Work-related stress is rife among workers in the marketing sector but it is also one of the last taboos, with most employees unwilling to tell their boss for fear of being seen as weak.
That is one of the worrying conclusion of a new report carried out by independent job site CV-Library, to coincide with ‘National Work Life Week’.
The study, which surveyed 1,200 UK workers, found that over half (57.7%) believe that stress is an issue in their workplace, yet a further 55% believe that their employer looks down on workers who get stressed.
It also found that 61.9% of marketers believe that their manager offers no support to help them manage stress at work.
According to the research, bad management is one of the biggest causes of stress in the marketing sector (47.6%), alongside heavy workloads (57.1%), poor work/life balance (38.1%), difficult clients/customers (28.6%), ack or recognition (25.7%) and long hours (23.8%)
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, comments: “Our findings reveal the true extent of workplace stress across the marketing sector and the impact that poor management has on workers’ wellbeing. Across the sector, workers are battling with heavier workloads and longer working hours and this is resulting in a poor work/life balance for many. While it can be difficult to take a step back and switch-off from work, especially with an increasing amount of technology at our fingertips, creating a balance between our professional and personal lives is important.
“For employers across the industry, high stress levels not only impact overall productivity, but can also place organisations in a compromising position, as workers under a great amount of strain are more likely to turn on their heels and look for a better working environment elsewhere. This makes it more important than ever for employers to take on the responsibility for keeping their staff happy and productive in the workplace, acknowledging hard work and helping to alleviate some of the pressures that their employees are facing.”
Worse still, an overwhelming 90.5% of workers in the sector think that being susceptible to stress at work can have an impact on career progression, with 42.9% believing that this was because being stressed negatively affects your work performance.
A further 28.6% said that stress can make employees burn out, causing them to take time away from work, while 23.8% think that employees should be able to handle some stress within their daily working lives.
Biggins continued: “The mentality that everyone should be able to handle stress promotes all the wrong messages to workers in the sector, especially those that are looking to climb the career ladder. Employees across the marketing industry should be able to progress in their career without being put under too much pressure, and ultimately, staff who are less stressed will perform better at work.
“I would encourage all organisations in the sector to remain supportive of workers and pay closer attention to signs of stress in the workplace. This will help them to not only retain staff, but also attract new talent going forward.”
