Disrespect at workplace top professional stressor: Survey

Disrespect at the workplace contributes most to professional stress, followed by factors like lack of work-life balance and putting in extra hours, a survey said today.

About 36.8 per cent of respondents said disrespect at the workplace leads to high stress levels, as per the 'Workplace Stress: Impact and Outcomes' study released here.

The survey was conducted online by Chestnut Global Partners India and SHRM India among 2,157 respondents from 12 organisations spanning three sectors -- IT and ITES, finance and banking, and travel and hospitality.

Lack of work-life balance, overtime, inability to process constructive feedback from managers, lack of support from managers and situations when one's opinions are not considered emerged as the other professional stressors, the survey said.

As per the report, stress, coupled with a changing social fabric and social mores which play a role in personal lives, has a direct impact on the physical, mental and emotional health of the workforce at all levels.

"Chronic and life-style related health issues are growing rapidly among the so called 'young India workforce'. It is predicted that by 2025, India will have over 57 per cent of the population suffering from diabetes.

"Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and tobacco consumption are seen as high-risk elements in employee health and wellness that will impact the workforce," it added.

Corporates across the country have become sensitive to the prevalent health issues and the impact of stress at the workplace on performance and productivity.

Firms are working at building health and wellness programmes that make their workforce a lot more resilient to the external challenges.

On the personal front, about 29.8 per cent respondents rated inability to manage personal and professional responsibilities as the top stressor, it said.

Inadequate income (financial commitments) and interference of personal relationships at work were other top personal stressors, according to the study.

It also revealed that respondents who are less than 25 years old and at executive or junior manager levels have higher stress levels due to lack of clarity on goals and flexibility, apart from the need to work in shifts, in comparison to those older than 25 years and at higher career levels.

In comparison to unmarried respondents, married ones said they get more stressed when they fail to get the required support from their managers or when they need to travel for longer duration for business needs.

Another major stressor is anxiety about fairness in terms of performance appraisals and compensation, among others, the survey said.