Businesses should start putting limits on the culture of having to be in constant contact with the office, says Rod Phillips, CEO of Shepell•fgi.

“More and more people say their electronic devices are stressing them out,” he says. “Rather than a good tool to keep in touch in case of emergency, for many people they have become a trigger for anxiety.”

A recent study by MIT’s Sloan School of Management found that senior managers were responsible for establishing patterns of constant contact that their subordinates then adopt.

Companies have concerns of rising costs of absenteeism and short-term disability and that anxiety is the root of a number of these cases, says Phillips. “Often times this anxiety comes from the severe case of information overload this kind of constant work behaviour brings.”

Shepell•fgi recommends that companies might consider a training program to help both employees and managers develop time management skills and create a corporate culture of work-life balance.

“We are seeing increases in access to our services where people cite anxiety related to feeling unable to ever be disconnected from the office,” says Karen Seward, the company’s senior vice-president of business development and marketing. “Managers connected to workplace through PDAs and email 24/7 have to set parameters to ensure that they get a break for themselves and their reports.”

Ways to manage “technostress”

  • Leading by example, not sending or responding to emails after business hours
  • Initiating corporate policies that stress there is no expectation of immediate response to after hours emails or calls
  • If a critical department needs to be in constant contact, create “on call” shifts for employees
  • Encouraging your employees to turn their devices off on weekends and put them to “sleep” an hour before bedtime
  • Limiting the number of CCs on emails and avoiding sending unnecessary emails

Source: Shepell•fgi

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