Managing Organizational Behavior 2nd Edition by Timothy Baldwin,Bill Bommer,Robert Rubin

Exercise 2

Making Changes in a Workplace That Lower Stress and Enhance (not lower) Productivity
The president of your company just appointed you to a task force that he says is a high priority in the company. In kicking off the first meeting, he notes that he is concerned that "... stress has gotten out of hand in our workplace. Economic times are hard and our revenue streams are at risk, but we cannot be so worried about our bottom line that we stress-out our people to the point of exhaustion and sickness. My understanding is that lower stress can save us in health care costs, keep absenteeism and turnover low, and even raise productivity if we do it right. I want to have a generally healthier and lower-stress place to work. I hear Google has foosball tables in their headquarters and their people just love them-should we get a few of those or stuff like that?..."
Given that your president is truly serious about creating a lower-stress workplace culture, what feasibly could be done? What features of the workplace have been linked to lower stress, and is there any evidence they could be implemented without a huge investment and without lowering productivity?