An effective wellness program helps
create a healthy balance between one’s
work life and personal life. Part of the trick is to find a good way to balance what
happens on the job with what is going on at
home. The key is to find that balance and
achieve it with minimal disruption, says
Moshe S. Torem, M.D., the chief of integrative
medicine at Akron General Health System.
“Both blue-collar and white-collar workers
must establish boundaries or their work will
pressure them all the time,” says Torem. “In
corporate America today, there is a phenomenon called ‘presenteeism.’ That is when a
worker is ‘present’ at the job but not 100 percent productive. This happens in different
ways at different levels.”
Smart Business spoke with Torem about
presenteeism and how you and your employees can find a good work-life balance.
Why should a company worry about employees off the job, and what are the boundaries
between work and home?
A company wants an employee who is
physically and mentally healthy and able to
focus and concentrate, not one who’s distracted or tired on the job. Presenteeism can
be due to depression, sleep deprivation, anxiety or the aftereffects of excessive drinking
or drug use — even if the employee is not
drunk on the job. Bottom line, if employees’
home lives are negatively affecting their
job performances, employers need to be
concerned.
However, a company must spell out its
expectations and policy beforehand. Any
company has the right to do random drug
tests, and to discipline a worker in violation.
The work-home boundary is not rigid.
Technology has extended the boundaries of
work. Take an IT worker who must be available to answer questions about computer
systems at any hour of the day. A firm has a
right to expect that worker be sober and
alert, even when the worker is off the premises. The same holds for an at-home worker.
The company has the right to set standards
and expectations for them.
Many employees don’t want their jobs to
usurp their personal spaces and consume
their lives. They say what they do after work
hours is their own business — and that’s true, to an extent. But if you are paid to do a
job fully and what you do after work affects
what you do on the job, the business does
have an interest. Why pay 100 percent of
salary to an impaired worker who is only
30 percent productive?
How is the life of today’s executive different
than it was 30 years ago?
Presenteeism is a special case for high-level employees. There are many examples
of executives forced to take a leave of
absence due to burnout. It usually results
from the failure to take time to relax and
unwind. The pressure of the organization
invades every part of the executive’s life and
his or her whole identity is tied up in the
business. Again, technology has erased
some important boundaries. What is good
from a business point of view can be hard on
an executive. Laptop computers, PDAs and
cell phones make it difficult for executives to
find refuge from work. Without protection
from technology that invades your boundaries, you face burnout and impaired productivity. Executives must preserve other
identities — father, mother, coach, etc. — to
maintain inner balance.
How can a company’s wellness program
address these concerns?
First, human resource manuals should
establish clear policies on what is expected
of employees — that workers must be alert,
awake, productive and clear of alcohol or
drugs. There will be less confusion if this is
spelled out in advance with clarity.
Many companies do not allow smoking on
the job. Some don’t want workers smoking
at home, either, since it raises health insurance costs. By spelling out the consequences
beforehand, the company can enforce such
a policy. Perhaps the smoker will have to
foot the cost of higher premiums. Or, the
firm might give free sports tickets to those
who quit smoking. Or, pay nonsmokers’
health insurance costs. The same can be
done for workers who keep their weight
down. In any case, everyone wins — healthy
employees work better and don’t have the
presenteeism problem.
Does a healthy lifestyle start at home?
It starts with the individual at home.
Executives must be in charge of their technologies. Don’t work for your cell phone;
make it work for you. Screen calls. Check
e-mail only at certain times. What’s going to
happen in the one hour you set aside for
your children? You’ll help your kids and
you’ll avoid problems like burnout, mental
exhaustion, insomnia and anxiety. If you are
a slave to gadgets, then it is like the tail is
wagging the dog.
Do workers have an obligation to self-care?
Yes, they do. Unfortunately, some stressed
executives self-medicate, usually with alcohol. It goes back to boundaries. An executive
with a clear division of work and home will
be healthier. Make special time and space for
yourself. Have that dialogue with yourself.
Set boundaries. Don’t be a slave to technology. Create time and space to express the
other aspects of your life.
MOSHE S. TOREM, M.D., is the chief of integrative medicine at Akron General Health System. Reach him at (330) 665-8209 or
[email protected].
