Are You Taking Care of Your Employees?

A recent NIOSH study reports that

? more than 50% of employees view job stress as a major problem in their lives – double from a decade ago
? $300 + billion in absenteeism, burnout, etc. – up from $200 = just 10 years ago according to the American Institute of Stress
? 85% of corporate executives don’t use all the time off they’re entitled to.

Are you one of these statistics?

More specifically, it’s reported that customer service/technical support positions are one of the 10 most stressful jobs in America today. As a matter of fact, 45% of all manager and 75% of all workers say “my job causes me stress.” Do you agree?

A recent survey done by CCH a provider of human resources and employment law information released its 2005 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey with interesting results. It found that only 35% of unscheduled absences are due to illness. What’s the other 65% you ask?

21% family issues
18% personal needs
14% entitlement mentality
12% stress

Further it’s estimated that employee absenteeism costs companies $660 per employee per year, up from $610 in 2004. And, low morale continues to take its toll in higher costs and rates of absence.

On the other hand, a new word (at least to me) “presenteeism”—when a sick employee comes to work—is a concern for 48% of the companies in this survey.

What are companies doing? The survey found that 67% of companies have programs for work-life balance, absence-control programs (leave for school functions), alternate work arrangements, etc. as compared to 16% in 2000.

I don’t necessarily agree with this. I believe, and have the case study to support, that if you provide customer service skills training and increase employee’s skill sets, give them the tools and techniques to handle the stress, morale, and entitlement mentality, and acknowledge their worth to you by investing in them, these numbers will notably decrease, morale will significantly increase, as will productivity and customer satisfaction.

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