Hidden thieves are stealing your employees' vitality andproductivity, and costing your company serious money. Humanresources and benefits managers are responsible for flushing outthe felons and fixing the problems they create. Managers must askimportant questions that will bring the concealed issues to light.Take these, for example.

Do we know all the factors that increase stress in ouremployees? Are human resources and benefits managers searching inthe right places for the actual causes of employee stress? Ifmanagers can reduce a significant portion of the stress suffered inthe workplace today, can HR substantially increase workproductivity and seriously reduce a portion of skyrocketing healthcare costs?

Many studies have looked at the effects of stressful workingconditions on employees, and often come to the same generalconclusions, as stated in an Industrial Accident PreventionAssociation study. “When looking at employee health and well-being,it must be recognized that a worker's general health issubstantially affected by two major factors—what workers bring withthem to the workplace, in terms of heredity, personal resources,health practices, beliefs, attitudes and values; and what theworkplace does to the employees once they are there.”