A large health insurance organisation in South Africa uses monitoring
software to measure staff’s level of attention on the computer screen –
and equates lack of attention with lack of productivity. Aside from the
fact that such micromanagement is known to be deeply unproductive, it
is deeply ironic that the employer is probably contributing to mental
health issues.
A new study shows that the Covid-19
pandemic has increased workplace stress and anxiety for people around
the world – and they prefer robots instead of other people to help. At
least, that’s what they told researchers in the new AI@Work Study 2020
by software company Oracle and HR research and advisory firm Workplace
Intelligence.
The global survey of 12,347 employees, managers, HR leaders, and executives showed unprecedented levels of stress. Contrary to a widespread belief that remote working has given people more family time, more than a third of respondents reported a lack of work-life balance, and a quarter suffered burnout.
A
clue to this impact lies in two another findings: that a quarter of
these working people also suffered depression from lack of
socialisation; and boundaries have increasingly blurred between personal
and professional worlds with people working remotely. Well over a third
of people find themselves juggling unmanageable workloads.
The study should come as a warning to organisations that are intent on micro-managing their remote working staff. All in all, a huge 78 percent said that increased work stress had negatively affected their mental health.
Of course, this is the downside. There
are tremendous benefits too, and half the respondents (51%) indeed found
they had more time to spend with family, while 31% had more time for
sleep and 30% were getting more work done. But that barely makes up for
the 40% who reported sleep deprivation, 33% reduced happiness at home
and 30% saw family relationships suffering.
No wonder three quarters of respondents also believed their company should be doing more to protect the mental health of their workforce.
Read more on the next page about how mental health has not only become a broader societal issue because of the pandemic, but also the main workplace challenge.
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