Full-on pursuit of commercial success may be putting owners and employees of these businesses at increased risk of ill health and burnout. Described as a type of stress, office burnout can manifest itself as a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work.
Unfortunately, long working hours are often embedded into SME culture. According to research, 47 per cent of employees in SMEs across the UK said they regularly work four or more hours of overtime per week and 27 per cent of these put in seven or more hours. For just over half of these employees, the extra hours are unpaid.
Furthermore, research discovered that overworking doesn’t just stop at outside of work hours – 22 per cent of employees take fewer than 30 minutes for lunch.
Additionally, 19 per cent have cancelled family time and 19 per cent have missed a child’s event such as a school play and for parents with younger children due to working over and above their contracted hours. Also, over half of employees admitted to have continued to work after putting children to bed.
“Small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of the economy – driving innovation, enterprise and growth,” comments Dr Gary Bolger, Chief Medical Officer at AXA PPP healthcare. “Their commitment is commendable yet our study shows that owners and bosses may be putting themselves and their employees at increased risk of burnout and ill health through protracted overwork.”
