Lucimey Lima Perez
It’s not hard to recognize that many hours of our lives are spent on the job site(s). Obviously the impact that this time has on our mental health and well-being is tremendous. I have wondered many times if the employee recognizes the relevance of the context. And much more, if the employer or the “boss” performs its function properly. It is very simple, if a good employee, this is a responsible and capable person, performs his role and also receives positive connotations, but not praise, about his performance, it is logical that he performs in his work.
Undoubtedly, management that promotes health and productivity in the workplace is crucial, but it can also be a source of stress that promotes low self-esteem and affects performance results. I question whether this is really recognized, not only by the owners or employers, but by the people who exercise supervisory functions.
The unbalanced relationship between labor demands and available resources, that is, high demands and few resources, leads to a physical and mental deterioration of the person in charge of a certain role or service.
According to several collected works and some included in the OrganizationWorld Health Organization, the risk factors include: inadequate management of the headquarters, structural deficiencies in the organization or institution, occupations that include a high level of stress for being intermediaries between the employer and the entities that are served. I do not rule out, much less deny, that some people are not prepared for the position they occupy. However, true or not, “there are no bad soldiers, only bad officers” (Napoleon). So the person who has the power to direct and supervise is much more responsible than the one who does the direct work. Will the so-called bosses have the ability to maintain the mental health of their supervisees, and much more, their own?
I consider this topic to be of great magnitude. I affirm it because of the experience in my work and because of what I appreciate every day to the detriment of the human being as a worker. Let’s see: “the customer is always right” (apparently anonymous assertion). If that is of value, how is the worker protected…
I point out in two words and interspersed: I have been the head of the group for a long time, very strict and very human, as our parents used to say, “right hand and left hand”, unfair to lefties, but understandable metaphor, we give and take.
Reports from different latitudes and altitudes, without exception, indicate that employees’ mental health conditions decrease performance. In Europe, globally, it is detected that 30 to 50% of mental problems come from the workplace. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is attributed that 30 to 40% of work absences are for reasons of mental dysfunction in relation to the working day.
I don’t want to be more direct than I have been. But I live it daily in my psychotherapeutic practice. Over-demanded people, literally mistreated by abuse of power, mostly better prepared than their bosses, stress on the pyramidal scale of demands (immediate supervisor-supervisor of supervisor-top-executive boss). Everything highlights “fear”, “insecurity”…
International data indicates that problems at work are due to: poor relationships with superiors, pointless bureaucratic limitations, conflicts that include the family, relationships with colleagues not necessarily at the same level, pressure to execute actions that are not ready, limitations in institutional visions.
I have reviewed European and American statistics (when I say American I mean north and south) and Oceania, in its full latitude. They all agree on the relevance of good management with better productivity and safeguarding the well-being-satisfaction of the employee. Unfortunate, how far we are from balance…
I would like to point out that there are, not always, because they require a bidirectional contribution, some ways to solve these vicissitudes:
Solve family problems, improve relationships with colleagues, manage work pressures, communicate directly and appropriately with supervisors. I add that the good management of the worker is to end his day with a good disposition for enjoyment, be it individual or family, which strengthens the future of each day.
Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Neuroscientist
Senior Researcher Emeritus of the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC)
Psychotherapy Specialist and Educator at CatholicCare, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia