICOSMO, ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR, THE MOTLEY FOOL: We definitely are a performance-based culture, but we’re not a clock-based culture. I would say, for us, it’s more about the quality of the work being done.
MILLER: The toll of excessive stress on the body has been well documented, including stomach problems, high blood pressure and headaches. Columbia University psychiatrist Harold Pincus says the psychological effects can be equally as serious.
DR. HAROLD PINCUS, NYPH/COLUMBIA UNIV. MED. CTR.: It affects their daily functioning. If you are under tremendous amounts of stress, it affects your sleep. It affects your ability to concentrate. It affects your ability to interact with colleagues and family. It makes you more irritable.
MILLER: The American Institute of Stress estimates worker stress costs U.S. businesses $300 billion a year due to factors like medical costs, turnover and absenteeism. The institute’s President, Paul Rosch, says that’s probably a conservative estimate.
DR. PAUL ROSCH, PRESIDENT, THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STRESS: There are a lot of hidden costs because when employees are absent or there is turnover, it’s necessary to train new employees. The break-in time varies. It could be up to a year in some cases and there’s a tremendous loss of productivity.
MILLER: To help reduce stress levels, Kathleen Hall of the Stress Institute recommends that workers try to get more exercise and improve their diet. She also suggests taking mental breaks like playing online board games and puzzles.
KATHLEEN HALL, FOUNDER, THE STRESS INSTITUTE: We’re seeing that there are simpler, easier ways to de-stress yourself. You can play for five minutes and it actually re-stabilizes the brain. It changes you. It reduces your stress. You get more creative and more productive.
MILLER: A certain amount of stress in life is unavoidable and not necessarily a bad thing. It keeps life from becoming dull. The challenge in today’s fast-paced world is to make stress work for you, instead of against you. Erika Miller, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Alexandria, Virginia.
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