Member Article

Office grievances that can ruin your work environment

Offices are our most widespread man made ecosystem. As in nature, they exist in a delicate state of balance - between personalities, anxieties, bad days and success stories. It’s often the role of the HR manager to be the proactive protector of this ecosystem - cutting through the tangled vines of office discontent to make sure everyone and everything is working in harmony.

But anticipating and avoiding the day-to-day grievances of the workplace can be a significant challenge, and so it’s important to identify the problems that could ruin the work ecosystem.

According to a UK workplace survey from totaljobs.com, these are the top 4 common grievances that can cause the most damage, discord and general unhappiness in the workplace

1. Not Having A Work/Life Balance

Across every sector and level of role, finding a work/life balance is the UK’s greatest workplace challenge. A remarkable 50% of the surveyed workforce has struggled with managing their time effectively to find that ideal place between work and relaxation.

One of the most important responsibilities of a HR position is to measure the needs of the individual against the needs of the company and its clients. Keeping everyone happy may seem impossible, but being sympathetic to the external demands on an employee’s time, by offering flexibility whenever feasible can be both motivational and mutually beneficial.

2. Inter-Office Relationships

Whether it’s an ending of relationship between colleagues, or a bitter, year-long feud with Stuart in the accounts department, navigating the pitfalls of inter-office relationships featured highly on the list of workplace woes. Over a quarter of respondents found a relationship with a co-worker to be a significant barrier to their happiness at work.

Taking a hands-on approach to this issue can lead to mixed results, but promoting conversation to prevent resentments and tensions from going unresolved, is at the core of how HR managers can keep teams together.

3. Office Temperature

Picture the scene, it’s a beautiful summer day outside, but in the office there are deadlines to meet and goals to hit. Tempers can get frayed in the most tranquil offices at the best of times, so if your work environment is suffering through an unnecessary heat wave at the same time, both people and productivity will suffer.

A significant 26% of workers have struggled with the temperature in their office - whether it’s like a melting pot or a year-round arctic breeze due to an over-zealous air con.

It’s a common misconception that HR solutions have to revolve around complex processes of discussion and review, but sometimes just tweaking the thermostat up or down a notch can keep your team happy.

4. Favouritism / Others Being Promoted

The day-to-day cycle of ‘the rat race’ can seem futile if progress and development within the job and the company generally isn’t being achieved.

This frustration can take on a particularly poisonous edge if a member of your team sees a colleague rewarded, praised or promoted, as they see it, ‘above their station’. And this is a widespread problem - 38% of respondents considered favouritism to be a genuine stumbling block on the road to their potential and promotion.

Being aware of the decisions made by managers, as well as the ambitions of their team members, is obviously important to building a cohesive workplace. But whilst it is valuable to accommodate the aims of a talented, aspirational individual, it should never be at the cost of the efficiency and happiness of the whole team. HR can have a big impact in the workplace by keeping things fair, ensuring transparency at every level.

As you can see, these are big issues for workers. But reading and observing them in your work environment is one thing, but making those crucial changes can be a whole different ball game.

Have you encountered any of these office challenges? And how has your workplace attempted to resolve them? Let us know in the comments box below!

Thomas Watson is a Senior content manager at totaljobs.com, helping create articles, interactive content and videos for both b2b and b2c audiences. An experienced editor (both in print and online), Thomas has covered everything from web design to education, student life to recruitment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Business Geek .