Question:
I work for a large insurance co. and over the last 12 months the workload
has increased significally but number of staff reduced by approx 60%.
Sickness levels are higher than 12 months ago and several people are on anti
depressants as a result.
My Company has made half hearted efforts to employ locally and have been for
the last couple of months. People have come in for interviews, but no one
ever seems to get employed!!
Obviously stress levels are soaring and basically I want to know what I and
can do to get the company to sort out.
Answer:
What IYO is the reason that the company have started to behave as they have?
Do you believe that they have decided to make additional profits to line the
pockets of the management at the expense of the workers, or do you believe
that the reasons may be nothing to do with greed?
If there are other reasons, do you believe that you have a viable solution
that would solve those problems, or do you think that the actions you are
thinking about might simply be adding to the existing problems?
If it is financial strains that have forced such a policy onto the company,
perhaps the best thing for a company to do in such a situation is to go into
liquidation and close down completely rather than attempting to find a team
of workers willing and able to pull extra hard for a while to get the
company back on its feet again. It seems that such may be a possibility in
some other countries, but in UK it is doomed to fail. Try strike action -
it often has the effect of precipitating such a decision.
I am sure that there is an insurance company outside the UK that will be
able to take on the business left by your company's failure, so no need to
feel guilt that the employees of another UK company will be burdened by an
increase in work.
A very topical question, considering that the Court of Appeal has just given
the most definitive rulings on workplace stress ever, in the case of
Sutherland v Hatton yesterday.
http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgments/judg_home.htm
and then look for the Sutherland case on 4th February.
