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Work/life balance reflects concerns about Quality of Working Life
(QWL), Job Satisfaction, the home-work
interface, and Organisational Stress. All of
which impact on the bottom line through lost
productivity, increased sickness absence and
labour turnover, low morale and poor quality and
customer service. And of course stress can
impact on you personally, as well as those close
to you. (Click
here
for 10-point Stress
checklist)
As long ago as 1999 an Ashridge College survey showed that 77% of
managers found work to be a source of stress and
93% of them were committed to spending more time
with their families. And in the Management Today
survey that year half the workforce said it felt
guilty leaving work on time. In addition the Institute of Directors
report that 40%
of Directors regard stress as a major
problem and 90% of them think working
practices could be at fault.
In the UK,
according to the Health & Safety Executive:
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About 1/2
a million people experience work-related
stress at a level which makes them ill
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Up to 5
million people feel "very" or "extremely"
stressed by their work
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12.8
million working days were lost to stress,
depression and anxiety in 2004/5
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Stress
now costs the economy approaching £1/2
Billion per year.
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Stress related sickness absence has
increased five-fold since the 1950s
And there have been several stress-related settlements
running into many thousands of pounds.
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What’s the answer?
There is no quick fix but a good
starting point is to carry out a
review of existing practices, a risk
assessment based on the HSE
Management Guidelines, and/or a
stress audit.
I
have
extensive experience in this area
and can assist by carrying out
audits, developing policies, and by
providing training for managers and
staff.
For organisations wishing to
benchmark themselves, I can carry
out a QWL survey using the QWL
Questionnaire – specifically
designed by ASE for this purpose.
The QWLQ is designed to assess the
quality of life in the workplace and
can be used with individuals, groups
or whole organisations. It measures
support from managers and
relationships with work colleagues,
involvement and responsibility at
work, and provides diagnostic
information about organisations
experiencing personnel difficulties
including work-related stress. |
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