In a recent survey it was revealed that half of the global business population has experienced an appreciable rise in their workplace stress levels over the last two years, with more than a fifth experiencing a severe increase over the same time-span.

In the UK, around half of Human Resources professionals think stress is more of a problem than it was a year ago. A fitness instructor in China has come up with a novel way to let clients relieve their tension: he is offering himself as a punch-bag for half an hour to women suffering from stress.

Although it seems a drastic way to let off steam and a painful means of making a living, Xiao Lin's unusual idea may not be as mad as it first seems. With China seeing the greatest rise in overall workplace stress - more than 89% in the last two years -he will not be short of potential customers.

But the workforce in the People's Republic is not the only one to be suffering the effects of stress. In this turbulent economic climate the condition is growing in business communities worldwide.

The phenomenon is not about to go away because parts of the world are emerging from recession. Some nations are continuing their struggle to break free, while those that have technically escaped the worst are only slowly getting to their feet. A full economic recovery is not on the immediate horizon.

So challenging stress levels are likely to be an issue for businesses to tackle well into 2010. The harm that high stress causes can be considerable: as staff succumb to mental and physical exhaustion, motivation plummets and professionalism reduces, leading to ineffectiveness and low productivity. The ultimate result is damage to the bottom line and a negative impact on financial results.

To tackle stress levels you need to look at why they're rising. In an economic slowdown they are often driven up by businesses' increasing focus on profitability. This results in many employees being expected to take on additional tasks and responsibilities, leading to long hours often without extra reward.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence confirms that 13.7 million working days are lost each year due to work-related mental health.

As well as impacting on the health of staff, the drive for profit increases the likelihood of key employees leaving just at a time when a firm needs all the experience they can get.

So what can be done? Although business owners need to listen to staff, employees are also responsible for flagging up problems before they escalate. The chances are that your workforce may have already thought of their own solutions. Encouraging them to speak up before the strain starts to show and listening to their ideas for easing the pressure are sensible measures.

One of the biggest modern-day stresses is enduring a long daily commute, especially on top of long hours. If a key player is feeling the strain, you could introduce flexible working practices such as home working on selected days or staggered start and finishing times.

Making the office environment more appealing is another relatively inexpensive way to ease stress. I know one small company whose staff can have a subsidised neck-and-shoulder massage when the pressure gets too much.

Others have health and fitness initiatives at lunchtimes to help staff manage stress - which leads us neatly back to the punch-bag. Although small firms don't need to take such drastic measures, they need to ensure that action is taken.

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