A vast majority of Indians are ready to trade their high-paying jobs for mental wellness , while long working hours are reasons for work-related stress. Further, employees are often hesitant to approach managers as they “wouldn’t care”, according to a survey.
Nearly 88% of employees in India (versus 70% in the US) would exchange their high-paying jobs for comparatively low-paying ones for their mental well-being as stress from work has a significant impact on their personal lives. In India, 25% of employees state that they always have trouble getting started with their workday and 26% always feel exhausted by the end of it, according to a survey conducted by UKG, a US-based human capital management solutions provider.
“The pandemic has revealed the importance of mental health and employees are now increasingly prioritising their mental health over a high-paying job. The salary structure they seek is comparatively lower than what they get paid in their existing jobs. This is important as a company is defined by its people, and people are an organisation’s ultimate purpose,” Sumeet Doshi, country manager at UKG India, said.
Long working long hours are the primary trigger for work-related stress among 33% Indian employees. Stress bleeds into work performance as 34% find it hard to concentrate on their jobs, 31% are unable to build healthy relationships with colleagues and 26% experience decreased levels of productivity and performance, it added.
Work-related stress deepens as only 51% of employees in India speak to their manager every week and 30% once a month regarding workload. The hesitation stems from reasons ranging from thinking that the managers “don’t care” (19%), might be too busy (28%) or employees wanting to deal with it by themselves (33%).
“Employees, when driven by a positive sense of purpose at the workplace, tend to perform a lot better than they ever would when confronted with work-related stress on a daily basis. Organisations need to cultivate that culture of positivity and engagement by prioritising the mental health of their employees and managers and leaders. Investing in resources, including technology, can help employees deal with their mental well-being, which is integral to the stability and sustainability of an organisation,” he said.
On their current jobs, 33% said long work hours were the reasons for stress, 30% attributed it to demanding jobs, while 29% put pressure on themselves to work hard, and 27% opined that their workload was unreasonable. Nearly 40% said they were “energised”, while 42% were committed and 14% were content with their jobs.
Most Indians (46%) ranked relationship with their family as most important, while work came in second (37%), followed by health, selfcare and exercise (30%) and relationship with friends at 26%.
Globally, the managers have as much impact on employees’ mental health as their spouses and more than their doctors and therapists. Staff feel that stress from work often has a significant effect on their personal lives and relationships, while managers are also under stress. This is true for India as well, Doshi added.
People managers often go through paramount levels of stress as they shoulder the responsibilities of not just leading well but also ensuring the well-being of employees. A need for more talent is felt worldwide by companies when it comes to finding genuinely compassionate and authentic leaders, the study said.
In total, 2,200 employees (including managers) from 10 countries such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France and Germany, were interviewed for the survey, which had questions on employment, work-related stress, mental health, four-day work weeks and workplace incentives among others.
About 200 employees in India took part in the survey.