24 Feb 2017

Work-life pressures put employees' health at risk

In November 2016 2,000 UK workers were independently surveyed to explore the impact work pressures have on their health – this found that people are finding workplace pressures increasingly difficult to deal with and often more stressful than personal issues.

The research revealed that more people find workplace demands such as presenting at an important meeting (71%) or managing a project (65%) just as stressful as buying a first house (69%) or getting married (66%).

More than half of the workforce (53%) report that they have felt physically unwell due to a poor work-life balance, and a similar number (52%) go so far as to say that work makes them more unwell than anything in their personal lives.

In addition to physical sickness, work stress is keeping half (51%) of employees awake at night. Two fifths (42%) even state it is ‘ruining their life’.

The research indicated that there is a pressing business need for organisations to better understand and address the wellbeing needs of their employees, as it is impacting profitability. Two thirds (64%) of people believe they would be significantly more productive at work if they were less stressed. In addition, just over three quarters of workers (76%) have seen colleagues leave due to a lack of support.

The majority (87%) of employees expect their employers to do all they can to support their health and wellbeing. Nearly three quarters (73%) believe that their employers should be doing more to support staff who are struggling with physical or mental health.

In summary:

Poor work-life balance is making people both physically and mentally unwell
People find day-to-day workplace issues just as stressful as personal upheaval, such as going through a break-up or moving house
Three quarters of people want employers to offer more support

Patrick Watt, corporate director at Bupa UK comments: “Time to Talk day earlier this month was a great reminder of how important it is to talk about mental health and wellbeing at work. As business leaders, we’re in a position to play a key role in creating an open culture that gives all of us the confidence to ask for help without fear of stigma or discrimination.

Our recent research found that nearly three quarters of people believed more should be done to support wellbeing and mental health at work and many businesses are. As a starting point we can talk to our teams – conversations about wellbeing send a clear signal that it’s important and it might prompt someone that’s in need of support to take that first step.”

This article was provided by Bupa.