Chaos Creates Living Hell For Workers

November 18, 2013 Jenny Thomas

Crushing deadlines, never-ending overtime, agonizing interruptions and broken processes, and famine of recognition and purpose. No, we’re not talking about the seventh level of hell, we’re talking about your job.

Hopefully, this doesn’t sound like a familiar scenario to you, but according to an enterprise work management survey conducted by AtTask, a large percentage of workers do compare their job to a living hell.

It seems obvious that not every job would leave workers feeling fulfilled and rewarded, but it is a little surprising to learn how the daily grind of avoidable work issues and interruptions wear down employees, resulting in decreased productivity and overall morale.

The AtTask survey looked at the underlying reasons that workers miss deadlines, need to work overtime, and/or lose confidence and morale for the companies they work for.

The survey also explored a wide range of factors that make work unbearable by increasing stress levels among employees and preventing workers of all types from performing their best work. The big key findings break down as follows:

Crushing Interruptions–The top reasons listed for work running late include too many interruptions (26 percent), unavailable resources (24 percent), lack of time (22 percent), and changing priorities (19 percent). Too many interruptions was also the named as the primary culprit contributing to the “work is hell” feeling.
Lack of Focus–Nearly one-third of survey respondents said they dread going to work because they don’t feel their work is tied to company strategy. Nearly 24 percent of those surveyed said their work priorities change daily, resulting in a shift in their workload.
Famine of Recognition and Purpose–A chief complaint was lack of recognition, with 18 percent of those surveyed saying they have never received praise or recognition for their work. Nearly half of respondents said they only receive recognition for their work once a quarter or less frequently.
Never-ending Overtime–There was a time when 5 o’clock meant quitting time, but these days workers are putting in more hours, with 57 percent of respondents saying they work more than 40 hours a week, and 8 percent reporting they work 60 hours or more per week. Half of the surveyed respondents feel their workplace is understaffed, resulting in lots of work after business hours.

The take-away for employers is it is important to look at the work environment to ensure you are getting the most out of your workers. Poor visibility across teams, out-of-sync collaborative tools, or a simple breakdown of communications processes leave workplaces are overrun with chaos, which results in unfocused, stressed, overwhelmed workers.

“With the right balance of technology, tools, and revamped processes in place, organizations can work smarter and more productively, while also boosting morale across their teams and improving work-life balance. It’s the recipe that can take work from hell to hell yeah,” said Bryan Nielson, chief marketing officer at AtTask.

AtTask is a cloud-based enterprise work management solution that helps marketing, IT, and other enterprise teams control excessive email, redundant status meetings, and disconnected tools. AtTask customers include Adobe, Cisco Systems, HBO, Kellogg’s, REI, and Disney. The enterprise work management survey was conducted online with more than 500 workers in varying industries across the country. To learn more about the benefits of the AtTask Enterprise Work Management solution, visit www.attask.com.