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Take Time To Tame Your Workplace Technobeast
August 31 2007
TORONTO Is your PDA a blessing or a bully? Do you talk more with your cellphone than your spouse? With more people tied to the office through electronic links, anxiety levels can rise with a ring.
"If youve been wearing your Blackberry 24 hours a day, this last summer long weekend is a good opportunity to start changing your techno-work habits ahead of the fall," says Rod Phillips, CEO of Shepell·fgi, Canadas largest provider of workplace health programs.
"Because most businesses ramp up again in the fall, its a smart time to start putting limits on the culture of having to be in constant contact with the office." "More and more people say their electronic devices are stressing them out: Rather than a good tool to keep in touch in case of an emergency, for many people they have become a trigger for anxiety."
A recent study by MITs Sloan School of management saw 90 per cent of participants reported feeling some degree of compulsion to check their PDA. The study further found that senior managers were responsible for establishing patterns of constant contact that their subordinates then adopt. "Companies have concerns of rising costs of absenteeism and short-term disability, and we know that anxiety is the root of a number of these cases. Often times this anxiety comes from the severe case of information overload this kind of constant work behaviour brings."
Because of the influence of managers in this behaviour, Shepell·fgi recommends specific policy development, particularly in the case of people who may work remotely or in critical corporate roles. Some also might consider a training program to help both employees and managers develop time management skills and create a corporate culture of work-life balance.
"Managers connected to workplace through PDAs and email 24/7 have to set parameters to ensure that they get a break both for themselves and their reports," said Karen Seward, Shepell·fgis Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. "We are seeing increases in access to our services where people cite anxiety related to feeling unable to ever be disconnected from the office."
Tips to manage technostress include:
- Initiating corporate policies that stress there is no expectation of immediate response to after hours emails or calls
- If a critical department needs to be in constant contact, create "on call" shifts for employees
- Encouraging your employees to turn their devices off on weekends and put them to "sleep" an hour before bedtime
- Leading by example, not sending or responding to emails after business hours
- Limiting the number of ccs on emails and avoiding sending unnecessary emails
For more information, please contact:
Rosalind Robertson Manager,
Media Relations and Corporate Communications Shepell·fgi
rrobertson@shepellfgi.com
(416) 355-5491
About Shepell·fgi
Shepell·fgi is Canadas leading provider of workplace health services, including prevention-focused Employee Assistance Programs. The company services over six million employees and their families across Canada, the United States and internationally. Shepell·fgi helps organizations maintain healthy employees and healthy workplaces.
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