Companies respond to employee stress,
burnout in bad times
By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent, 11/17/02
Underlying companies' struggle for survival in a dismal economy is a pervasive issue always associated with bad times: burnout.
Employers don't like to admit that some employees are overwhelmed by work pressures, but that's clearly the case today, according to employee-assistance program providers and management consultants.
These specialists point to continuing layoffs, which often force those middle managers who remain to handle two or three job functions. This means more hours on the job, more responsibility, and less time to recharge their batteries.
Although there are no recent national data on the average number of hours employees put in each week, there are indications that the number is rising, according to studies conducted in 1992 and 1997 by the New York-based Families and Work Institute. Ten years ago, the average number of hours worked per week was 41.8. In 1997, the comparable total was 44.4 hours.
In addition, there is anecdotal evidence that some corporate executives are taking a hard-nosed approach to the number of hours stressed-out employees are having to work
''They may say to distressed employees, 'You're lucky to have a job, so don't complain,' '' said Joseph Weintraub, a management professor at Babson College in Wellesley and an organizational psychologist.
Factor in turbulent times and concerns about a possible war in Iraq and it's no wonder, say specialists, that some managers and others are experiencing burnout symptoms such as depression and anxiety.
''People not only are working longer hours, but they're also anxious about their futures,'' said Robert Kagey, a psychologist and principal of Comprehensive EAP of Lexington.
A recent survey of more than 300 companies nationwide revealed that 12 percent of unscheduled employee absences in the last year were due to stress, compared to 6 percent in 1995. Harris Interactive conducted the poll for CCH Inc., a human resources services firm based in Riverwoods, Ill.
But Kagey and others point out that a number of companies are recognizing the need to defuse the office pressure cooker. Many are offering employees a variety of services to beat back stress, from confidential counseling to flexible work hours, in-house fitness centers, and art programs.
These offerings, specialists said, are indeed helping managers combat burnout. Two managers who came back from the edge are Chris Bonnell of Akibia Inc. of Westborough and Sandy Aiello of Lightbridge Inc. in Burlington.
Recognizing the signs of burnout |
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Joseph and Sally, middle managers at the hypothetical XYZ Corp., have been noticeably on edge for a couple of weeks. They've been complaining about their work and fending off questions from co-workers with biting comments.
Could they be casualties of burnout?
Perhaps, health care specialists say, noting that an expressed dissatisfaction with work and irritability are among many symptoms of an emotional breakdown. But the biggest indicator, specialists suggest, is work performance - or the lack thereof.
''You have to first look for a changing pattern in work performance, in terms of quality of work and productivity,'' said Srini Pillay, a psychiatrist and director of panic disorder research at McLean Hospital in Belmont.
If it's determined that an employee's work performance is way under what it should be and that he or she is manifesting burnout symptoms from anxiety to sadness, then the employer should become directly involved, Pillay and others say.
A manager should first interview the distressed employee to try to find out ''the source of his or her problems,'' Pillay said. If it appears likely that the individual is suffering emotionally or physically, then he or she should be urged to see a personal physician or a counselor with the company's employee-assistance plan provider.
Sometimes, however, a different prescription is in order, said Bara Litman, a clinical psychologist and vice president of Sobel & Raciti Associates, an EAP consulting firm with offices in Wayland and Providence.
''An employer can also consider giving an employee more control over his or her time, whether it's with a project or something else,'' Litman said. ''In doing so, an employer acknowledges that this person is a valuable employee.'' And such recognition, she said, boosts the employee's self-esteem.
-Davis Bushnell
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Bonnell, 33, is manager of quality and customer advocacy at Akibia, a small computer infrastructure solutions firm with 425 employees. She said she became overwhelmed on the job a few years ago.
''When times were good and the company was enjoying explosive growth, there never seemed to be enough time to train people,'' said Bonnell, who lives in Princeton. ''Then when the economy went downhill, I found that there were never enough hours in the day to do the two jobs I'm responsible for.''
But the company, she said, came through for her by assigning an outside personal coach to work with her biweekly on time management and personal issues. ''That's been essential,'' she said.
She's also been helped, Bonnell said, by Akibia's employee-assistance plan provider and regular discussions on issues with fellow managers.
''We all find that we're experiencing the same things, the same challenges,'' said Bonnell.
Aiello, 41, is manager of support services for Lightbridge, which has offices in Burlington, California, Colorado, and abroad. The software firm, she said, was ''in an incubation period, and everybody was stretched thin.''
Then a year and a half ago, tragedy hit: a daughter died. Aiello, a Waltham resident, was devastated. She found some relief in an art program retained by Lightbridge. The vendor is Raw Art Works of Lynn, which has also worked with Akibia and other companies to establish in-house art programs to provide workers with an outlet for stress.
''After my daughter died, I was able to thank the company and my colleagues [for their support] through a hand-prints display,'' Aiello said. ''Being able to do that lifted my spirits so much.''
Kathy Betts, human resources vice president for Lightbridge, said, ''For some time, we've woven the art program into the company's culture. It's a wonderful way to build teamwork while, at the same time, reducing employees' stress.''
Raw Art founder Mary Flannery said she believes that employees of companies she serves ''are able to keep heart and head together'' through painting and other media.
Some large companies, too, are trying to reach out to distressed employees by providing various services. One of them is Sun Microsystems, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer giant that has 2,500 employees on its Burlington campus.
''We know that our people have concerns about their jobs and the company's future, so we want to do anything we can to help them and communicate fully with them,'' said Cathy Welsh, a human resources director in Burlington.
Besides personal counseling sessions and frequent workshops on work-life balance, Sun has an on-site fitness center in Burlington, which features yoga classes and other sessions geared to taking an employee's mind off work, Welsh said.
The company, she noted, also offers flexible work arrangements, including working from home or at so-called ''drop-in centers'' in Boston, Marlborough, and Nashua.
Although many companies are fighting ''to keep their heads above water,'' most are still trying to ''do everything they can for employees in distress by encouraging them to contact their employee-assistance program provider,'' said Bara Litman, a clinical psychologist and vice president of client services of Sobel & Raciti Associates Inc., an EAP consulting firm. It has offices in Wayland and Providence.
If nothing else, employees can come away from counseling, Litman said, with the main message for these troubled times: ''We only have to control what we can control.''
And for the ''many silent sufferers out there,'' that's a good lesson to be learned, agreed Weintraub.
Davis Bushnell is a freelance writer and can be reached at davisbushnell@compuserv.com.
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