21 September 2006
E-mail overload is among managers' top 10 stress factors
Poor internal communication plays a part in managers taking time off work.
email overload and organizational change are among the top ten causes of stress for managers, according to a survey by online learning provider, SkillSoft. It found that 95% of managers find life at work stressful and 28% have taken time off work as a direct result.
Top ten causes of stress for managers
More than half the managers surveyed can never imagine a stage in their life when they are completely stress-free and 58% think they probably spend most of their lives stressed in one way or another. Almost 70% say they wake up in the night due to feelings of stress. The major causes of management stress at work are:
1. Workload – 62%
2. Deadlines – 50%
3. Feeling undervalued – 39%
4. Having to work longer hours than they should – 37%
5. Having to take on other people’s work – 34%
6. Lack of control over their day – 32%
7. Targets – 30%
8. Type of work – 30%
9. Too many emails – 28%
10. Organizational changes that impact on them and their job – 27%
The survey was undertaken by SWNS on behalf of SkillSoft during early summer 2006 and 3,045 respondents took part. Of these, 22% work in management roles and 57% of them are in the private sector.
Top 10 colleague irritations
The survey also questioned people on what irritated them about their work colleagues. Again, poor communication — especially a lack of skills such as face-to-face communication and consistency — features in many of the causes of irritation. Here are the top 10:
1. Seeing other people not pulling their weight – 56%
2. Bosses changing their minds about what they want you to do – 37%
3. Lack of support from bosses – 30%
4. Pressure from bosses – 29%
5. Interruptions by bosses – 24%
6. Feeling put-upon by bosses – 22%
7. Lack of support from colleagues – 22%
8. Bullying behavior by bosses – 18%
9. Feeling put-upon by colleagues – 11%
10. Bullying behavior by colleagues - 9%
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