Reference no: EM132939095

Employee Health and Wellness at Africa News

In recent years competition facing Africa News, a publishing company, has been increasing and has impacted negatively on sales and profits. Against this background, senior management have been actively seeking to cut costs and increase efficiency. In the case of the editorial department, a key action taken to increase efficiency has been the purchase of an 'off-the-shelf ' and more up-to-date computer system to store and transfer news stories. Meanwhile, in the production department the way in which its various activities are carried out has been changed. This change has entailed a move away from the previously existing system whereby individual staff were mainly responsible for carrying out all of the activities in relation to particular products to one where they specialise in just one of the department's central tasks - namely, subediting, typesetting or proofreading - a change that has further involved staff working, in a much less intensive way, with a much larger number of editors. These changes were introduced without any real consultation with staff. They were also introduced in a way which sought to minimise the costs associated with making them. In particular, no adjustments were made to the office furniture of journalists to take account of the larger nature of the new desktop screens that they were now required to use and the implications that this had for the positioning of keyboards and work surface space. Nor was any action taken to develop and circulate detailed operational procedures relating to how production staff were to interface with each other, as well as with magazine editors, while carrying out their new 'sequential' system of working. In the year that has passed since the changes, significant rises in sickness absence and staff turnover have occurred. Much of these increases have, in turn, been found to be attributable to marked increases in the number of staff from both departments reporting stress-related problems and, in the case of the editorial department, an increase also in musculo-skeletal disorders affecting the lower back, arms, wrists, neck and shoulders. Furthermore, there are signs that the number reporting these conditions is increasing as a consequence of the higher workloads that the staff are bearing because of the increased level of sickness absence. More generally, there are clear signs that staff morale and job satisfaction has been declining. Amongst journalists, an important factor underlying this decline has been the frustration caused by the new computer system's lack of suitability for use in respect of lengthy features, as opposed to short news items. As regards production staff, the chief factors at work would seem to be the way in which their work has become more repetitive and more vulnerable to disruption because of breakdowns in the flow of work in the new sequential method of working, and a perceived reduction in 'work quality' as a result of being far less able to identify with particular products and build up close working relationships with individual editors. The upshot of all of this is that the changes made have neither led to the desired reductions in operational costs nor served to increase efficiency. Indeed, costs have actually risen because of the need to recruit and train more new staff as a result of the higher level of turnover, and to pay for more overtime working and to employ temporary staff to cover those on sick leave. These increased costs, moreover, exist alongside a growing concern amongst management that sooner or later they are likely to face legal actions from staff for the damage to health that they have suffered. Indeed, management have heard grumblings from some staff, who are suffering from musculoskeletal disorders, that they are tempted to report Africa News to the Department of Employment and Labour for non-compliance with South Africa's Occupational Health and Safety Act. [Adapted from: Muller-Carmen, M., Croucher, R., Leigh, S.R. (2008) Human Resource Management: A Case Study Approach. CIPD: Kogan Page.]

Question

Discuss the causes of stress at Africa News, as well as the impact of stress on both Africa News' employees and the organisation as a whole.