“Office Phobia”: Reasons for Workplace Discomfort
3 December 2012
Read by 1663 persons
Today, many reasons can quickly turn daily office life into a nightmare…Overwork, unsuitable environment, lack of recognition are the most common causes.
Office life is far from always well-lived by employees. Whether in large groups or small structures, for ordinary employees or in the upper echelons of management, workplace discomfort and "office phobia" threaten all employees. Amélie Oudry, a work psychologist and stress specialist, analyzes the main reasons that plague office life for us.
• Psychological pressure, moral harassment are managerial problems that are very often linked to an overload of work. It is increasingly frequent that too much is asked of an employee, who may be forced to perform several tasks at the same time, things that he is not used to doing and that are imposed on him. Today, it is considered commonplace for an employee to replace - and therefore do the work - of another employee in addition to his initial work. As a result, the employee finds himself more easily in instability, he does not know - or little - what awaits him. This situation considerably increases the risk of burnout.
• Decision-making latitude (or infantilization) is a feeling very badly experienced daily by an employee. The higher the degree of leadership, the greater the frustration. For example, a senior manager whose position gives him legitimacy as a decision-maker but who, in reality, is only an executor, in the service of a superior hierarchy. The managerial norm in France is still to infantilize employees, who are not trusted and are given little autonomy in their decisions. Under these conditions, it is obviously difficult for employees to flourish professionally…
• The environmental condition is also a major cause of workplace discomfort, which increases at the same time as large open workspaces (open spaces) become the norm. While this kills the employee's intimacy (*), this environmental condition also implies a multitude of daily elements that can quickly become unbearable: noise pollution that harms concentration; telephone rings, snippets of conversations… Even if - in the best case - the atmosphere between employees is excellent, this cannot prevent tensions. The professions where competition reigns associated with open space, for example, do not mix well…
• The lack of recognition at work is largely badly experienced by employees. In our companies, the norm is not to congratulate this or that worker for yes or no. In this same perspective, employees often feel little listened to, neglected by their superior(s) who pay them too little attention. This trend is the perfect representation of a bad slope of management: a manager who does not listen, hermetic to the remarks of the members of his team, who constantly question their usefulness, their real place in the company… Without recognition, the employee is constantly in search of meaning.
• Communication problems can take different forms and become major problems. On the one hand, there is verbal communication between employees, which can be strained by environmental conditions…Verbal violence can become a very disruptive element. Then, there is also internal communication, and the circulation of information. As soon as an employee has not had the information for reasons he ignores, this creates a climate of suspicion, which hinders social peace in the company. Nothing worse indeed, when everyone - except oneself - is aware. A simple forgotten recipient addition in an email can then take a catastrophic turn
Quentin Périnel.
Lefigaro.fr
Posted online on December 3, 2012.
Office life is far from always well-lived by employees. Whether in large groups or small structures, for ordinary employees or in the upper echelons of management, workplace discomfort and "office phobia" threaten all employees. Amélie Oudry, a work psychologist and stress specialist, analyzes the main reasons that plague office life for us.
• Psychological pressure, moral harassment are managerial problems that are very often linked to an overload of work. It is increasingly frequent that too much is asked of an employee, who may be forced to perform several tasks at the same time, things that he is not used to doing and that are imposed on him. Today, it is considered commonplace for an employee to replace - and therefore do the work - of another employee in addition to his initial work. As a result, the employee finds himself more easily in instability, he does not know - or little - what awaits him. This situation considerably increases the risk of burnout.
• Decision-making latitude (or infantilization) is a feeling very badly experienced daily by an employee. The higher the degree of leadership, the greater the frustration. For example, a senior manager whose position gives him legitimacy as a decision-maker but who, in reality, is only an executor, in the service of a superior hierarchy. The managerial norm in France is still to infantilize employees, who are not trusted and are given little autonomy in their decisions. Under these conditions, it is obviously difficult for employees to flourish professionally…
• The environmental condition is also a major cause of workplace discomfort, which increases at the same time as large open workspaces (open spaces) become the norm. While this kills the employee's intimacy (*), this environmental condition also implies a multitude of daily elements that can quickly become unbearable: noise pollution that harms concentration; telephone rings, snippets of conversations… Even if - in the best case - the atmosphere between employees is excellent, this cannot prevent tensions. The professions where competition reigns associated with open space, for example, do not mix well…
• The lack of recognition at work is largely badly experienced by employees. In our companies, the norm is not to congratulate this or that worker for yes or no. In this same perspective, employees often feel little listened to, neglected by their superior(s) who pay them too little attention. This trend is the perfect representation of a bad slope of management: a manager who does not listen, hermetic to the remarks of the members of his team, who constantly question their usefulness, their real place in the company… Without recognition, the employee is constantly in search of meaning.
• Communication problems can take different forms and become major problems. On the one hand, there is verbal communication between employees, which can be strained by environmental conditions…Verbal violence can become a very disruptive element. Then, there is also internal communication, and the circulation of information. As soon as an employee has not had the information for reasons he ignores, this creates a climate of suspicion, which hinders social peace in the company. Nothing worse indeed, when everyone - except oneself - is aware. A simple forgotten recipient addition in an email can then take a catastrophic turn
Quentin Périnel.
Lefigaro.fr
Posted online on December 3, 2012.
