51. Employers set unrealistic deadlines to perform
Employees are often asked to perform to unrealistic deadlines set by their managers. Tough bosses may lead by fear and intimidation just to drive better performance.
There may be good business reasons for these unrealistic deadlines, which could be imposed by their customers.
Unfortunately, due to poor management or incompetent managers, these unrealistic deadlines have been regularly institutionalised. They have become common occurrences in many workplaces to the detriment of employees.
52. Employees are lonely at work
Loneliness is a growing health epidemic.
When we are more connected online than ever before, many are experiencing high levels of loneliness and social isolation. This is putting them at risk of anxiety and depression.
Research showed that 40% of Americans and 60% of Australians often feel lonely. One in five Americans suffered from persistent loneliness.
According to Belonging Space, 38% of U.K. workers felt isolated or lonely in the workplace.
What’s interesting is that 42% of people say that they do not have a close friend at work, research by Relate showed. Whilst not having a close friend at work does not necessarily equal loneliness, it often does.
Loneliness increases the risk of death by 26%, according to Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Also, a study by the University of York found that lonely people are around 30% more likely to suffer a stroke or heart disease.
When workers feel lonely, research published by the Academy of Management Journal showed that loneliness can lead to a poorer task, team role, and relational performance.
53. Employees are unhappy and disengaged
In a survey of 142 countries, Gallup found that only 13% of employees were engaged in their jobs. In Australia and New Zealand, it’s a higher percentage of 24%.
This means that there are a lot of unhappy or disengaged employees working in organisations. They may be looking out for better jobs and opportunities. Business Insider said that the Australian Institute of Management’s 2016 Staff Retention Report showed that more than half (54.6%) of businesses across Australia are worried about retaining good staff, up from 48.8% in 2015.
54. Employees are impacted by office politics
The prevalence of office politics is causing severe stress on workers. This is an indication that many organisations are struggling to manage their office culture.
Leading recruiter Adecco found that 33% of U.K. workers cite office politics as a major contributing factor to feeling unhappy in the workplace. Findings revealed 29% are spending every Sunday dreading the coming working week, 28% admitted to calling in sick because of anxiety, and 36% would consider leaving their employer.
Research shows that when workers perceived their workplace as more political, they are less engaged, less productive, and more likely to quit.
Yet, a more effective way of dealing with office politics is to engage in them and playing the game. Good politics involve advancing one’s interests but not to the neglect of other people’s rights or the organisation’s legitimate interests. It includes acceptable ways of getting recognition for your contributions and having your ideas taken seriously. Unfortunately, bad politics include wrangling, manoeuvring, sucking up, backstabbing, and rumour-mongering.
55. Employees are bullied at work
Another reason for unhappy employees is the prevalence of bullying in workplaces.
The US Workplace Bullying Institute found that 19% of Americans were bullied in the workplace, 19% witnessed bullying, and 61% were aware of abusive conduct. Bullying affected 60 million Americans where 70% of perpetrators are men and 61% of bullies are bosses.
According to Safe Work Australia, the bullying rate has increased from 7.5% in 2010-11 to 9.7% in 2014-15.
These results are not surprising given that employees face many challenges, making them unhappy and disengaged at work.
According to LegalZoom’s Workplace Insight Report for Businesses 2018, only 26% of workers have faith that their employer can take timely action to address workplace issues or scandals. This indicates a major problem when it comes to handling grievances.
56. Employees are working longer hours
According to the International Labour Organization, Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.
It is reported by News.com.au that a full-time Australian employee works 4.28 hours more than they are contracted to do each week. This adds up to $8,704 annually for someone on an average wage.
The Morgan McKinley Flexible Work Practices Survey revealed that 77% of Australian professionals felt that they worked beyond their contracted hours with 22% surveyed working 10 hours or more than their agreed hours. Of those surveyed, 63% felt obligated to work more than their contractual or office hours.
Employers may be taking advantage of the situation due to a lack of job security by forcing employees to work longer hours, sometimes against their will.
57. Employees are not productive working long hours
A study found that the length of a workday didn’t matter much. What mattered most was how people structured their day. People who were religious about taking short breaks were far more productive than those who worked longer hours and without breaks.
The eight-hour workday is an outdated and ineffective approach to work. It has been created during the industrial revolution as an effort to cut down on the number of hours of manual labor that workers were forced to endure on the factory floor. This breakthrough was a more humane approach to work 200 years ago – yet, it possesses little relevance for us today!
If workers want to be as productive as possible, we need to let go of this relic and find a new approach.
The ideal work-to-break ratio was 52 minutes of work, followed by 17 minutes of rest.
58. Employees have fluctuating work schedules
The Stable Scheduling Study found that 80% of American workers paid by the hour have fluctuating schedules. Many employers now schedule hours using algorithms to calculate exactly how many sets of hands are required at a given time of day — a process known as on-demand scheduling. The algorithms are designed to keep labor costs down. They also rob workers of set schedules.
Employees should be aware of the following conditions: “Working nights, weekends, and holidays may be required … Overtime is often required (sometimes on very short notice) … Work schedules are subject to change without notice.”
When people have long or unreliable work hours, or worse, long and unreliable work hours, the effects ripple far and wide. Families pay the steepest price. Erratic hours can push parents — usually mothers — out of the labor force.
The Shift Project found that workers who experienced a cancelled shift had a greater than 40% likelihood of experiencing a hunger hardship, such as skipping a meal or relying on free food. Workers who get their shifts 0–2 days in advance also had an increased probability of a hunger hardship.
59. Employees have no control over their work schedules
The Shift Project also found that 80% of workers have little or on input into their schedules.
Workers can request their preferred work times. But there’s no guarantee or obligation for employers to satisfy them. It’s not even guaranteed that they will get 40 hours a week.
This is where 33% of workers say they would like to work more, but aren’t given the hours.
60. Employees are emotionally over-committed by work
According to a study, the term “over-commitment” refers to people who are doing way too much. It also occurs at work when workers are doing too much because of increasing work demands, increasing workloads, and other workplace pressures.
Personal behavior that may point to over-commitment at work includes:
(1) Overwhelmed easily by time pressures at work.
(2) Start thinking about work problems as soon as they get up in the morning.
(3) Can’t relax and switch-off work when they get home.
(4) People close to them say they have sacrificed too much for their job.
(5) Work is still on their mind when they go to bed.
(6) They have trouble sleeping at night because of the thought of unfinished work.
It is found that 59% of Americans are overworked and 32% believed that unreasonable workload has caused work stress in their lives.
The American Working Conditions Survey found that one in four workers perceived that they have too little time to do their job and more than one in four reported a poor fit between their working hours and their social and family commitments.
Whilst it may be difficult to unplug from work, there are benefits for doing so. To have a sustainable lifestyle and family life, it’s about effective recovery from work outside of work.
Workers must completely refrain from work-related activities and thoughts during non-work time. They must not think about work.
They need to set proper and healthy boundaries and constraints upon themselves. These boundaries ensure that work, health, and relationships are not compromised.
Unfortunately, one researcher found that workers that quit work commitments still have these commitments lingering in their minds for some time.