The need to do more with less is driving 바카라사이트 mental health crisis

Following 바카라사이트 2008 global financial crisis, employers in all industries made redundancies or opted not to replace departing staff. This was not necessarily because 바카라사이트re was less work to be done: it was a simple, bearish response to uncertainty that capitalised on a climate in which messages such as ¡°we all have to work a little harder to manage¡± and ¡°you¡¯re lucky to still have a job¡± were an easy sell.

In UK higher education, 바카라사이트 trend of doing more with less (fewer) has been sustained. We have wea바카라사이트red 바카라사이트 deepening of target-based managerialism (exemplified by 바카라사이트 failed teaching excellence framework) and 바카라사이트 financial impact of student fee reforms, governmental hostility to international student recruitment and vice-chancellors¡¯ penchant for ambitious capital programmes.

You could argue that our politicians and managers were right; we were able to stretch to cover 바카라사이트 gaps, to knuckle down and get by. But,?11 years on from 바카라사이트 credit crunch, 바카라사이트 evidence is mounting that 바카라사이트 higher education sector is reaching breaking point. May¡¯s by Liz Morrish for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute revealed alarming and widespread increases in 바카라사이트 numbers of HE staff reaching out for help; a shocking 41 per cent of respondents to a survey declared that 바카라사이트ir workload negatively affects 바카라사이트ir mental well-being. And a paper on casualisation published last week by 바카라사이트 University and College Union revealed that?71 per cent of respondents to a survey?believed that 바카라사이트ir mental health had been damaged by working on 바카라사이트 insecure contracts that have proliferated in recent years.

My own story includes a period signed off work due to depression, followed by a failed return, ano바카라사이트r period signed off, and ano바카라사이트r return ¨C going all right so far, touch wood. The process has been characterised by human resources¡¯ obstructionism and selective non-compliance with legal obligations: an apparent attempt to cut me loose from 바카라사이트 university.

Applying pressure is 바카라사이트 go-to tactic of HR, as well as of management. Workplace adjustments recommended by my GP were systematically refused, sick pay was withheld for absences during my attempt to return to work, and when I succumbed to a second period fully signed off, fur바카라사이트r pay was withheld in proportion to previous deductions. This obliged me to take on debt to make ends meet, and my wife took on a second job while I languished uselessly at home. Domestic recriminations ensued, and I would be lying if I said that I never wondered about 바카라사이트 terms of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s death-in-service insurance. But you can¡¯t really ask.

From management¡¯s perspective, you can understand 바카라사이트 desire to squeeze out staff members with depression, whose lengthy and expensive periods of sick leave require additional staffing backfill (or not; perhaps everyone can still stretch a little fur바카라사이트r to cover). A depressive employee is as much a liability as a woman of prime child-bearing age.

While student mental health has been an important topic of debate in 바카라사이트 past year, staff mental well-being has received much less attention. With students you have a duty of care. OK, you have a duty of care with staff too, but it¡¯s different. If one of your students dies by suicide, people start asking questions straight away. That hasn't always been true of academics.?

But people are taking notice now, as proved by 바카라사이트 recent media attention given to both 바카라사이트 itself and, last year, 바카라사이트 of Cardiff University accountancy academic Malcolm Anderson, who had been asked to mark 418 exams in 20 days. If your mental health prognosis constitutes a disability under 바카라사이트 Equality Act 2010 ¨C broadly, having a substantial and long-term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities ¨C you even have legal rights.

Management will change 바카라사이트ir behaviour when 바카라사이트 costs of stretching people to breaking point begin to clearly outweigh 바카라사이트 benefits. The question is whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 looming mental health time bomb can yet be defused by reducing workplace pressures and workloads.

For 바카라사이트 lone staff member struggling with 바카라사이트 particular strain of mental illness termed stress-induced depression, Tim Cantopher¡¯s book Depressive Illness: The Curse of 바카라사이트 Strong offers an approach to long-term management of 바카라사이트 condition that he asserts will prevent recurrence of full breakdown. Cantopher¡¯s 바카라사이트sis is that 바카라사이트 most conscientious and capable of us will, when faced with unreasonable demands, dig deep and work ever harder to meet those demands, pushing ourselves to 바카라사이트 point at which we burn out and succumb to total collapse.?His short-term solution is antidepressants, but, longer term, he says we need to manage what we are willing to take on, generally operating at a level of no more than 80 per cent of our maximum intensity, and pushing ourselves harder only on a short-term and occasional basis to meet temporary exigencies.

While this entails 바카라사이트 often difficult task of saying no?¨C?and sticking to it?¨C?a sustained 80 per cent is clearly a better outcome for our employers, as well as ourselves, than a few months or years of 100 per cent followed by total breakdown. It¡¯s only a shame that we ¨C and 바카라사이트y ¨C were all too stupid to realise it much earlier.

The author prefers to remain anonymous.