“Thank God it’s Friday” is used in various perspectives in our view to express our desire for rest after a hectic week at work. It has been a slogan for a restaurant chain that attracted most of its customers over the weekends; a dictum that heralds relaxation for the weekend and a title of some songs and movies key amongst which are a hit single by renowned singer and music producer Robert “R” Kelly in 1996! But if you are one of those people who look forward to every weekend with that slogan, then there could be something wrong with your understanding of your work and the relationship you have with your employer. Human resources experts particularly encourage that every member of the workforce should observe work/life balance.
A concept of ensuring that people who have busy and stressful work loads essentially take time off work and get away from the engaging schedules to spend time on hobbies, with family and generally relaxing. It’s called “getting away”. It’s important and we acknowledge it, that everyone should get away once in a while. But then that all depends on the mindset of the individual at work and the nature of the job.
It’s important and we acknowledge it, that everyone should get away once in a while. But then that all depends on the mindset of the individual at work and the nature of the job.
Health and safety, a critical mass of the modern work place rejuvenation, stipulates that company work policies and indeed activity should not be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the worker. But where the workforce is made to perform duties in environments that are threatening, dangerous or hazardous to the worker then indemnity, safety and healthy measures must be in place to prevent threat to wellbeing or remedy such situations should they arise. So, the organisation has bonding activity, holidays, hobbie promotion and recreational facilities all with a view of ensuring that employees do not burn out and can get away from work when necessary to “recharge their batteries.”
- Research shows that holidays and recreation are beneficial to the wellbeing of the workforce. Multi national agencies and organisations often write the holiday option into the welfare package of senior managers and add recreational options to boot. Holidays enable members of the work force to go to different parts of their country or indeed, different countries and enjoy sight-seeing and visits to national monuments and museums. Some organisations have merged the travel option with training and development functions, such that a two or three week visit to a different country could involve formal or informal training functions designed to improve the participants’ skill and behaviour: two key areas that have been the focus of management development. The costs of these activities have discouraged many organisations from carrying them out. The burden could be quite heavy when bills such as hotel, air travel and meals at restaurants are considered. But modern organisations have found a way to fray these costs. With a focus on the bottom line and the long terms outputs and profits, the results show that such activity are beneficial on the long run.
- Within the work constituency, bonding activity that is recreational in nature has also helped to refresh work force members. So work places might ensure that people in their organisations are registered members of golf clubs, tennis clubs and other relevant recreational activity. Often times larger organisations can foster a sense of healthy rivalry and contest within their organisation by establishing sporting competitions that serve as both bonding and physical exertion processes which are healthy to the wellbeing of participants.
- Those who have neglected these get away strategies have often suffered from a variety of executive stress and illnesses that can be permanently damaging to the psyche and physiology of the individual if they are not given required attention. Stress related symptoms such as high blood pressure, migraine, insomnia, hyposomnia and depression have often had their root in executive stress that is formed in the work environment.
- There are several early intervention strategies that would enable employers avoid the prominence of these pitfalls among their valued executives. In order to ensure a healthy workforce some attributes that should be engrained into the work ethic of the organisation include: Improved employee/employers relationships, conscious leadership and managerial improvement programmes, a quest for job satisfaction on the part of employee and employers and creating what we call a general atmosphere of harmony. Right in the organisational environment, leaders and managers need to seek for comfortability for the workers such that even the physical environment of the organisation does not become a threat to productivity. So, under the health and safety responsibility of the organisation, the concern for the wellbeing of the workers arises in a concept of ergonomics. Ergonomics according to Wikipaedia, can roughly be defined as the study of people in their working environment. More specifically, an ergonomist (pronounced like economist) designs or modifies the work to fit the worker, not the other way around. The goal is to eliminate discomfort and risk of injury due to work. Ergonomics has embraced various approaches to ensure that a healthy and harmonious work environment is encouraged. Some of the major areas normally in focus include enhancing furniture and technology that would enable the worker: Find a natural posture (whether standing or sitting is required for operations); adjust Keyboard and Mouse for comfort and maximum output; Adjusting Screens and Monitors to avoid glare and harmful emissions like radiation; Adjusting work chairs in upright comfortable angles to ensure avoidance of back, neck and leg aches and other avoidable pain; workers are encouraged not to sit around longer than four hours at a time without standing up and moving around to ensure blood circulation and cramps are reduced. There is also the notion of healthy eating and drinking which is a whole study on its own. Top of food and drink advice is affinity to clean healthy drinking water, fresh fruit juices instead of carbonated drinks and fresh salads and vegetables as opposed to processed foods.
Every employee and employer should do random assessments of their work schedules and recreational activities to ensure that wellbeing is a major proportion of what they engage in.
- Comfort is important to output. Sundry activity which is semi recreational is also required: Spas which encourage massages, proper attention to physiological make up; Beauty sessions and workouts in gyms that help to tone up the body and improve individual confidence at work are also an extension of ergonomics. Beyond all that, some organisations also employ psychologists to also encourage proper thought patterns which if not contained, could lead to wrong and harmful thinking patterns which could lead to disorders on the long run. For instance, law enforcement officers who kill in the line of duty are often required to see psychologists because even in the minds of the physically and psychological tuned intelligence officers, taking the life of a fellow human being, even when it appears just, can have negative repercussions. Medical doctors who engage in critical surgical procedures are also required to seek psychological fine tuning to embolden their recourse follow through with treatment that could be dangerous but is also required to save human life.
- Every employee and employer should do random assessments of their work schedules and recreational activities to ensure that wellbeing is a major proportion of what they engage in. Getting away from work therefore, is not really an attempt to run from the essence of duty. It is the ability to find resources and strategies that empower us for greater output and staying power.
*Ogundadegbe is a renowned management consultant. He trains managers and executives in the arts of Customer Service, Human Resources Management and Management strategy ([email protected]).
