Getting the balance right - Isle of Man Today

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate27ISSUEStress hasa big impacton businessMs Weadock adds: ‘I agree. It has to bepromoted from the top. If you are working70 hours a week to set up a business, youare probably only going to be productive for30-plus hours of good work anyway. So whyare you doing this?’Risk of fast-trackpromotionsIn an Island with full employment, thereis a tendency to fast-track individuals intomore senior jobs with extra responsibilitytoo quickly, says Mr Nixon. ‘Unless there istraining and a support mechanism, they aregoing to fail and get stressed. They are notgoing to admit they have failed and they aregoing to work long hours. But you are notgoing to get the productivity required.’The Hilton Hotel organises a trainingcourse aimed at dealing with stress. MsWeadock explains: ‘Our first stage forsomebody who has been promoted to asupervisory level or lower managementlevel is a course for them called “lookingafter yourself”. The first thing we try and dois to identify signs of stress and ways ofcontrolling the stress. Identify it and thentalk about ways it can be avoided.’It comes down to identifying the rightpeople for the right jobs, believes MsHunter. ‘If you get that right, the chancesare you are not going to get theseindividuals stressed out.’A duty of careEmployers have a ‘duty ofcare’ to protect the health,safety and welfare of allemployees while at work.The HSE has identified sixkey areas (or ‘risk factors’)that can be causes of work-relatedstress.These are:❏ the demands of your job (e.g.Issues such as workload, workpatterns, and the work environment)❏ your control over your work (e.g.How much say the person has in theway they do their work)❏ the support you receive frommanagers and colleagues (e.g. Howencouragement, sponsorship andresources are provided by theorganisation, line management andcolleagues)❏ your relationships at work (e.g. Ispositive working promoted to avoidconflict and to deal withunacceptable behaviour?)❏ your role in the organisation (e.g.Do people understand their rolewithin the organisation and whetherthe organisation ensures that theperson does not have conflictingroles?)❏ change and how it’s managed(e.g. How organisational change[large or small] is managed andcommunicated in the organisation)what do youthink?What do you think? How do you cope with stress at work?E-mail your views to john.sherrocks@newsiom.co.imK C M YWake-up callBeing surrounded by people...‘STEVE’ is a manager with a local firm. This is his account of thesessions with Dr Nightingale — and the wake-up call she gave himI HAD been aware for some time that work was takingover my life and causing me problems.Although I consider myself well-organised and ableto work under pressure, sometimes the sheer volumeof work and the fact there was never any let-up, oranyone less busy to delegate to, left me feelingcompletely unable to cope.This manifested itself physically in minor ailments Ishouldn’t be suffering at my age plus, on occasions,when I was being pulled from pillar to post, chestpains and tightness. On occasions I became aware Iwasn’t even breathing properly. One day I did justwalk out and go home, I felt so unable to cope.I was snappy with colleagues and customers alike.‘How can she take a lunch break when I don’t havetime?’ I would feel. Away from work I lost interest inmy social life and the sport I used to play — and evenin my wife. I was always so tired or down, all I couldthink of was getting home, doing as little as possibleand getting to bed.I used to be a party animal but I dreaded socialengagements as I was always too lethargic and lackedconfidence, my work-life balance had got so out ofkilter. But I would often lie awake worrying aboutwork, and what awaited me the next day, anyway. I doa 9-5 job, but if I wasn’t in for 8am I felt late andunder pressure.Even though I was often working 10 and 11-hourdays with no break and taking work home with me,my manager just shrugged when I raised it with herand said: ‘What am I supposed to do?’I felt if I pushed the issue I could have risked losingout at future promotions, or even demotion ordismissal. Nevertheless, my visit to Dr Nightingalecame as a real wake-up call.I knew I was in a bad way but I didn’t realise justhow bad till she revealed my test results were extremeand asked with genuine surprise: ‘How are youkeeping going?’She warned me starkly that major problems layahead unless I made changes to my life quickly.The results of the tests revealed my anxiety level wasa very high 63 (the average is 29-48) and that I wasclinically depressed, with a score of 65 (51 or above isconsidered very high and average 27-42).I was also very stressed and showed type-Abehaviour — hurry sickness brought on by unrealistictargets and deadlines, which can, and in my case did,lead to inadequacy and relationship problems.Dr Nightingale recommended dramatic lifestylechanges and urged me not to put them off.I have read a superb book she recommended, Don’tSweat the Small Stuff, by American author RichardCarlson, whose basic message is that life isn’t anemergency and that it isn’t something you’ll livetomorrow, next week or next year but something youare living here and now.He advocates changing your attitude to stressors,not building mental snowballs and, perhaps mostimportantly of all, realising that your ‘in box’ is nevergoing to be empty but that you have to make time forother things. Although I think I’ll have to keep rereadingit, it’s certainly helping me. I have also signedup for relaxation classes and, following Carlson’sadvice, made an ‘appointment’ with myself for acouple of hours’ exercise a week — something Icontinually told myself I didn’t have time for.At work I am simply learning to say no more often.No one is going to relieve me of the strain. I have toact myself, even if that does mean saying to someone,‘I did not have time to do that, sorry.’ It’s not in mynature, so it’s hard, but something has to give.One thing I learned from my consultation was thatstress isn’t what you, as a manger or employer, think itis. If an employee says he is feeling the effects ofstress, he is, whether he is running a multi-national orsweeping a town’s streets. Bosses shouldn’t judgeothers by their own ability or output.Dr Nightingale told me employers are being sued inthe Island for ignoring stress among workers. Thestress audit is good news. I do not think many bosses,especially those of the ‘old school’, understand stressor their responsibilities in this area nearly wellenough and encourage staff to soldier on to maintainproductivity, showing a lack of interest in, or evenhumouring, those who show signs.But at what cost — to firms in terms of time off illand possible legal actions and to individuals in termsof their long-term mental and physical well-being,their marriages etc?...can still feel lonelyIf you or someone you know needs to talk inconfidence, contact Samaritans.We’re here to listen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.SAMARITANS08457 90 90 90 or 01624 66 33 99
Back page 28businessupdate Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005MEDIALife through a lensIn today’s climate of media intrusion, NICK YATES discoversthat celebrities face a battle to safeguard their privacyAs a journalist I found thefront page of the Sun lastMonday head-shakinglydisturbing. The entire page contained only67 words of actual story and theintroduction to that story, under a headlinePOSH PYJAMA DRAMA, read: ‘SuspiciousVictoria Beckham rushed out in herPYJAMAS to keep an eye on hubby Davidwhen he went out at midnight.’Immediately above that was a zoom lensphotograph of Prince Harry in the back of ajeep with his girlfriend, with a promise ofexclusive pictures on pages four and five.It may be naïve, but I would have hopedthat a national newspaper with a dailycirculation of three million-plus might takesome responsibility and put somethingnewsworthy on its front page of a Mondaymorning. There is always an argument thata newspaper prints what its readers want tosee, but I can’t help thinking it is slightlyinsulting to the British public to assume theonly issues they care about are the startlingrevelations that Victoria Beckham wearspyjamas in bed and Prince Harry has agirlfriend. Perhaps they think that peopleare far too depressed or hung-over onMonday mornings to read and would ratherjust look at pictures.In English law the right to privacy hasbeen recognised since October 2000 whenarticle eight of the European Convention onHuman Rights (the right to privacy) cameinto force as part of the Human Rights Act1998.Privacy, by definition, is meant to protectany individual against the intrusion intohis/her personal life or affairs or those oftheir family, by direct physical means or bypublication of information. This includesthe rights of the famous and the use oflong-lens cameras.The media, especially the tabloidnewspapers, often tread a fine line in thearea of privacy and the front page of lastMonday’s Sun is a good example. They areable to do this because it is very difficult toWHEREFORE ART THOU ROMEO: The Beckhams face a battle toprotect their children from the long lensesenforce the law in the courts. One of thereasons for this is article 10 of the EuropeanConvention that ensures freedom ofexpression is taken into account in anylegal argument. Freedom of expression iscritical to the media, and democracy ingeneral, but there is a point when thedefinitions of ‘public interest’ and ‘ofinterest to the public’ become confused.Today’s media is littered with examples ofstories that are of interest to the publicrather than in the public interest. Theadvent of fly-on-the-wall documentariesand shows such as Big Brother, Hell’sKitchen and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out OfHere have fuelled this phenomenon. Ofcourse they are perfectly legal because thecontestants have signed away any right toprivacy when they set foot on the set. Thereal problem comes when the media beginto intrude into the private lives of publicfigures. Yes — they are in the public eye, butdoes this mean that the most intimatedetails of their lives should be dissected andpresented, with close-up pictures, fordiscussion across the British breakfasttable?Media organisations should alwayscomply with the Press ComplaintsCommission’s code of conduct, although itis more of an ethical rather than legalframework. Clause three of the code says‘everyone is entitled to respect for his or herprivate and family life, home, health andcorrespondence. A publication will beexpected to justify intrusions into anyindividual’s private life without consent.’It adds that the use of long-lensphotography to take pictures of people inprivate places without their consent isunacceptable.The Sun would argue that Prince Harry’sjeep safari is fair game because he is inpublic, similarly any published picture ofthe Beckhams is of them in public. Theproblem is that the pictures oftenaccompany intensely private details of rowsand rumours of marriage break-up withinthe actual story.Recently David Beckham reportedly saidhe would have to leave Spain if journalistspersisted in following his children toschool. Jamie Oliver, the TV chef, has alsosuffered intrusion into his privacy at thehands of the media. He was the victim of atabloid story claiming he had slept with awaitress in Amsterdam. In an interview withthe Daily Mail he said he had no problemwith the media spotlight but he did have aproblem with lies that damaged his familyand to top it all he had to fork out £25,000to get an injunction to stop it going topress. The wider argument of privacy versuspublic interest would question whether thestory should ever have been considered inthe first place regardless of whether it wastrue or not.Famous people in the public eye have toaccept that the privileged lifestyle comeswith some drawbacks but that shouldn’textend to their family. Being a role modelfor the young and impressionable is oftenan argument used by the media when itpublishes articles that infringe on privacy,but their real motives are often thetitillation of the masses rather than a realdesire to protect the innocent.There is a moral crisis among the UKtabloid press at present, as each publicationsinks lower and lower in an attempt to winthe circulation battle. While they aresquabbling with each other there is a realdanger that they are beginning to dictatewhat the public find interesting rather thanvice versa. Given the influence the mediahave in this country (The Sun claims toreach 10 million readers on a daily basis)this is a dangerous development. It is why Ifind front pages like last Monday’s sodistressing, and why the tabloid editorsshould start taking some responsibility forwhat they feed to the public rather thanconcentrating solely on winning theratings/circulation war to the detriment ofthe quality of the press and the professionof journalism in general.DIRECTISLEofMANPARISFROM£159RETURNISLE OF MAN - PARIS CDGDAYS FLT NO DEP ARR AIRCRAFT1---5-- 3W5005 1245 1520 RJ70PARIS CDG - ISLE OF MANDAYS FLT NO DEP ARR AIRCRAFT1---5-- 3W5006 1630 1710 RJ70OPERATES27.05 - 30.09MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW!FLIGHT
Page 3 and 4: Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Busi
Page 9 and 10: ELAINE HUNTER: Flexible hours also
Page 11 and 12: K C M YIsle of Man Examiner, May 20
Page 13 and 14: K C M YIsle of Man Examiner, May 20
Page 15 and 16: 16 Business updateIsle of Man Exami
Page 25: 26 Business updateIsle of Man Exami

Getting the balance right - Isle of Man Today

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?