It has been reported by CAM Solutions (Corporate Absenteeism Management Solutions) that sick leave costs the country R19 billion each year. Apparently, about three-and-a-half percent of all sick leave is for stress or anxiety-related conditions and this means that the cost of this reason for absence is about R650 million. I suspect it is higher because people generally are reluctant to admit to stress-related difficulties and medical certificates nowadays do not always specify a medical reason for absence. Unfortunately – I use this word in recognition of those who are genuine victims of stress – it is also one of those maladies that can be claimed in the knowledge that there is no way of proving that it doesn’t exist. This is rather like a pupil I remember who claimed to be suffering from ME. His mother was adamant, too, that this was the case and she was always very quick to justify his absence from school. The curious thing about this case, however, was that the ME was a factor in his life from Monday to Friday only and never seemed to disrupt his weekend leisure and social activities.

Exactly what is it about modern life, I wonder, that has made stress such a factor. I can’t imagine any of my contemporaries thirty years ago staying away from work because of stress. Admittedly, this reason for absence would not have been condoned, but its victim would hardly have admitted to it anyway. It is fortunate that we live in more enlightened times when it is only the very foolish who continue to disparage those who suffer panic disorder, anxiety or depression, or even plain stress.

In a discussion programme on the radio, I heard someone attributing stress to the management style of employers. In some cases, this is perfectly true, I’m sure, but to believe that it is this, and this alone, that brings on stress is plainly unsupportable. Sometimes it is the weight of responsibility, sometimes the pressure exacted by targets and sometimes by the inter-personal tensions which characterize many workplaces. Here, these tensions are often heightened by affirmative appointments and cultural differences. The other day I met a man who has given lengthy service to an organization. During the course of his work, he has built up an impressive quantity of experience and know-how. He was overlooked in the appointment of a senior manager, however, when a black woman who had neither the background in the sector nor the qualification of experience was given the position. Although he gave his new boss full support in what he said in her favour, this fellow exhibited all the signs of unhappiness and had already submitted his resignation, pre-empting I suggest, the discomfort of having to work for someone who is way short of the experience and knowledge that is required in this consultancy business.

I remember well the stress I witnessed among the staff when we admitted black children to Alexandra High School. Seasoned teachers floundered in a new-found lack of personal confidence. They were tense times for many people. As I look back to the nineties, I realize that I lacked insightful leadership. I reasoned that if people were thrown together, they would resolve their cultural tensions by simple human nature. Laissez faire, I believed, would take care of it. But it didn’t and I realize now that what was called for was a concerted programme to help people deal with the cultural diversity.

An employer who stands to lose so much from absenteeism should surely embrace an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to try and limit the amount of illness and stress.

Andrew Layman: PCB CEO

This article appeared in the Public Eye on the 31 July 2008