Nearly half of employees (47%) say that they feel much tenser at work than in their home life according to Aviva’s annual Health of the Workplace study.
The survey found that 50% of employers consider themselves to be good role models, but 45% also admit to being stressed at work.
One in five (19%) employees say they think their bosses create a stressful environment, while the 29% of employers admit they could do with improving their employees’ work/life balance.
More than a quarter (27%) of employers say that their main priority is to create a motivated team who enjoy working together and 25% say that their number one priority is achieving a friendly company with a good work/life balance.
Company size plays a key role in business priorities, according to the survey. The smaller the company, the more important work/life balance is thought to be, with half of companies with less than nine employees citing this as their number one priority for the business. This falls to just 12% for companies with over 100 employees.
Dr. Doug Wright, principal clinical consultant at Aviva UK Health, said: “The latest Aviva Health of the Workplace study suggests that while employers are making some very positive moves towards creating a healthy workplace environment, the overwhelming priority is still on financial performance.
“It’s particularly worrying that employers currently see themselves as role models despite admitting to suffering punishing levels of stress themselves – especially considering a manager’s behaviour has an inevitable knock-on effect on their staff.
“Businesses need to balance their financial priorities with efforts to improve the health, wellbeing and morale of the workforce. At Aviva we understand fostering wellbeing in the workforce is a key focus for employers, but many do not have the tools or insight to enable them to do this effectively.”
Additional findings include:
•30% of employees agree that their boss ensures that they have a good work/life balance
•46% of employers say they hold regular social events for their staff
•52% of employees are less than enthusiastic about going out with their wider team
•one in five employees openly admit that they do not like socialising with their colleagues.
•15% feel obliged to show their face, but do not really enjoy it
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