A third of SME employees have called in sick due to work-related stress, survey finds
February 2019 - Business Support
A third of SME employees have called in sick due to work-related stress: A survey of employees in small businesses has revealed insight into the common causes of stress and work-related frustrations.
The survey by software firm, Process Bliss found that a third (33%) of employees had called in sick due to work-related stress, while an even greater number (43%) had changed jobs because of it. This figure was even higher amongst the women polled (47%).
Looking at factors that cause work-related stress, a third of those polled said they felt like they were constantly chasing colleagues (33%), while 31% said when they were asked to do something, they were not given enough information. Having lack of control over a situation was also cited (28%) as well as not being given enough guidance or direction (26%). A quarter (25%) said that people not responding to emails led them to feel frustrated.
Relationship with company boss.
According to the data, company bosses are also contributing to employee stress with almost a quarter (24%) saying being chased unnecessarily for work by their boss led them to feel stressed, as did being micromanaged (15%) and feeling the boss had no trust in you (12%)
Almost four in ten (38%) of the 1,000 respondents polled said that they found working for a smaller company more stressful than a larger one.
Just under a third (33%) said they ‘do not feel trusted in the workplace’.
The majority of respondents (63%) said they were in the dark about some of their company’s processes, which caused them frustration or stress at work. Failure to follow processes was revealed to have had a significant impact for some small companies with 43% saying it had resulted in lost customers.
Improvements
Three-quarters (75%) of respondents felt that communication in their company could be improved on, while just over two thirds (68%) felt the same about collaboration.
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