Working round the clock?
01 December 2019
This article was featured in the December 2019 - January 2020 issue of the magazine.
Jenni Wilson, corporate director at Nuffield Health, explains why work separation anxiety is on the rise and how employers can spot the signs and provide support
For many of us, work is an important part of our lives. This isn’t a bad thing, after all, our work makes up part of our identity and is one of the avenues we use to express ourselves.
Some attachment to our job role is normal, but if it becomes an obsession, we can find ourselves working non-stop without taking time off to reboot our bodies. This has led to the rise in a growing epidemic known as work separation anxiety (WSA) – which can occur when employees are so consumed by work, they experience distress and fear when away from a professional environment.
WSA can cause both physical and mental distress and exacerbate negative behaviours like ‘leavism’ (http://bit.ly/32qL1mP), which is when an employee uses annual leave to catch up on work, and ‘burnout’, which is now recognised as a legitimate medical concern by the World Health Organisation (https://cnn.it/2CsmOSB).
The pace of today’s workplace and society’s ‘always on’ culture means many of us are putting pressure on ourselves to be ‘busy’ and productive all the time. Other individual factors like unreasonable deadlines, unmanageable workloads or a company culture which may not encourage taking time off can also drive symptoms of overworking.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to excel at work, but if we don’t let ourselves have downtime, our efforts become counterproductive. Driving too hard without breaks leads to increased stress and exhaustion, making us less productive and focused. Studies have also found a correlation between overworking and type-2 diabetes (http://bit.ly/2qvRShQ) and heart disease (http://bit.ly/34Dt8mg).
Overworking also hinders creativity. Renowned neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer notes many individuals have their ‘eureka!’ moments, when they are allowing their minds to rest (https://amex.co/2PXbA0n). Trying to keep our brains relentlessly focused only “inhibits…creative connections that lead to breakthroughs.”
A key point about WSA is many employees consider working long hours, stress and tiredness are part of working life. Many won’t even realise when their symptoms are starting to become out of control. So, management should receive the right training to spot the signs and offer support.
Those at the severe end of the spectrum will rarely delegate tasks and become highly stressed when they don’t have complete control or ownership of a project. They will either avoid booking or cancel annual leave last-minute – claiming they have too much on to take holiday.
...‘burnout’, which is now recognised as a legitimate medical concern...
Try to track the hours people are working and when they arrive at and leave the office. If they regularly come in early, stay late or send messages outside of work hours, this could be an indication of someone struggling.
Physical health signs to watch out for include employees experiencing heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, tiredness and dizziness. You might notice heightened emotions and tearful outbursts.
According to research (http://bit.ly/2CqrrN9) anxious emotions like fear can be contagious, so pay attention to the behaviour of other team members. If worry and concern spread across the office, as soon as someone books annual leave or takes a sick day, this is a sign your culture needs to change.
To provide employees with the right support, it’s crucial to thoroughly evaluate the work environment. Combine hard and soft objective measures like monitoring sickness absence rates with feedback from one-on-ones and satisfaction surveys to gain a well-rounded, overall picture of employee wellbeing.
Managers should take steps to establish a culture where employees are encouraged to take their work life balance seriously. Lead the way by avoiding sending emails outside of work hours, taking your full lunch breaks and trying to leave on time. This will help show employees this is the norm and encourage them to mirror your actions.
Consider running internal talks and invite health experts to address some of these key issues. You could discuss current workloads, how to improve time management and the options available from your wellbeing policies for those who feel they need additional support.
For example, emotional literacy training could be introduced to help staff recognise the signs of emotional distress in themselves and others. This provides employees with a common language to discuss issues like stress and overworking, which may negatively impact employee health.
Introduce external services like employee assistance programmes, which offer direct, confidential contact with experts and can support individuals with situations causing more severe emotional distress. They’ve been shown to reduce the cost of presenteeism in employees suffering from financial issues, work-related problems and even addiction and mental ill health.