From cancelling dinner plans with friends thanks to a looming deadline to not being able to attend your child’s school play because a client meeting can’t be moved, most of us have been forced to put our personal lives on the back burner and prioritise professional responsibilities at one point or another.
And while you might think missing the odd life event or social occasion is no biggie, it turns out putting work first is making UK workers miserable and impacting on their relationships.
That’s according to the 2023 HP Work Relationship Index, which surveyed 15,624 workers across twelve countries including the UK, the US, France, India, Germany and Spain.
It uncovered that 65 per cent of UK workers say their physical health has deteriorated because of an unhealthy relationship with work and 57 per cent admitted that their mental health had been impacted.
Furthermore, 45 per cent of those who are unhappy shared that a lack of work-life balance has taken its toll on their personal relationships.
The report also stipulated that the workers surveyed would be willing to take a pay cut to work somewhere that serves their personal needs.
With so many workers eschewing their mental health and wellbeing to appear committed to the job, can these stark statistics ever be rectified?
From an employer’s perspective, a grind culture within the workplace which rewards overtime and no clear boundaries between working hours and non-working hours, doesn’t pay.
In fact, workers who have an unhealthy relationship with work have been found to be less productive, less engaged and on the precipice of leaving their jobs entirely.
For employees, a good place to start is asking your manager for a meeting whereby you outline your main issues and offer a reasonable plan of action that will allow you to get the job done and meet targets, while also having boundaries in place so you have a more clear divide between your work life and home life.
However, sometimes it’s impossible to override toxic workplace culture and the toxic resilience—when employees demote their personal needs to second place for the sake of the business—that accompanies it.
If that is the case, a fresh start could be the solution, and whatever stage of the job hunt you’re at, The London Economic Job Board is the ideal place to focus your search.
It features thousands of jobs in companies that are currently hiring, including the three below.
Goldman Sachs takes a holistic approach to employee wellbeing and its initiatives including the training of staff in its London office to become “Mental Health First Aiders”, a qualification from Mental Health First Aid England, to provide information and confidential support to team members who are experiencing mental health conditions or are concerned about the mental health of others. This Vice President role, which sits within the Capital Risk team, will involve you monitoring, analysing, interpreting and challenging the firm’s regulatory capital requirements and capital management processes and working closely with stakeholders across the firm. View additional details here.
In 2021, Aviva gave each of its 16,000 UK employees an extra day off, specifically to help with their wellbeing. Speaking about the company’s decision to implement this benefit, Danny Harmer, Aviva’s Chief People Officer, said: “When our people are at their best, our business is at its best for our customers. Rest is an important part of wellbeing and it’s vital that organisations create space for people to recharge their batteries wherever possible.” The company is currently hiring an Investment Strategist to produce multi-asset research and contribute to the formulation of capital market assumptions. A large part of the role requires solving problems on an ongoing basis by using existing knowledge and incorporating the latest market research. Interested? See the full job description here.
BNP Paribas is one of 61 organisations that took part in Mind’s seventh annual Workplace Wellness Index and was recognised with a Silver Award for its achievements in promoting staff mental health in the workplace. For those at the start of their careers, the company is recruiting for a Valuation Apprentice opportunity which will result in becoming a chartered surveyor with the RICS. You’ll join the London Commercial Valuation team and if you do not have a degree, you will be enrolled onto the Level 6 RICS Surveyor Apprenticeship, which takes approximately five years to complete. However, if you do have a degree, you will be enrolled onto the Level 7 RICS Surveyor Apprenticeship, which takes approximately two and a half years to complete. Find out more here.
Find your dream role today via The London Economic Job Board
