Stress Relief
Is your job making you sick?
Stress levels in Kiwi workplaces are increasing — 30 per cent of employers surveyed recently noted an increase in stress and anxiety. Growing numbers of businesses are recording longer hours, 40 per cent of staff are turning up to work sick and the Mental Health Foundation receives constant requests from workplaces looking for advice to help them protect their workers’ mental health and wellbeing.
Adam Blair’s day job involves laying his body on the line time after time bringing down rampaging powerhouse NRL forwards. And the Whangarei-born Warriors star, while completing a Bachelor of Social Science, has carried the weight of a sporting nation as captain of the Kiwis.
Wife Jess is a businesswoman, naturopath and nutritionist studying a postgraduate diploma in health promotion full-time at Auckland University of Technology.
The high-profile couple, who recently moved to Auckland from Brisbane where Blair had played for the Broncos, are also parents of sons Harlem, 7, and Taika, 17 months.
The Blairs’ pressure levels could be in a league of their own. But as workplace stress rises sharply in New Zealand, the couple switch off to maintain a healthy work and life balance.
“Adam and I have a rule,” says Jess, 32. “We never have TV in our bedroom. The room’s for sleeping.
“We don’t have our [mobile] phones in our room — we just have an alarm. People get into bed and they’re scrolling, scrolling. Even a light from your phone can interrupt your sleep patterns.
“I make sure I get my work done, and then that’s it. We have dinner. We go to bed. Adam’s in bed by 8.30 every night. He gets up the same time every day, training or not training.
“He doesn’t drink alcohol. He might have a beer over Christmas but during the season, never. He’s really strict with what he eats.”
Jess knows all too well about workplace stress. She runs a health and wellness clinic and treats clients including lawyers, psychologists and corporate heads on both sides of the Tasman for workplace burnout.
Clients suffer from issues such as anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and poor nutrition, especially in times of high stress and anxiety that comes from having too much to do, she says.
Being constantly connected on smartphones and via communications apps means any time is seen by many as work time, whether at the park with children, around the dinner table or just before lights out.
An incessant “on” mode means we’re constantly operating in a fight or flight state. Such stress releases excess cortisol, which can result in health issues including adrenal insufficiency, she says.
The latest twoyearly Wellness in the Workplace report revealed a marked increase in New Zealand workplace stress.
A net 22.9 per cent of employers noted an increase in stress/anxiety, according to the 2016 survey, sponsored by Southern Cross Health Society and BusinessNZ. It represented nearly 5 per cent of all employees.
For those with 50-plus staff — it was even higher, at 30.5 per cent — more than double the 14 per cent recorded for those with fewer staff.
General workload was found to be the biggest cause of stress in all businesses in 2016. A growing number of smaller businesses were also recording longer hours — rising from 8.1 per cent in 2014 to 22 per cent in 2016.
The research found despite more businesses encouraging people to take time off when ill, on average more than 40 per cent of staff turned up sick.
But workplace absence still cost the economy an estimated $1.51 billion in 2016.
In March, the Mental Health Foundation surveyed mental health and wellbeing in 335 New Zealand workplaces.
“From this survey we found that high workloads, poor work life balance and stressful work were the top three causes of poor mental health in the workplace,” says chief executive Shaun Robinson.
“Anecdotally we know that the need for support in the area of workplace wellbeing has increased dramatically in recent years.”
The foundation receives constant requests from workplaces looking for advice and resources to help them protect their workers’ mental health and wellbeing.
New Zealanders have traditionally worked longer hours than many other countries, says chartered organisational psychologist John Eatwell. “There is a growing trend, though, to manage this, and acknowledgement that more is not better. “This is particularly important with cellphones and clearing emails. Some countries in Europe have made it illegal to send emails to phones after work hours. Some New Zealand companies are telling managers not to send emails after hours and are stopping emails to phones during annual leave.”
Productivity and workplace relations suffer when workers are stressed, Eatwell says. “Some research on the impact of culture and performance suggest the impact is about 30 per cent. Those companies who have a positive culture perform 30 per cent higher than those with a negative culture.”
When people do not switch off or take breaks, they slow down. “Stephen Covey (author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) likened it to sawing.
“Some people keep on sawing because they want to get the job done. Others will stop and sharpen the saw if it’s blunt and finish faster. A break every two hours wasn’t union-driven, it was organisational psychologists identifying that was the point at which our performance significantly drops off and we need a break. Even those who take 15 minutes away from their desk at lunchtime have significantly higher productivity.”
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff says there is greater recognition of the importance of managing stressors and more awareness of the many factors — managerial style, workload, the type of work, the working hours, sexual harassment and bullying.
“It can become a vicious cycle. It impacts on people’s health, which impacts on their ability to work and work effectively, which can increase the pressure they are under and their levels of workplace stress.”
The CTU represents about 320,000 union members in 30 affiliated unions. It is focused on working with WorkSafe, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Government to ensure the Health and Safety at Work Act, regulations, guidance and education material create a framework to manage workplace health and safety risks.
“Some countries in Europe have now made it illegal to send emails to phones after work hours.” John Eatwell
“This includes the risks from workplace stress,” Wagstaff says.
Workplaces play an important role in people’s mental health and wellbeing, Robinson says.
“Being employed in good work provides people with a sense of purpose and meaning and can actually help people to recover from mental health problems.
“On the flip side, a negative working environment that causes stress can have damaging and lasting effects on mental wellbeing.