The People Problem
Are you stressed?
The rate of workers calling in due to stress-related illness has been rising for years, and stressed workers have about twice the absentee rate of non-stressed workers.8 People problems cause stress, and stress causes dread. Both are on the rise.
Why? Survey after survey indicates that human issues are what really drive dissatisfaction. "Boss" and "coworkers" appear prominently in every study and anecdote of workplace stressors. "Conflict," "confusion," "tension," and "poor leadership" round out the picture. Even initial reports that "I don't like the work" often lead to deeper issues of absent advancement opportunity or misalignment of skills, shifting the real cause back to the human issues.9
People problems kill productivity. Experts agree that the majority of lost productivity is due to employees who show up for work but don't really engage.10 The price tag to employers is estimated at $300 billion per year for the lost productivity associated with disengagement!11 That much money is hard to fathom, but it's not hard to believe. Anyone who has worked with other people has war stories about the damage caused by those who just don't care.