By Business & Finance 
In a national survey commissioned by Ag Eisteacht4 Business, a significant 40% of workers said they had no support from managers when they were distressed at work.
Six in 10 of these said managers did not care, were not interested or did not understand when they were distressed.
The results also show that for well over a third of workers, a lack of support and understanding from managers impacts negatively on their productivity (36%.)
A further 22% cited poor work relationships or isolation at work as the main reasons behind reduced productivity.
In contrast, of those who said they were supported by management, 80% said it was because they felt listened to and there were organised policies for listening in their place of work.
Declan Cunningham, coordinator, Ag Eisteacht4Business, said: “Working in transition management for the past 30 years, I have found that the majority of managers and CEOs have good intentions and wish to support their workers, but are often too constrained by time and resources to really listen. When they can listen, it does impact hugely on workplace morale and this survey shows that clearly. Eight out of ten workers who said they do have support from management said it was because they were listened to, or because there were organised communication policies in their workplace.”
The factors causing absenteeism were also examined in the report. Work-related stress, unhappiness at work and troublesome relationships with colleagues and managers were found to be the main reasons for more than a quarter of workers (27%) missing work.
Photo: Travis Isaacs
