Stressed out with personal and financial troubles? Welcome to the status quo, if findings from a new survey by Mercer are anything to go by.

Mercer commissioned Red C to survey 1,500 employees in the UK and Ireland between May and June to assess their stress levels.

The survey showed that 82% of staff are facing increased personal stress, 59% of people are worried about their ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle whilst holding down a job, and over 50% are concerned both about paying their bills and providing for their family if impacted by illness or death.

Mercer’s analysis also found that the stress and anxiety caused by these concerns is contributing to reduced concentration (64%), reduced job satisfaction (59%) and lower employee productivity (44%).

The majority of those surveyed said that they would value an employer doing more to help with dealing with stress (61%), providing financial and retirement planning advice (58%), and giving access to online training and development (58%).

In Association with

The survey indicated that stress levels in Ireland are higher than in the UK: 74% of UK respondents said they were facing increased stress at work, compared with 82% for Ireland.

On the top three issues, Irish employee concerns were all higher:

• concerned about maintaining a healthy lifestyle: 59% Ireland versus 48% UK;
• concerned about providing for family if impacted by death or illness: 55% Ireland versus 41% UK;
• concerned about paying household bills: 54% Ireland versus 41% UK.

Commenting on the survey, Niall O’Callaghan, partner at Mercer, said: “Across all life stages and ages, employees’ personal worries about their health and financial security are having a dramatic effect on how they operate at work.

“If employees are worried, distracted, not as healthy as they could be, then they are not as engaged as they could be either. Enabling employees to address their concerns is in the interest of employers and employees”.

O’Callaghan argued that employers who proactively look to provide support and resources to help staff manage stress would see dividends in terms of improved productivity and morale, and lower staff turnover.

“They will also be better placed to recruit and retain the most talented staff in a tightening labour market as the economy recovers. The increasing high levels of stress experienced in Ireland over the past number of years is bad for business, and bad for the employees and the companies for whom they work.”

Harmonise Platform

The publication of the survey results coincides with Mercer’s launch of Mercer Harmonise, a digital platform enabling employers and employees to address health and savings issues facing Ireland’s workforce.

The platform helps employers to improve employee engagement, increase productivity and reduce benefit administration costs by allowing employees to manage their health, workplace benefits and financial affairs in one place.

The platform, which is accessible on smartphone, tablet, and desktop, draws together all of an employee’s pensions, insurance and health data – allowing easy planning and management of personal financial and health goals.

Employees can set goals, adjust their savings, compare themselves to their peer group, select benefits, and access an increased array of benefits.”

All of the digital services are supported by a customer care team of benefit experts and financial advisers who assist users either over the phone, using chat or face-to-face.

Said O’Callaghan: “We’ve designed Mercer Harmonise to cut through all the noise and jargon. Information is simple, clear and nudges us to take proactive decisions that bring greater peace of mind.

“Reducing the stress and worry from our daily lives makes us more productive, more energetic and more engaged in all that we do. It takes us one step closer in making tomorrow, today.”