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WORK HARD, PLAY HARD: THE IMPACT OF OFFICE CULTURES AND RELATIONSHIPS ON BUSINESS
17 Sep 2009
Clinical Research
You work together, you play together, you try to find that work-life balance everyone is talking about. And it can be difficult. Not only can spending time with colleagues in and outside of work occasionally fray the edges of these relationships, but the work hard, play hard culture could have an impact on business from a productivity perspective.
A recent survey into employee illness rates by CBI/Axa revealed the average UK worker took nearly seven sick days in 2007, at a cost of £13.2 billion to the UK economy.
The good news for industry is that the number of days (5.8 days) off taken by its private sector workers is less than half of those taken by the public sector. Inevitably, some of these will be duvet days.
The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI's) director of human resources policy Susan Anderson said: "Everyone agrees that sick people need time off work."
However, she added: "People who awarded themselves sickies to enjoy the recent sunny weather or to extend a weekend away are acting unfairly, leaving their colleagues to pick up their work and costing taxpayers and employers over a billion pounds a year."
Duvet days are often taken when the partying or other leisure activities have taken their toll. A recent article in Air Force Link by colonel Tom Schluckebier revealed a culture of "work hard, play hard" within the US forces had begun to encompass and attempt to excuse destructive behaviours such as alcohol misuse and drug and tobacco use.
"We're not one-dimensional, mission-only people," he wrote. "We approach off-duty endeavours with the same zest and passion we demonstrate on duty."
This attitude that life should be pumped to the bursting seams with leisure activities is one that appears to be endorsed by respected educational facilities too. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology notes that the typical workload of a student is 48 hours a week, "but there are 168 hours in a week - plenty of time for sports, arts groups, student government positions, clubs, research positions, sleep and hanging out with friends".
More cautiously, the University of Manchester notes that "after a hard day's study, going out and having fun is what student life is all about" but counsels students to manage their own time carefully.
Interdependence, a website centred around self-help and psychotherapy, says it is important to take care of your body and to take time out to relax – meaning a healthy diet, moderate alcohol and giving up cigarettes as well as getting enough sleep and having some "me time". Not only will this prevent illness, but will stop colleagues getting annoyed with the times you turn in late, bleary-eyed or not at all, meaning they take up the slack and potentially miss out on their own "me time".
Colleague relationships in and outside of the offic are also a concern for employers. Not everyone gets on well with each other, but the majority of people manage to maintain a civil relationship in the office environement. Unfortunately, when the whole team hits the pubs and bars later in the day, civility can be eroded as barriers fall after a couple of beers or glasses of wine and arguments could ensue.
The same goes for office relationships, from the long-term commitment to the casual drunken snog at the bus stop at the end of a long week. All Business website says that companies sometimes have to intervene when a personal relationship ends.
"One of the issues is whether some of the conduct that was considered welcome during the relationship may be misconstrued or considered unwelcome after the relationship ends," it says, citing phone calls and at-work interactions as potential problem areas. In fact, some companies prohibit workplace romances so this does not become an issue.
Ehow website advises setting ground rules for work and personal relationships in order to get them to work without a hitch. This includes being considerate to colleagues who do not want to overhear your sweet nothings, as well as the obvious – not having sex at work, which in fact could be a sackable offence for you both.
