Kathy has a problem. She has a huge project proposal due on Wednesday. However, her daughter, Tina, has dance practice this afternoon, Fido has to stay on his feeding schedule, and she has to have her suit dry cleaned in time for a presentation on Thursday. Her car is due for an oil change, and the grocery shopping has not been done for the week.

Kathy’s situation is not that uncommon for today’s worker. How do stressed employees deal with finding a balance between their personal and professional responsibilities? They don’t. According to the author of The Overworked American, Juliet Schor states that professionals are working 4 weeks more per year than they were 20 years ago. It may seem like this extra time at work may benefit employers, but not when 10 to 20 percent of the workday is devoted to personal tasks.

So how can corporate America find a way to help employees get that balance so that work time becomes more productive and focused? Some human resource / employee benefit professionals have turned to concierge services to help employees get personal tasks taken care of so that their focus is on professional tasks. For a fee that ranges from $25 to $1,000 per employee, companies can have an agency come in and take care of some of the employee’s personal tasks like buying gifts, walking the dog, and more. Due to its affordability, concierge services are not limited to large corporations, but can easily be incorporated into the benefit package of any small business.

Not sure if a concierge service will actually help your organization? According to a recent survey done by the Northeastern Human Resource Association, 86.7 percent of human resource professionals believe that a benefits package helps their company recruit and retain professionals. Almost 20 percent of those surveyed offer a concierge service as an added benefit. Many human resource professionals have weighed the cost of stress and poor health habits, which is about $10,000 per year for each employee, with the lower cost of a benefit like a concierge service.

So if you have employees like Kathy, who are overwhelmed in both their life at work and at home, maybe it is time to start looking at your benefits package to create a better work environment for your employees. The less stress your employees feel, the more productive they will be, reaping you greater returns on your investment in benefits like a concierge service.