Pressure: The New Management Focus
7 July 2008
Read by 2992 persons
Phew, the stress level rating given by executives to their stress level is stabilizing. However, there is no reason to rejoice. Stress is slowly but surely becoming a structuring factor of professional life. Worrying.
Stress is doing well, thank you for asking. Wave after wave, the CFE-CGC Stress Barometer confirms this. Conducted between February and March 2008 with a representative sample of executives, this 10th edition reveals an intensification of the discomfort felt by employees, with an overall stress rating of 6.3/10, the highest level since 2004. Certainly, from one year to the next, the February-March waves always show a decrease in morale. Nevertheless, comments Mathieu Doiret, a researcher at OpinionWay, the increase recorded this year is "quite significant." Not so much on this overall score, whose variations from one survey wave to another hardly exceed one-tenth of a point (two-tenths between September 2003 and March 2004).
However, explains OpinionWay, we observe a generalization of negative indicators in almost all categories of criteria: stress factors, physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, induced behaviors, secondary symptoms…
Lack of recognition fuels the blues
The main cause of this tension: excessive workload. It is felt by 78% of people (+3%) and is coupled with a compression of available time: one-third of executives say they have enough time to complete their tasks. For comparison, in March 2004, half felt they had the necessary time. Four years later, 82% of executives feel they have to work faster. "The time factor appears as one of the major vectors of stress, undoubtedly because it largely reflects a general evolution of economic and social life rather than a given hierarchical context," emphasizes Mathieu Doiret.
Another element that amplifies stress: a lack of recognition, expressed by 70% of the sample. They are 4% more than in September 2007 who feel that their efforts are not rewarded at their fair value. In addition to these stress-generating factors, there is a slight deterioration (-2%) in the work atmosphere. Pressure can be felt particularly violently: 21% of executives (compared to 19% in the previous wave) say they are often or sometimes confronted with moral harassment.
Furthermore, the barometer shows predictive indicators generally on the rise. Executives feel more confronted with aggressive clients (+7%), competing with their own colleagues (+4%), or exposed to financial risks (+4%).
Also noteworthy is the increase in physical symptoms that may be a consequence of stress: back pain (+6%), visual or skin problems (+5%), headaches (+4%), palpitations (+4%). The survey also shows an increased tendency among executives towards discouragement (+4%). But regarding addictive behaviors, which very frequently characterize a situation of excessive tension in the individual, they are all or almost all increasing.
Thus, 21% of executives say they smoke because of work (+1%), 14% admit to using antidepressants or anxiolytics (+4%), 11% admit to alcohol consumption attributable to work (+2%).
A few bright spots emerge from this gloomy picture
The study notes, however, some signs of improvement. The first concerns the level of adherence to the company's strategy, which increased by 2%, considered favorable by 61% of executives. Another concerns career development prospects. 50% considered them bad or very bad in September 2007; only 48% did so in March 2008.
Executives seem rather satisfied with the "empowerment" so often touted in multinational companies. Often presented by observers as a double-edged sword, this autonomy is likely to reduce stress exposure when it is organized autonomy. Conversely, it accentuates the vectors of tension when it reflects a relaxation of management and deprives the executive of benchmarks regarding the definition of the position and responsibilities.
However, it is observed that executives overwhelmingly (88%) benefit from the necessary freedom to organize their work. An element of satisfaction that changes little over the years: 82% in 2003, 88% in 2005 for the extremes.
43% say objectives are unrealistic!
This does not prevent 36% of respondents from regretting a poor definition of their responsibilities and 43% of them from considering the objectives set by their management as "rather not at all realistic".
Another rather alarming observation: nearly one-third of respondents complain of having to perform tasks that do not correspond to their ethics…
Clearly, stress factors and symptoms are becoming embedded in organizations. Without particularly moving management, at least judging by the actions implemented to reverse the trend. Only 16% of executives believe that stress is taken into account in their company.
However, there is no shortage of avenues for improvement. What are the recommendations most frequently made by OpinionWay's sample of executives?
A third of respondents mention a better distribution of the workload. A solution more massively cited in companies with 500 employees and more. 17% of executives believe that it would be preferable to improve the work atmosphere, and 15% that it is necessary to encourage dialogue with managers.
However, on the managers' side, the response is still awaited. 40% of the participants in this stress barometer believe that, for their company, "a good executive is a stressed executive." And nearly one in two speaks of their manager as a vector of stress. So there is nothing to be reassured about.
For Mathieu Doiret, the recurrence and confirmation of the indicators reflect a phenomenon that goes beyond hierarchical and contextual dysfunctions to reveal a new management reality. "Stress is becoming one of the structuring dimensions of professional life," he says. "It's a new way of taking employees into consideration." We would wish for others.
Posted online September 22, 2008
newzy.fr
Stress is doing well, thank you for asking. Wave after wave, the CFE-CGC Stress Barometer confirms this. Conducted between February and March 2008 with a representative sample of executives, this 10th edition reveals an intensification of the discomfort felt by employees, with an overall stress rating of 6.3/10, the highest level since 2004. Certainly, from one year to the next, the February-March waves always show a decrease in morale. Nevertheless, comments Mathieu Doiret, a researcher at OpinionWay, the increase recorded this year is "quite significant." Not so much on this overall score, whose variations from one survey wave to another hardly exceed one-tenth of a point (two-tenths between September 2003 and March 2004).
However, explains OpinionWay, we observe a generalization of negative indicators in almost all categories of criteria: stress factors, physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, induced behaviors, secondary symptoms…
Lack of recognition fuels the blues
The main cause of this tension: excessive workload. It is felt by 78% of people (+3%) and is coupled with a compression of available time: one-third of executives say they have enough time to complete their tasks. For comparison, in March 2004, half felt they had the necessary time. Four years later, 82% of executives feel they have to work faster. "The time factor appears as one of the major vectors of stress, undoubtedly because it largely reflects a general evolution of economic and social life rather than a given hierarchical context," emphasizes Mathieu Doiret.
Another element that amplifies stress: a lack of recognition, expressed by 70% of the sample. They are 4% more than in September 2007 who feel that their efforts are not rewarded at their fair value. In addition to these stress-generating factors, there is a slight deterioration (-2%) in the work atmosphere. Pressure can be felt particularly violently: 21% of executives (compared to 19% in the previous wave) say they are often or sometimes confronted with moral harassment.
Furthermore, the barometer shows predictive indicators generally on the rise. Executives feel more confronted with aggressive clients (+7%), competing with their own colleagues (+4%), or exposed to financial risks (+4%).
Also noteworthy is the increase in physical symptoms that may be a consequence of stress: back pain (+6%), visual or skin problems (+5%), headaches (+4%), palpitations (+4%). The survey also shows an increased tendency among executives towards discouragement (+4%). But regarding addictive behaviors, which very frequently characterize a situation of excessive tension in the individual, they are all or almost all increasing.
Thus, 21% of executives say they smoke because of work (+1%), 14% admit to using antidepressants or anxiolytics (+4%), 11% admit to alcohol consumption attributable to work (+2%).
A few bright spots emerge from this gloomy picture
The study notes, however, some signs of improvement. The first concerns the level of adherence to the company's strategy, which increased by 2%, considered favorable by 61% of executives. Another concerns career development prospects. 50% considered them bad or very bad in September 2007; only 48% did so in March 2008.
Executives seem rather satisfied with the "empowerment" so often touted in multinational companies. Often presented by observers as a double-edged sword, this autonomy is likely to reduce stress exposure when it is organized autonomy. Conversely, it accentuates the vectors of tension when it reflects a relaxation of management and deprives the executive of benchmarks regarding the definition of the position and responsibilities.
However, it is observed that executives overwhelmingly (88%) benefit from the necessary freedom to organize their work. An element of satisfaction that changes little over the years: 82% in 2003, 88% in 2005 for the extremes.
43% say objectives are unrealistic!
This does not prevent 36% of respondents from regretting a poor definition of their responsibilities and 43% of them from considering the objectives set by their management as "rather not at all realistic".
Another rather alarming observation: nearly one-third of respondents complain of having to perform tasks that do not correspond to their ethics…
Clearly, stress factors and symptoms are becoming embedded in organizations. Without particularly moving management, at least judging by the actions implemented to reverse the trend. Only 16% of executives believe that stress is taken into account in their company.
However, there is no shortage of avenues for improvement. What are the recommendations most frequently made by OpinionWay's sample of executives?
A third of respondents mention a better distribution of the workload. A solution more massively cited in companies with 500 employees and more. 17% of executives believe that it would be preferable to improve the work atmosphere, and 15% that it is necessary to encourage dialogue with managers.
However, on the managers' side, the response is still awaited. 40% of the participants in this stress barometer believe that, for their company, "a good executive is a stressed executive." And nearly one in two speaks of their manager as a vector of stress. So there is nothing to be reassured about.
For Mathieu Doiret, the recurrence and confirmation of the indicators reflect a phenomenon that goes beyond hierarchical and contextual dysfunctions to reveal a new management reality. "Stress is becoming one of the structuring dimensions of professional life," he says. "It's a new way of taking employees into consideration." We would wish for others.
Posted online September 22, 2008
newzy.fr
