An important characteristic of a healthy and productive workplace is that employees feel valued, motivated and happy to go to work. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and sometimes overwork and lack of motivation and recognition can develop into unhappiness, which can take the form of illness. Here we dive into how illness can act as an indicator of unhappiness at work and how to recognise early signs for prevention.
Workplace dissatisfaction affects both the mental and physical health of employees. It can manifest itself in different ways, such as stress, low self-esteem, depression, abdominal pain and a lowered immune system, which can lead to sick leave. So when employees feel unhappy, overworked or feel unrecognised, it can have serious consequences, not only for themselves, but also for the company.
Illness as a warning signal
Illness is often the body's way of signalling that something is wrong. It is therefore important to listen to the signals and take them seriously. Here are a number of physical symptoms that can be associated with work-related unhappiness:
- Frequent colds and infections: A weakened immune system due to constant stress and anxiety can make employees more susceptible to illness.
- Sleep problems: Lack of sleep is a common consequence of work-related stress and can contribute to a number of health issues.
- Stomach pain and digestive problems: Stress can affect the gastrointestinal system and cause a range of problems such as ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and more.
- Headaches: Frequent tension headaches are a common side effect of stress and anxiety at work.
- Mental health: Workplace dissatisfaction can lead to depression and anxiety, which also negatively affects overall health.
If you as an employee are experiencing these symptoms frequently, you should talk to your employer or a union representative about it so that it can be addressed as soon as possible. Similarly, as an employer, if you are experiencing an increasing number of sick days from one or more employees, you should take it seriously and see it as a sign that something is out of balance and needs to be changed in the workplace.
How should employers deal with work-related unhappiness?
It's important to address workplace dissatisfaction as soon as it occurs. Primarily for the health of employees, but also for the productivity of the organisation.
Here are some steps that can help to both prevent and manage unhappiness in the workplace and reduce sick leave:
Open communication
As an employer, you have a big responsibility to create a work culture where employees feel comfortable talking about their challenges and concerns. This can include regular check-ins, feedback sessions and possibly a union representative that employees can always share their thoughts with.
Work-life balance and flexibility
A healthy work-life balance should be encouraged. This is done by encouraging employees to take breaks, use their holidays and avoid excessive overtime.
Also consider offering flexible working hours or remote working to ease stress and improve work-life balance. This can be especially beneficial if the employee lives far from the workplace.
Psychological safety
Psychological safety plays a crucial role in workplace wellbeing. It refers to employees' perception that they can express themselves freely, share ideas, ask questions and take risks without fear of negative consequences such as humiliation or punishment. When employees feel psychologically safe at work, it can have multiple positive effects on their wellbeing and the workplace in general, such as increased participation, innovation and learning, better communication and less conflict.
Stress management
Implementing stress management programmes, such as mindfulness or stress reduction workshops, can help employees deal with work-related stress. Also, make sure employees have access to mental health support resources, such as psychological counselling or therapy.
Data collection
By collecting data on sickness absence and analysing it regularly, you can identify patterns and causes of absence in your company. This data is a good starting point for targeting unhappiness and reducing absence.
By taking these steps, employers can help create a healthier and more productive workplace where employees are more likely to be present and engaged.
Keep track of absence rates
It is mandatory to document sickness absence in the workplace assessment in order to assess whether there are conditions in the work environment that may affect sickness absence. You can read more about the requirements for the content of the APV here. It's therefore important to consider how to register and document absence correctly in your organisation.
Intempus makes it easy to keep track of absence. Employees register their absence directly in the Intempus app, after which you as an administrator can keep track of each employee's sick leave percentage in the administration system.
You can read more about disease detection in Intempus here. You are also welcome to contact us by phone +45 26 390 400 for a chat about your options or to book a no-obligation demo:
Sources: sst.dk, at.dk, infa.dk, infa.dk/mistrivsel, medst.dk
