|
Cyber-Stress...avoiding
problems before they begin
Technology in the
workforce has resulted in "techno stress" among workers. The
immediacy of e-mail and electronic communications cause employees to
feel they have react immediately to anything they receive. Human
Resource professionals have reported that this has led to greater
stress.
In the
cyber-productivity debate, human resource managers come out in favor
of technology. Study after study reveal that productivity has
increased, even with the issues of cyber-slacking and wasted time
battling SPAM.
Yet, employees and employer
alike complain that they have to devote too much time sorting through
electronic information and reviewing e-mail. Give the ease in which
e-mails ca be sent, and addressed to multiple recipients, people send
them far more often, and copy more people, than its hard copy
equivalent. A large multinational company reported that an e-mail
noting that a car was parked illegally was transmitted to everyone in
its headquarters by e-mail. Think of how outlandish that would have
been had it been in memo format and slipped onto everyone's desk.
E-mail sent indiscriminately is costly to
business, and may result in a backlash from employees. One employee
reported having received over 1000 e-mails when he returned from his
vacation. (This was several years ago, and now the problem is even
greater and he might have had five thousand after a week off.) Overwhelmed, he just deleted all of them. Was there anything
important in any of the thousand e-mails? We'll never know.
Many employees, wired
to work from home, also feel pressured to work longer hours. According
to Labor Department statistics, six in ten people who worked at home
in 1997 used a computer for their jobs. This number has now increased
to the point that almost all who work at home use a computer for
their jobs. This creates potential liability issues for things as
mundane as overtime and for things as complicated as insurance and
security.
If the employee performs work
from home, and the employer knows about it, and either encourages or
doesn't discourage it, is the employer liable for overtime? Not all
computer literate employees are exempt. This is something human
resource professionals need to keep in mind. Mistakes can be costly in
the wage and hour arena, trying to keep track of hours and over-time
can be a nightmare, but ignoring it can be a "netmare."
E-mail can also lead to
a reduction in face-to-face communication between management and
employees, and between co-workers. Given the opportunity of avoiding a
face-to-face confrontation, many employees are copping-out and
e-mailing others about sensitive matters. This can lead to
misunderstandings and may make it easier for a former employee or
disgruntled employee to use the casually drafted e-mail as evidence in
a later proceeding.
Careful planning and
training can avoid many of these problems and sources of stress,
however. And review your e-mail and electronic media policies to make
sure they deal with these issues.
- Make sure they
detail the rules about overtime work from home. (Talk to your wage
and hour attorney for local law requirements which have changed
very recently.)
- Make sure management
is trained not to choose the easy way out, and maintains
face-to-face communications.
- Make sure that
e-mails and other electronic communications involving sensitive
matters as reviewed in the same manner as a hard copy memo would
be, prior to being sent.
- Think very carefully about permitting
instant messaging to be used at work. It encourages lax
communications and carelessness.
- Finally, educate
your employees about sending e-mail only when essential, and being
selective about choosing recipients who really need to be copied
on the e-mail.
It's simpler than it looks...We just need to make sure we don't
have a "failure to communicate."
| 
Parry
Aftab, Esq., 
Marvel and
all character names and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of
Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. TM & © 2004 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. “Super Heroes” is a Co-owned registered
Trademark.