How’s work today? If you’re like most of us, your first response is ‘busy’. Are you enjoying it, or does this ‘busyness’ feel a bit overwhelming at times? In fact, the Wellbeing Lab Workplace Survey 2018-22 published by the Australian HR Institute, found that 68.5% of employees felt like they were experiencing burnout!
It should come as no surprise to learn that job demands are one of the most common sources of workplace stress and psychological harm. So, what are job demands, and how can we manage them to avoid experiencing burnout?
High job demands are things like excessive workloads, long hours, shift work, remote or isolated work, insufficient resources, unrealistic time pressures, unclear expectations, exposure to trauma, aggression or violence, complex decision making, and multiple priorities. Sitting or standing for extended periods, and exposure to extreme temperatures, noise or hazardous conditions all constitute high work demands. There may be conflictual relationships, poor change management processes, or a sense that the workplace is unfair.
Low work demands include repetitive, monotonous or meaningless tasks, insufficient work to fill the individual’s time, or being excluded from decision making processes. Again, there may be conflictual relationships, poor change management processes, or a sense that the workplace is unfair. Employees with low work demands are likely to feel dissatisfied with their roles, and disengage.
Where the work demands are not addressed, there’s an extensive range of possible impacts upon the individual and the workplace. The individual may experience poorer physical health, depression, anxiety, fatigue, burnout, anger, mood swings, and difficulty sleeping, and these can result in them performing poorly at work, or disengaging. They may take more sick leave, arrive late or leave early, and workplace relationships can suffer.
The organisation is also likely to experience a broad range of adverse impacts, due to their failure to address the issue. These can include increased turnover and absenteeism, employee, client and customer complaints, reduced productivity, poor workplace relations and a negative impact on organisational culture and reputation.
Employers have a legal obligation to manage psychosocial risks, such as high or low job demands, by preventing harm, intervening early, and supporting recovery. If you’d like to learn more about how to do this, I have two spots opening up for new coaching clients in February. I expect these spots to fill quickly, so don’t miss out.
It should come as no surprise to learn that job demands are one of the most common sources of workplace stress and psychological harm. So, what are job demands, and how can we manage them to avoid experiencing burnout?