Wrike; The Stress Epidemic

wrike.com
The Stress
Epidemic:
Employees
Are Looking
for a Way Out

STRESS AND PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
2
About this report
The most successful companies are often defined by the revenue
they generate, the perks they offer, and the positive publicity they
receive. But what about employee satisfaction and retention?
How do you ensure the talented individuals responsible
for driving these key initiatives aren’t considering an early exit?
The era of single careers is over. With employee turnover
at an all-time high, companies everywhere are starting to look
internally to address the problem. In fact, 87% of HR leaders consider
employee retention a primary concern, according to research
by Kronos and Future Workplace. However, competing priorities
and lack of resources often suspend employee retention initiatives.
Hiring new employees is not only time-consuming, but also costly.
Recruiting the best talent has evolved into a highly competitive
and expensive market, costing US companies $160 billion a year.

3
Perks that used to attract the best talent are no longer
compelling for job seekers. Today, job candidates from entry-
level to executive levels are more concerned with opportunities
for learning and development than any other job aspect.
In fact, 46% of millennials left their job due to poor career growth
in 2015. If an employee doesn’t see growth or development
opportunities in their current role, consider them gone.
Managers simply don’t have time to devote to employee
development. With the constant barrage of communication
channels and pressure to perform increasing, managers
are struggling to stay afloat—let alone dedicate time
to employee coaching and career advancement.
Like their managers, employees are constantly bombarded
with unactionable noise and inefficient processes
that require long workdays and little reward. Between
incessant notifications and waiting for others to get work
done, productivity plummets and employees are left
wondering if their job is worth losing sleep over.
As frustration grows between employees not receiving
the attention they deserve, poor productivity, and managers
drowning in deadlines and emails, emotional resilience
wears thin and breeds burnout. If companies aren’t headed
toward improving employee satisfaction and retention,
talented and ambitious individuals head for the door.
This report examines how stress is impacting
employees, managers, and their work.

4
Survey methodology & demographics
49%
68%
24%
13%
18%
51%
32%
45%
Male US
45-60
60+18-29
Female UK 30-44
This study was conducted using SurveyMonkey Audience from July
12-15, 2018 with a sample of 1,613 adults in the US and UK.
Respondents are office workers, ages 18-64 and work full-time.
Q: What is your gender? Q: What country do you live in? Q: What is your age?
*Note that totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

5
Table of contents
Stress: The silent productivity killer 6
Stressed workers vote with their feet 8
Stress is a team effort 9
The bitter and expensive truth behind burnout 11
Does American culture glorify stress? 12
Stress and turnover 13
The cost of stress-related turnover 14
Managers must foster good communication habits 15
Stress is a slippery slope 17
High stress baselines lead to more stress 18
Adopting habits to manage stress 19
Can flexible hours save workers? 20
How to prevent stress-induced burnout 21

6
50%
0%
20%
10%
30%
40%
Q: What is your average level of stress at work?
US UK
Stress: The silent productivity killer
Overall, 94% of workers experience stress at work, and almost
a third say their stress is high to unsustainably high.
The US and UK have fairly similar answers regarding stress
in the workplace. About 40% of respondents in both regions
report “moderate stress.”
5% 6%
No stress Low Moderate stress High Unsustainably high
27%
30%
41%
Approximately 23% in the US say their stress levels are “high but
sustainable” and about 21% in the UK say the same. Most worrisome
are the 6% of US respondents and 3% of UK respondents who say
their stress is “unsustainable.”
23%
21%
6%
3%
39%

7
Some stress has its benefits. A little stress helps people overcome
challenges and focus, providing the energy they need to get through
an important presentation or approaching deadline. This is known
as “optimum stress.”
However, “chronic stress” is ongoing and affects both quality of work
and home life. Over a quarter of respondents report a decline in work
quality due to stress. 54% report stress from work negatively affects
their home life at least once a week—some say everyday. Over 50%
also experience sleep loss.
“We’re under the misguided presumption that more work leads
to more productivity when the opposite is actually true—chronic
stress eats away at any chance for a productive workplace, or high
employee engagement,” says Dr. Leah Weiss, author of How
We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace
the Daily Grind and professor at Stanford University. “Chronic
stress undermines culture and leads to fatigue, anxiety,
and confusion about priorities.”
“The neuroscience on the matter is clear—chronic stress hijacks finite
cognitive resources. Smart organizations understand the importance
of stress management on the collective, team, and individual
levels—they are thereby able to deploy their human capital where
it is needed rather than squandering it unnecessarily,” she adds.
Stress Curve
Source:
Integrated Medicine Institute
Inactive
Laid back
Peak
performance
Fatigue/ Tension
Poor sleep, irritability, worry
Exhaustion
Anxiety, panic, anger,
depression, sleeplessness
Breakdown
Lasting disease/infections, heart
attack, cancer, diabetes, etc.
STRESS LEVEL
PRODUCTIVITY
Too little stress
(underload)
Too much stress
(overload)
BurnoutOptimum stress

8
Stressed workers
vote with their feet
Workers are rapidly realizing the consequences
of stress are detrimental to their health,
and are leaving their jobs because of it. In fact,
over half of respondents looked for a new job
and 25% report they’ve quit a job due to stress.
As companies continue to support overworking,
workers remain silent and keep their emotional
frustration buttoned up at work. Few seek advice
or assistance at work to reduce stress.
Workers are more likely to quit or seek
professional help than confront their employer
about their stress levels, according to our survey.
As employee satisfaction declines and stress
continues to rise, there is no way of knowing
who’s at risk of walking out the door.
Searched for
a new job
Been unable
to sleep
I’ve stopped caring /
“Checked out”
Taken unplanned
time off
Taken it out on my
friends/family
Lost my temper
at work
Quit a job
Asked for a raise
Threatened to quit
Sought professional help
for stress management
Filed complaints through
official channels
None of these
Q: At any point during your career, which of the following have
you done due to stress at work? (select all that apply)
0% 60%40%20%
56%
54%
46%
39%
38%
35%
25%
18%
16%
15%
12%
9%

9
Stress is a team effort
What’s causing all this emotional turmoil? It turns out
the top stressors are breakdowns in teamwork.
Team members
not pulling
their weight
on projects
28%
Poor
communication
39%
Bottlenecks,
waiting
on others
to take action
25%

10
With remote offices rising in popularity and the ability
to communicate across time zones easier than ever,
the working world is completely saturated with
communication channels. Inefficient collaboration is now
the key driver of stress in the workplace. In fact, 29%
of respondents report using seven to more than 16
applications to complete their work in a single day.
Sources of stress differ by company size. Employees at larger
companies feel stressed because of poor collaboration,
whereas employees from smaller companies feel stressed
as a result of their individual workload. “I’m overloaded” ranks
higher on the list of top work stressors than “bottlenecks”
for respondents from smaller firms (1,000 employees or less).
Since collaboration takes place across several
platforms, such as email, instant messaging, meetings,
and conference calls, there’s no place to consolidate
feedback and ideas. Forgotten deadlines and lack
of accountability lead to a spike in workplace stress.
While stressors are similar across company size,
workers at smaller firms find “I’m overloaded”
as a bigger stressor than those at larger firms. Large companies
(1,000+ employees)
Smaller companies
(<1,000 employees)
50%
0%
20%
10%
30%
40%
Q: What are your top stressors at work?
Poor
communication
Team members
not pulling
their weight on
projects
Bottlenecks,
waiting on
others to take
action
Unrealistic
deadlines
I’m overloaded
23%
27%
26%
21%
27%
25%
40%
27%
41%
40%

11
It’s no surprise chronic stress leads to employee burnout.
Over a quarter of employees report that if their stress
levels don’t change, they will burn out in the next 12
months. In fact, 46% of HR leaders say employee burnout
is responsible for up to 50% of their annual workforce
turnover, as reported in a study by Kronos Incorporated
and Future Workplace.
Looking at international differences in our survey, 59%
of Americans say they’ve been unable to sleep due to stress
at work, compared to just 42% of UK respondents. Some
18% of Americans say they’ve sought professional help with
stress management, while just 10% of UK respondents say
the same. This may be rooted in the culture of stoicism
and stigma around mental health in the UK.
As employees begin to accept stress as a way of life,
work interest and effort decline, and productivity suffers.
Almost half of workers say stress at work has caused them
to “check out” or stop caring at some point in their career.
Checked out employees cost companies $450 to $550
billion in lost productivity every year, according to Gallup.
The bitter and expensive truth behind burnout
Q: At any point during your career, which
of the following have you done due to stress
at work? (select all that apply)
Searched for
a new job
Been
unable
to sleep
Lost my
temper
at work
I’ve stopped
caring /
“Checked out”
Taken it
out on my
friends/
family
Taken
unplanned
time off
0% 80%60%20% 40%
53%
43%
46%
US UK
42%
31%
29%
26%
60%
59%
37%
46%
32%

12
Workers in the US were 83% more likely than UK
repondents to say “a little bit of stress can help me focus
and get work done.” Similarly, UK respondents were more
than twice as likely to say “stress causes me to shut down
and be unproductive.”
It raises the question: Do Americans really want to get rid
of their stress, or is it a point of pride?
As Meredith Fineman writes in the Harvard Business
Review, US workers love to brag about how busy we are.
Interestingly in our survey, Americans were still 60%
more likely than UK respondents to report that they don’t
let work stress them out. This begs the question: Are
Americans being realistic with themselves about stress
and how it impacts them?
Does American culture glorify stress?
Q: Which statement best describes your relationship
with stress productivity?
Stress causes
me to shut
down and be
unproductive
I can handle
some stress, but
my work quality
suffers
Stress affects me
personally but
doesn’t affect my
work or work habits
A little bit of stress
can help me focus
and get work done
My best work
comes from high
stress situations
I don’t let work
stress me out
0% 40%30%10% 20%
US UK
8%
21%
20%
33%
5%
11%
18%
30%
23%
19%
3%
7%

13
Stress and turnover
28%
6%
4%
24%
38%
High but sustainable
Unsustainably high
No stress
Low, but present
Moderate stress
Successful companies with higher revenue often have employees
who deal with higher levels of stress. If left unchecked, super
high levels of stress can trigger employee turnover, which affects
companies’ bottom line.
About one third of employees from companies with over $51
million in revenue say they deal with high to unsustainably high
stress everyday. Additionally, 11% of employees from companies
with over $51 million in annual revenue report stress from work
negatively impacts their home life every day.
This perpetual impact on home life is causing employees from
successful companies to head for the hills. Of the 11% who say
that work negatively impacts their home life every day, 77.5% report
having looked for another job as a result of stress, and nearly half
(45%) have actually quit their job.
Q: What is your average level
of stress at work?
(companies with $51+ mil in revenue)

14
The cost of stress-related
turnover
Although 11% may not sound like much, the cost of dealing
with this group’s high levels of stress are staggering. Say
11% of employees at a company of 1,000 are experiencing
the negative impacts of stress at home every day.
Of these 110 employees, 50 decide to quit due to stress
(45% of this group). From lost productivity to onboarding
and hiring costs, a company typically spends about 75%
of an employee’s annual salary to replace them.
If these 50 employees were making $60k a year before they
quit, hiring replacements will cost $2.25 million.
Employee replacement cost factors:
Time spent filling the vacant position
Hours/weeks in lost productivity before the employee
leaves
Time coworkers and the manager/supervisor combined
will need to compensate for the vacant employee
(overtime, added shifts, etc.)
Number of hours in lost productivity resulting from
orientation and training of a new hire
Time spent on admin and hiring tasks (advertising,
resume screening, interviewing, onboarding)
Source: Society of Human Resource Management

15
Managers must foster good
communication habits
Stress levels will continue to rise if managers don’t change
how work is conducted. But how are managers expected
to improve their teams’ stress when they are drowning
in poor communication practices themselves?
Some 36% of managers spend anywhere from six to 15
hours in meetings a week, and 62% spend two to four hours
in email every day, according to our survey. That’s a total
of 98% of managers spending 40% to 87% of their work week
on communication alone. In fact, 78% admit they spend too
much time in meetings instead of doing actual work.
Spending valuable time in meetings and responding to email
versus producing results takes a toll on managers. Findings
reveal 26% of managers’ work stress levels are high and 6%
are unsustainably high.
Often communication is not translating into actionable
work. Managers need to cut back on their habitual response
to scheduling meetings and evaluate the quality and intent
of their communication. It’s time for managers to ask
themselves, “Do I really need to have this meeting?”
Managers are crucial for career development
Managers grow from different types of activities, according
to the 70-20-10 rule for leadership development.
70% from job related experiences
20% from interactions with others
10% from formal education events
While this model is specific to leadership development,
it is relevant for workers in terms of their own growth
and how their managers are impacted when they
are unable to follow this rule.
Communication overload for managers means they have
less time to develop talent on their teams.
This can lead to stagnation of work quality and turnover
for workers who feel they’re no longer learning
and growing.
Source: Center for Creative Leadership

16
Infographic:
Should we have a meeting?
So many corporate employees spend their workday bouncing from
meeting to meeting. In many organizations, the de facto method
of getting anything done has become “let’s meet about it.”
Can we do anything about meeting overload?
Maybe. Use this handy decision tree to determine whether
you should have a meeting or not.
Check out the full decision tree here!

17
Stress is a slippery slope
When asked about daily stress levels, 67% of respondents
report their average stress levels range from moderate
to unsustainably high. These same respondents
are 84% more likely to say receiving an email or text
message from a superior outside of work hours—a now
common occurrence—has a high impact on their stress
level compared to respondents who experience lower
stress on a daily basis.
Receiving notifications for upcoming meetings
and important deadlines is an integral, inevitable part
of the modern work lifestyle. However, those with higher
stress levels have a much lower tolerance for the way their
manager conducts work.

18
Receiving work with unrealistic deadlines is another common
occurrence at most companies. However, the effect on workers varies
drastically depending on their standard stress level. High-stress
workers are 38% more likely to claim these occurrences have a high
impact on their stress than their less-stressed counterparts.
High stress baselines lead to more stress
As such, searching for missing information is exceedingly stressful
for someone who is already operating on a higher stress plane. In fact,
“Being unable to locate information I know I’ve seen in the past” is 54%
more likely to have a high-pressure impact on high-stress workers.
80%
0%
40%
20%
60%
Q: The following events have a high impact on my stress level: Individuals with no
to low stress
Individuals with
moderate to high stress
18%
32%
Receiving email or text
messages from a superior
outside of work hours
Notifications of new
emails or messages
during work
Being unable to locate
information I know I’ve
seen in the past
Receiving assignments
with unrealistic
deadlines
Too much time spent in
meetings and not enough
time to do actual work
19%
42% 44%
69%
22%
37%
27%
10%

19
Adopting habits
to manage stress
Most work stress is manageable through the adoption
of management best practices and technology. Ensuring
employees take time off to recharge and encouraging
them to disconnect after hours helps reduce stress.
A work management solution eliminates information silos
and makes key work information easy to locate across
an organization. This will help reduce the stress caused
by being unable to locate information needed to get work
done for both managers and workers.
High-stress workers are 24% less likely to “agree” their
managers accurately understand their workload. This type
of technology also gives management a better picture
of each team member’s workload and capacity, thereby
reducing the risk of stress-induced burnout.
With this level of improved visibility, managers
can distribute work appropriately and easily see project
statuses without interrupting team members for updates.
Laying down the law
In 2017, France adopted a “right to disconnect” law to help
workers find work-life balance, and protect them from
after-hours email.
The law requires firms with 50 or more employees to agree
with their workforce on out-of-office email policies.
Sourcе: CNN

20
Flexible work hours and remote work opportunities
can also lower stress and improve retention. Respondents
with moderate to high stress are 19% more likely to say
flexible hours or working from home would help reduce
their stress.
Women are also 20.5% more likely than men to agree
that flexible work hours or working from home would
reduce their stress.
In fact, companies that support remote work have 25%
lower employee turnover than companies that don’t,
according to research from Owl Labs and TINYpulse.
Work management solutions harness virtual collaboration,
making it possible to work from anywhere at anytime.
Can flexible hours save workers?
Q: The option to work from home would reduce my stress
80%
0%
40%
20%
60%
AGREE
Women Men
63%
52.2%

21
How to prevent stress-induced burnout
In today’s job-seeker world, burnout is one of the top reasons
for turnover in organizations. Managers are stressed because
they’re too distracted by technology and tied up in meetings to focus
on actual work or establish reliable work management processes.
Employees are stressed because they can’t disconnect, and they
don’t feel supported by their managers or teammates. As stress
turns chronic, talented employees start looking for a way out.
With poor communication as the culprit, it’s critical to change
the way teams collaborate and how work is managed. Consolidating
collaboration makes it easy for managers to oversee ongoing
projects and workloads so no one feels overwhelmed. Missing
information is no longer an issue because all approvals, sign-offs,
and edits are done in one place. Workflow automation can reduce
bottlenecks and increase accountability amongst team members.
Stress is inevitable, but it’s not uncontrollable. Taking
the steps to reduce stress and burnout by improving
collaboration will encourage the most talented employees
to show up to work everyday… and stay there.

Find out now
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save with Wrike?
Try our interactive calculator to discover
how Wrike can help your team save time,
reduce stress, and increase productivity.
Conquer stress before it costs you.
Automate repetitive processes
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Create clear deadlines
Establish definite workflows
Make meetings matter
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