Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Depression? Isn't that just a fancy word for feeling "bummed out"?

If you're a fan of The Office, you probably recognize the title. Our impending discussion of work-life balace and last week's episode of The Office got me thinking, what are the psychological and emotional threats of excessive work? How many people suffer from depression as a result of job-related stress? What kind of steps do employers need to take to ensure the mental and emotional safety of their employees?

Why such stress? According to an article in Workforce Performance Magazine, "Among industrialized economies, the U.S. ranks as one of the highest in average annual hours worked per person, a rank that has remained virtually unchanged since 1990, according to statistics from the International Labor Organization at the United Nations." The American Institute of Stress published the following statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Safet and Health (NIOSH) on their website (http://www.stress.org/job.htm).

  • 40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful;
  • 25% view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives;
  • Three fourths of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago;
  • 29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work;
  • 26 percent of workers said they were "often or very often burned out or stressed by their work";
  • Job stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than financial or family problems.

So what can employers do to prevent the adverse effects of a poor work/life balance and promote a healthy and productive environment? Employers can provide flexible working hours, such as a compressed work week. This allows workers to work more during four days of the week to allow for a longer weekend. Some employers allow their workers to work from home which provides the employees with a more comfortable environment. Employers should also monitor the satisfaction of their employees with their work/life balance. This can help the employer to establish guidelines for the business that will allow employees' personal obligations to be met. Many employers also provide the option for maternity and even paternity leave (as Daya mentioned).

As an employee, it is important to take time for yourself. And you can always remember Michael Scott's wise words, "An office is only as safe as the people in it."

1 Comments:

Blogger jason veit said...

"Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they value loyalty the most."

2:22 PM  

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