Workaholics and slackers take note – it’s not how long we work, but how well we work that counts according to a Kingston University study.
Workaholics and slackers take note – it’s not how long we work, but how well we work that counts according to a Kingston University study.
If you are disconnected from your work, you are more likely to suffer from a burn out than even your most driven colleagues.
Dr Kerstin Alfes, from Kingston Business School, acknowledges that the results seem counter-intuitive.
“You might expect someone who is withdrawn from their work to be more balanced and less emotionally-drained because they have time for other things in their life,” she said.
“But actually we found that it’s these people who are having severe problems with stress-related exhaustion.
“Just as alienation from one’s emotions leads to emotional exhaustion and lower levels of well-being, so too does alienation from one’s work.”
The study, using 227 British workers, mostly in their 30s, found that the most withdrawn 15% of participants reported the highest levels of burn out.
This carries important implications.
Currently in the UK, there is a trend towards splitting work between part-time workers, mainly to combat high levels of unemployment.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS) note that work patterns already enthusiastically embrace part-time working, longer work hours, and team-based working.
Data from the Office of National Statistics, from 2011, shows the across Europe populations that work a lower average of hours per week proving more productive.
In the UK we work an average of 36.3 hours a week – lower than the European average – as a result of the growth of the part-time sector.
Compared to other countries, we are also use our time reasonably constructively.
When only full-time workers are considered, the UK average rockets to 42.7 hours a week, behind only Greece and Austria in the sample.
This suggests, as do the DBIS, that continuing to split work across the labour force will benefit our economy.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it will help individuals.
Kingston University’s study shows that the amount of hours we spend in our workplaces are less important than how we connect to the job we are doing.
This is perhaps better addressed by a change in our working culture, rather than imposing a different schedule on the same issues.
“If people are given ownership of their work, see the impact it has on beneficiaries and understand how they fit into the bigger picture, they feel much more positive about work,” said Dr Alfes.
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