Stress Case Employees on edge? Here's how to help them relax.

A business owner can ignore employee stress--if he or shedoesn't care about employee productivity and creativity,"says Allan Rabinowitz, owner of Stress Strategies Resources in LosAngeles. "We know that when stress goes up, work quality goesdown--and absenteeism and conflicts between employees increase. Ifyou want your employees doing their best work, you simply have tocare about their stress levels."

That's the bottom line: Working to cut employeestress is not feel-good management; it's dollars-and-centsmanagement. If you don't attend to the waves of tension washingover your workers, you just might find your business wiped out.