By Kendal Patterson Memo From: Your Employees Re: Workplace Stress When economic times are shaky, we know that stress can seem like the cost of doing business. After all, you have to push for results or none of us has a job, right? But stress has been building lately and that not only hurts us, your employees, but the company’s bottom line too. Stress puts the body on high alert – the pulse quickens, the muscles tense, the nervous system wakes up. It’s that fight or flight response. Short term, we can handle it. But if stress is unresolved, our bodies literally begin to wear out, opening the door to injury and illness. For the company, that means more sick days, more long-term disability, more possibility we’ll turn to substance abuse for relief, and more employees heading for the exits the moment a new job beckons.