A new survey undertaken by Tork, maker of approximately half the napkins used in the foodservice industry in the US, revealed that Millennials are three times more likely than the Baby Boomer generation to fear that they would be judged harshly for taking regular lunch breaks. This “Take back the Lunch Break” survey found that many younger employees wanted longer and more regular lunch breaks but found that workplace demands and perceived stigma around leaving the office for lunch keep them chained to their desks, dribbling soup and dropping crumbs on their keyboards – or skipping food altogether! While 37% of Millennials do not feel empowered to take a break, almost 90% say that taking these lunch breaks help them...
At the beginning of 2019, we were bombarded with a new onslaught of “trends” lists. With respect to HR Trends in 2019, there were few surprises, with most being ones that have been around for the last few years. But generally speaking, and not surprisingly, there was a thread that ran through most if not all of them. “Employee Engagement." This trend continued to take the top spot in most lists. Other trends include the mental health of employees and employee turnover. But these are often tied directly to engagement. Employees who are invested in their work are less stressed and do not have one foot out the door. Six months later it still dominates as a most disturbing and...
Is your organization relaxed about the number of hours you put in and concentrate instead on getting the work done and goals accomplished – or do you work for an organization where appearance counts too and you are told it’s business casual …on Saturday! There are lots of organizations where the latter is the norm and the longer your hours with you in the office visible and working, the more the recognition, rewards and eventual promotions. Elon Musk boasts of his “80 to 100 hour weeks that he claims are needed to be successful, but experts do not agree. His mantra is “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” Productivity drops when you hit a 50-hour workweek,...
On the heels of the WHO classifying burnout as a legitimate medical diagnosis, there has been recent chatter on getting more sleep to deal with pre-Monday job anxiety. A recent poll by The Sleep Judge reveals that “Sunday scaries” is also a thing, with 75% of Americans reporting “really bad anxiety on Sunday night” in anticipation of going back to work Monday morning. A whopping 95% said their anxiety was directly related to work stress! And 80% of those who stated they liked their boss still experienced anxiety suggesting factors such as overtime, the pressure to perform, lack of control over duties – burnout. So it is official. Sunday for the vast majority of workers is the most dreaded day...
You must have heard by now – the World Health Organization has now classified "burn-out” as a syndrome that comes from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. They identified three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job reduced professional efficacy Every employee at some point (or many) in their career will feel these symptoms, and for some, it is a temporary condition that can be addressed by time off, a vacation, or an improved diet with more sleep. But for others, it is a constant and oppressive state that never goes away. It affects workers at all levels in an organization...
