Pressure and Stress are Hitting Workers Hard

Incentive: News

Pressure and Stress are Hitting Workers Hard
April 23, 2009

By Kassia Shishkoff

While eight out of 10 workers surveyed in March by WFD Consulting said their workloads are up, half the respondents claim that motivation and energy are down in the workplace. Only 45 percent of those surveyed said their workloads are reasonable and a third said that they are still doing unnecessary, low-value work. So what can be done?

"Many organizations are aware there's a huge workload issue and are not sure exactly how to begin," says Diane Burrus, a senior consultant at WFD. "We've found great success with companies who addressed workload at the team level—identifying the drivers of workload and beginning to address things that cause low value of work and inefficiency."

According to Burrus, a good way to reduce stress and anxiety in the workplace is to allow workers to have a more flexible schedule, especially if reducing hours and changing schedules can reduce the need for layoffs. She says people are more appreciative to still have a job, even if it means fewer hours and less pay.

"There's a lot of fear and anxiety across the board," Burrus says. "More organizations can be transparent and communicate the state of the business. Keeping everyone informed about decisions is important."

Burrus says that employee incentives are a good short-term fix for the lack of motivation in the workplace today and that a strategy to provide workers with a flexible environment is important to improving conditions.

"Providing workers with a lot of resources and support is more important than ever," she says.

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