The leading cause of workplace unproductivity is surprisingly easy to counter

No matter what industry your business falls within, productivity is the key to survival. Ultimately you would like to grow your business, but at the moment you may be struggling to keep your head above water until you can turn it around.

The best advice you can be given is simply, to laugh. That’s right! Laughter is the best medicine for a struggling business. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be laughing your way to the bank.

Stress is the leading obstacle to productivity

In a global survey conducted in 2013-2014 by globally renowned business performance experts, Towers Watson, it was substantiated that stress is the leading obstacle to productivity on the job. In this survey, The Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, respondents participated from 12 different countries around the globe. Results were based on 22,347 employees, of which 2,030 worked in the UK and 5,070 were from the USA. Respondents of private employers were targeted (non-governmental positions) and the data coming back was startling, to say the least.

Of those claiming high levels of job-related stress, 57 percent also said they were disengaged.

Of those claiming high levels of job-related stress, an astonishing 57 percent also said they were ‘disengaged.’ In stark contrast to that figure, of the 10 percent who claimed low levels of stress, only one in ten of those claimed to be disengaged and half this group claimed to be highly engaged.

If these figures are to be believed, it’s about time employers did something to reduce stress levels on the job if they hope to retain their best workers and survive in the long term.

Laughter is indeed the best medicine

According to one of the world’s most prominent non-profit associations for medical research and education, Mayo Clinic, laughter is the best stress reducer there is. It has both short and long term benefits, of which stress relief and an improved immune system hold the greatest potential for employers experiencing a drop in productivity.

Going back to the Towers Watson survey, it was found that on-the-job stress significantly contributed to absenteeism. Highly stressed employees averaged 4.6 sick days in the course of a year while those with low levels of stress averaged only 2.6 days off due to illness. It is difficult to be productive when employees are away from their posts. The job just takes longer to get done!

An article in Psychology Today written in May 2011 cited a study undertaken by Professor Peter Derks from the College of William and Mary. His brain study research looked at the electrical activity that occurs as we laugh. About four-tenths of a second after we hear the punch line of a joke—but before we laugh—a wave of electricity sweeps through the cortex, literally carpeting the entire cerebral cortex.

It is his thesis that the entire cortex is involved because the left hemisphere is busy seeking to analyse the verbal content of a joke while the right creative hemisphere is busy trying to figure out the incongruity of the joke. Think of this as an exercise that works on the entire brain at the same time – core training, as it were.

Laughter proven to reduce stress hormones

There are also other explanations for how laughter can alleviate stress in more quantifiable ways.

Lighten up at work!