Flexible working can ease stress

New research from the business communications company Avaya has concluded that 81% of decision makers in small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) feel that demanding work commitments are to blame for problems such as stress and ill health, and yet the majority said flexible working had helped improve the issues.

The research was based on a survey of 700 senior managers in SMEs in the UK and Germany, conducted during summer 2011.

Some of the key findings were as follows.

• A total of 81% of people said they had experienced negative consequences as a result of devoting too much time to the business, rather than to other areas of their life.

• Conversely, 83% of sufferers said flexible working has helped ease these sorts of problems for them personally.

• Over a quarter (27%) of people admitted to marriage or relationship problems, while a tenth said their dedication to work had actually resulted in divorce or separation.

• Almost a fifth (18%) of parents admitted to missing out on their children’s school activities, such as sports days and awards ceremonies, as a result of an inflexible work regime.

• Well over half (56%) said they suffered from stress, and a third (33%) said they suffered from poor health.

A source at Avaya said over three-quarters (76%) of SMEs offer employees some degree of flexible working, yet overall people spend an average 74% of their working week at their desks.

Commenting on the survey, Michael Bayer, the President of Avaya EMEA said, “It is a very positive sign that over three-quarters of small businesses offer flexible working, but the fact that the average employee spends the vast majority of their working week office-bound suggests there is still a major disconnect between flexible working being an option for employees, and it actually becoming a habitual way of working.”

Article supplied by British Safety Council