Overcome Workplace Stress
20 November 2011
Read by 1452 persons
Nobody escapes pressure in companies, but we can lessen its grip when it becomes toxic. Here's advice, case by case, to avoid overload.
You may know that little tune that spoils so many weekend ends. That famous Sunday evening blues, which starts to resonate around 6pm and forces you, when night comes, to toss and turn in your bed, unable to find sleep. Know that 52% of French people share this Monday phobia, according to a recent study by the Monster group. And we are not even the most affected: in the United States and Great Britain, this rate climbs to almost 70%! In total, nearly a quarter of European executives suffer from workplace stress. It's fine when it only causes a bout of depression. But we have recently seen, at Renault or France Telecom, that the suffering was sometimes such that it could lead to suicide. So what is this famous stress?
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work defines it as the “anxiety caused by the imbalance between what is asked of someone and the means they have to achieve it”. “In small doses, stress is positive,” reminds Patrick Legeron, psychiatrist and CEO of the consulting firm Stimulus. “It's a normal reaction of our body whenever it finds itself in an emergency situation. Without it, man would never have survived his environment.” When it occurs punctually, stress improves our performance; it stimulates us by increasing our heart rate and muscle strength. If it is chronic, however, it causes many dysfunctions in the body. It is thus responsible for half of the working days lost in a year. A prejudice to the economy that amounted to €3 billion in 2007, according to the French National Institute for Research and Safety (INRS). Several factors combine to explain this.
Frenzied Competition
The reasons are firstly found in the evolution of the global economy. “Before anything else, globalization and the liberalization of markets have resulted in intensified competition,” analyzes Patrick Amar, CEO of the Axis Mundi firm and co-author of “Developing Well-being at Work” (Dunod). A company can now enter a market remotely, thanks to a distribution strategy via the Internet, without having to set up a significant structure and sales force. There is a race for innovation and productivity to maintain profit. And, at the end of the chain, employees see their workload increase while deadlines decrease.
Tyranny of the Stock Market
Shareholders often bear some responsibility for this increased pressure on individuals. “The tyranny of the stock market shortens the investment horizon,” reminds Patrick Amar. “Financial reports and other reporting obligations, formerly annual, are now quarterly.” All this against a backdrop of accelerating product life cycles. “Before, it took eight years to design a car. Today, it's three,” observes Alain Ponelle, coach and specialist in occupational safety and psychosocial risks.
These changes have direct effects on working conditions in companies. Management lacks time to communicate with its employees, to help them evolve and understand the challenges. Experience-based learning is undermined by increasingly sophisticated techniques that lead professions to constantly evolve. Many executives find themselves wearing a double hat, technical and commercial, which forces them to achieve quantitative objectives without ceasing to adapt to customer demand. But to what result? According to a study conducted by Dares, 41% of employees consider it “sometimes impossible” to respect both quality and deadlines; 6% of them even consider it “totally impossible”. Consequence: they may end up no longer recognizing themselves in their work or their company. A recent survey conducted at EADS reveals that 90% of the group's 118,000 employees do not feel involved!
Race for Bonuses
In the service sector, employees are under particularly strong pressure because changes in the organization of work are very frequent. Mergers and acquisitions, relocation, restructuring: executives helplessly watch the upheavals in their company. Some are forced to accept transfers that force them to move. Others have to change positions within the new structure and sometimes end up in a back office.
The race for performance takes precedence among those who hold on. Some managers do not hesitate to put their employees in competition. SCT Telecom (integrated telecommunications services company) chose this year to reward only the two best salespeople rather than rewarding the hundred employees in the sales force, as had been done until now. The winners will win Minis worth €33,000 each. And too bad for those who don't feel up to fighting.
The Trap of Open Spaces
Moreover, the nature of stress is that it spreads to all levels. “That of the manager spreads by contagion to directors and overflows to line managers and then to their employees,” specifies Patrick Amar. “Some managers believe that their employees work better when they are afraid,” emphasizes Patrick Legeron. Open spaces, organized so that the boss has an eye on the entire team, make their work easier. “I feel like I'm in middle school facing a malevolent supervisor,” many employees report. Initially designed to promote exchange and team spirit, landscaped offices break intimacy and concentration, as Alexandre des Isnards and Thomas Zuber describe in “The Open Space Killed Me” (Hachette). New information technologies constitute an additional trap for executives. They constantly receive professional SMS and emails on their smartphones and laptops. Some can no longer disconnect and work evenings and weekends to meet deadlines. “This confusion between professional and personal life causes frustration and exhaustion. It is essential to give space back to the individual,” insists Alain Ponelle.
The Power of Laughter
So how to get out of this spiral? On your scale, you can act and fight against stress, rediscover the meaning of your work. We offer you some avenues to this effect. To overcome, for example, the anxieties that can be generated by a commercial negotiation or an important interview. As a manager, you will discover that laughter, used wisely, is a sovereign weapon for reducing tension. Our experts will also reveal the pitfalls to avoid when delicately managing stressed employees. Finally, you will learn how Stéphane Richard, the new boss of France Telecom, is going about reassuring his employees, traumatized by a series of suicides. Twenty pages of dossier to help you finally overcome that devilish Sunday evening blues.
Ophélie Colas des Francs
Capital.fr
Posted online November 20, 2011.
You may know that little tune that spoils so many weekend ends. That famous Sunday evening blues, which starts to resonate around 6pm and forces you, when night comes, to toss and turn in your bed, unable to find sleep. Know that 52% of French people share this Monday phobia, according to a recent study by the Monster group. And we are not even the most affected: in the United States and Great Britain, this rate climbs to almost 70%! In total, nearly a quarter of European executives suffer from workplace stress. It's fine when it only causes a bout of depression. But we have recently seen, at Renault or France Telecom, that the suffering was sometimes such that it could lead to suicide. So what is this famous stress?
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work defines it as the “anxiety caused by the imbalance between what is asked of someone and the means they have to achieve it”. “In small doses, stress is positive,” reminds Patrick Legeron, psychiatrist and CEO of the consulting firm Stimulus. “It's a normal reaction of our body whenever it finds itself in an emergency situation. Without it, man would never have survived his environment.” When it occurs punctually, stress improves our performance; it stimulates us by increasing our heart rate and muscle strength. If it is chronic, however, it causes many dysfunctions in the body. It is thus responsible for half of the working days lost in a year. A prejudice to the economy that amounted to €3 billion in 2007, according to the French National Institute for Research and Safety (INRS). Several factors combine to explain this.
Frenzied Competition
The reasons are firstly found in the evolution of the global economy. “Before anything else, globalization and the liberalization of markets have resulted in intensified competition,” analyzes Patrick Amar, CEO of the Axis Mundi firm and co-author of “Developing Well-being at Work” (Dunod). A company can now enter a market remotely, thanks to a distribution strategy via the Internet, without having to set up a significant structure and sales force. There is a race for innovation and productivity to maintain profit. And, at the end of the chain, employees see their workload increase while deadlines decrease.
Tyranny of the Stock Market
Shareholders often bear some responsibility for this increased pressure on individuals. “The tyranny of the stock market shortens the investment horizon,” reminds Patrick Amar. “Financial reports and other reporting obligations, formerly annual, are now quarterly.” All this against a backdrop of accelerating product life cycles. “Before, it took eight years to design a car. Today, it's three,” observes Alain Ponelle, coach and specialist in occupational safety and psychosocial risks.
These changes have direct effects on working conditions in companies. Management lacks time to communicate with its employees, to help them evolve and understand the challenges. Experience-based learning is undermined by increasingly sophisticated techniques that lead professions to constantly evolve. Many executives find themselves wearing a double hat, technical and commercial, which forces them to achieve quantitative objectives without ceasing to adapt to customer demand. But to what result? According to a study conducted by Dares, 41% of employees consider it “sometimes impossible” to respect both quality and deadlines; 6% of them even consider it “totally impossible”. Consequence: they may end up no longer recognizing themselves in their work or their company. A recent survey conducted at EADS reveals that 90% of the group's 118,000 employees do not feel involved!
Race for Bonuses
In the service sector, employees are under particularly strong pressure because changes in the organization of work are very frequent. Mergers and acquisitions, relocation, restructuring: executives helplessly watch the upheavals in their company. Some are forced to accept transfers that force them to move. Others have to change positions within the new structure and sometimes end up in a back office.
The race for performance takes precedence among those who hold on. Some managers do not hesitate to put their employees in competition. SCT Telecom (integrated telecommunications services company) chose this year to reward only the two best salespeople rather than rewarding the hundred employees in the sales force, as had been done until now. The winners will win Minis worth €33,000 each. And too bad for those who don't feel up to fighting.
The Trap of Open Spaces
Moreover, the nature of stress is that it spreads to all levels. “That of the manager spreads by contagion to directors and overflows to line managers and then to their employees,” specifies Patrick Amar. “Some managers believe that their employees work better when they are afraid,” emphasizes Patrick Legeron. Open spaces, organized so that the boss has an eye on the entire team, make their work easier. “I feel like I'm in middle school facing a malevolent supervisor,” many employees report. Initially designed to promote exchange and team spirit, landscaped offices break intimacy and concentration, as Alexandre des Isnards and Thomas Zuber describe in “The Open Space Killed Me” (Hachette). New information technologies constitute an additional trap for executives. They constantly receive professional SMS and emails on their smartphones and laptops. Some can no longer disconnect and work evenings and weekends to meet deadlines. “This confusion between professional and personal life causes frustration and exhaustion. It is essential to give space back to the individual,” insists Alain Ponelle.
The Power of Laughter
So how to get out of this spiral? On your scale, you can act and fight against stress, rediscover the meaning of your work. We offer you some avenues to this effect. To overcome, for example, the anxieties that can be generated by a commercial negotiation or an important interview. As a manager, you will discover that laughter, used wisely, is a sovereign weapon for reducing tension. Our experts will also reveal the pitfalls to avoid when delicately managing stressed employees. Finally, you will learn how Stéphane Richard, the new boss of France Telecom, is going about reassuring his employees, traumatized by a series of suicides. Twenty pages of dossier to help you finally overcome that devilish Sunday evening blues.
Ophélie Colas des Francs
Capital.fr
Posted online November 20, 2011.
