As much as R3bn a year is being lost to workplace stress in South Africa, according to human resources expert, Vicky Eriksson of The People Element.
Based on a year of research by her company she said that at a time when employers need staff to power companies out of the financial crisis with increased productivity, employees are crumbling; disempowered by stress.
She says workplace stress costs United States employers $200 billion a year in absenteeism, lower productivity, staff turnover, workers' compensation, medical insurance and other stress-related expenses. And the United Nations' International Labor Organisation says occupational stress is a "global epidemic."
Eriksson says workplace stress in South Africa, "could be costing the economy at least a R3-billion rand a year. Look at the fact that last July's strike season saw manufacturing production drop six per cent year-on-year, while mining output contracted 5.1 per cent compared to July last year, according to StatsSA. South African GDP is $363.7-billion and manufacturing is 15% and mining five percent of GDP. That gives an idea of the costs from only two sectors. That doesn’t take into account underperforming staff in offices, boardrooms and the shop floor.
"Unhappy employees are often angry. In 2004 the World Health Organisation called workplace violence in South Africa 'alarming' with half of all healthcare workers in government hospitals reporting verbal abuse, and 42,5 percent witnessing or being attacked at work (compared to 19,5 percent in private hospitals)."
Ebben van Zyl of the University of the Orange Free State did research showing South Africans “experience abnormally high levels of stress” in the workplace compared to the rest of the world.
Eriksson said: “Look at the headlines: the rand drops to a new low, the International Monetary Fund slashes the global growth outlook, a mining group fires 5,000. Few people who read those headlines don't experience anxiety, "and in the workplace it causes overstressed bosses to push already overworked employees, who although frightened by their job prospects are exhausted, and so become irritable and sabotage. This creates a lose-lose situation for everyone."
The People Element which conducted its own Employee Optimism Survey last year will release those figures at a one day conference on People Effectiveness@Work at Midrand on February 21. Local and international experts, “the new gurus of the global upturn, as Eriksson puts it, will speak.
Her colleague Karin Wellman pointed to research from Harvard and the Florham-Madison Campus which shows that, employees work more today than they did 25 years ago - the equivalent of a 13th month every year. Staff get downsized but the work remains, so workloads are upsized.
"The harder bosses push their smaller workforces the less able they are to perform well. This creates a dilemma for companies because they fear taking on more staff in case the economy gets worse, but less capable employees also pose a threat.” Wellman said: “Sixty percent of lost workdays each year can be attributed to stress. Around 80 percent of visits to health care providers are due to stress-related conditions, like sleep problems, depression and irritability, causing higher health care costs. Stressed employees tend to make mistakes and be less creative too."
And they may take it out on each other as long lists of complaints before the labour court and the CCMA show. It is estimated by the U.S. Justice Department that each year more than a million people are the victims of violence at work, or 15 percent of all violent crime. It causes a half million workers to miss 1,751,000 work days per year, and $55 million in lost wages. Wellman said: “In South Africa we see a militant work force that strike readily."
Wellman and Eriksson say there are simple techniques bosses and employees can implement to turn the situation around without resorting to hiring additional staff. Times are tough, Eriksson said, "everyone needs to work smarter and with greater empathy."
Do happy staff create returns for companies? Britain’s Sytner Group, a major car retailer — ranked third in the Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For 2010 — says yes, and can prove it. Sytner reported record profits of £56m last year, even though a year earlier profits fell 25% to £34m because of the global financial downturn, which hammered car sales. Geoffrey Page-Morris, chief operating officer, says putting staff first helped the company to turn the corner. “From 2008 to 2009 we increased profitability by nearly 75%. It was an amazing performance if you look at the industry we are in.
"People need to stop obsessing on the downturn," Eriksson said, “now is the time to start creating the economic upturn by creating a happier workplace.
