Prof. Sharon Tucker, not every day you come across a researcher who is also an illustrator. Borrowed from the Wizard of Oz, you have previously told about your own private yellow stone path - from a stress study you focus on, to a stress illustration. Tell us a little about this combination.
"The subject of stress has always interested me, and you could say that I have always been attracted to the 'dark sides': positive emotions are nice, but also as a creator they produce less impressive works of art. As for illustration, as a child I was fascinated to be an illustrator '' To one. Throughout my years at the academy, illustration was a refuge for me, and from there it developed. Today I illustrate a scientific journal in the faculty and I have also illustrated a scientific journal abroad.
As a researcher trying to pass on academic knowledge to others - I learned that through visuals magic can be done.
For me, it completes my work and is not contrary to it. "
Naturally you are also involved in erosion. Do such combinations, illustration and academia for example, prevent long-term erosion?
"Even as an erosion researcher, I myself experience erosion. It happens to almost everyone. But I think every person needs some sort of escape from everyday life, and for me illustration allows it. It does not prevent erosion but it eases the situation when eroded."
Hiding the experience makes treatment difficult.
"Is pressure contagious?", Photo: Illustration: Prof. Sharon Tucker
How will managers recognize that their employees have been eroded, how will employees recognize this about themselves?
"Many times people tend to hide their experience from others, so it is not always simple. A worn out person will experience a combination of physical, cognitive and emotional exhaustion. He will feel lacking in energy, have difficulty thinking clearly and will not be sympathetic to others. Components, and managers need to know how to look for them: stressors - such as workloads, low control, job insecurity, abuse and more; and employment characteristics - such as interpersonal relationships, organizational structure and organizational and environmental changes.
"So when a manager wants to detect burnout in an employee, who will not only look at the blindfold, but at a decrease in his levels of sympathy, fatigue, absences and also cynicism and aggression. For example, an employee shouting at people or writing emails full of exclamation points ".
In your opinion, an employee will experience stress when he feels threatened by his resources.
"True, about the significant things in his life. Workload and long hours have no meaning, unless I pay a price for them - not to see the children, not to get to the test or to avoid sports. When an employee is exposed to stressors that are perceived as threatening, As mentioned, it will become an erosion. "
High-tech lags behind
And the ultimate way to express burnout is to leave, of course.
"This is an epidemic in itself during the corona period, and beyond that - it is the most normal, sane, predictable and sensible product as a result of repeated exposure to stressors for two whole years.
Prof. Sharon Tucker, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
What to do?
"There are no magic solutions here, you have to understand what the employees are experiencing, and try to treat accordingly. It is important to know that managers experience burnout and pressure at a much higher intensity - they treat others and themselves, are exposed to organizational information about their problems."
How do experienced and successful managers still adapt to dealing with frequent and intense stress?
"There are things to do: those who are in better shape - respond better to stress. Sleep is critical, certainly during busy periods. Another important thing is not to settle for an alarm clock - but also to turn on an anesthesia clock - a warning that reminds us to get ready for sleep. "This is especially relevant for people who work from home, and the users of this function have bought them precious hours of sleep, which of course help them cope better with stress."
Towards the end of the fifth wave - what is the situation of the workers in Israel? Are they worn and morale-free or fresh and motivated?
"These two years have given us a long exposure to stressors, which deplete mental and physical resources, so I recognize high levels of burnout. "We are not built for uncertainty; since birth the human brain has been looking for patterns. Nothing has prepared most of us for the corona period. After a period of relative certainty that has suddenly disappeared, we are moving from variant to variant, and it's hard to hold on to."
So attrition and stress are not necessarily a function of workload, but of an insufficient level of certainty and meaning. As organizations create more clarity and meaning among their employees - will the levels of stress and burnout decrease?
"Or at least they will not come up. As for the meaning you mentioned, to some extent there is a cynical look at the issue. Greater in employee retention. This is something we do not see in high-tech, which suffers from employee migration between companies based on financial benefits, office design and other social conditions. In high-tech. "
Is the high-tech mentality one that could cause the bubble to burst sooner than we thought?
"I think so, because workers will not stay in the organization enough to generate value. Similar to apartment prices - they will continue to climb, but at some point most of the population will not be able to buy the apartments, just as most organizations will not be able to pay these salaries."
Are things different in organizations like Apple, Amazon or Google? Were they able to reduce stress and burnout levels?
"These companies are trying to study the issue because they are also failing. The economic press covering what is happening there reports that the problems in these companies are similar to those in other companies. A recent example is the big move from Microsoft to Apple, which offers high salaries. One reason, for example, is That Microsoft employees have identified a low probability for a large virtual reality project that was to be launched with the U.S. military.
Employees see that the project has no feasibility, and this hurts their sense of meaning.
So migration exists, jobs have become another stop.
Gone are the days when people worked for 40 years in a certain place and received a gold watch in retirement. "
Are organizations and countries at all aware of this issue? They put it at the top of their eyes?
"Definitely. An interesting evidence of this is that within the framework of ISO standards, the series of international quality standards, a standard of psychological health has recently been added in Europe. It is quite amazing, and at some point it is expected to enter Israel as well. Legitimate standard - it will have to provide its employees, in addition to financial security, also social support, a favorable environment, recognition, rewarding employee achievements, creating meaning, opportunity to develop and a sense of fairness - things that do not exist in many workplaces. For example, there can be no ambiguity with the employee as well as unreasonable demands from him. "
Boss, manager, friend
The recent period has made us feel deprived in the hallway conversations, in the friendships that are formed within the walls of the organization. Do you recognize that organizations in which professional-personal friendships are formed are stronger and stronger financially and psychologically?
"Yes, the issue of social support is critical, and has a life-saving effect. In a 20-year study, with several researchers, including Prof. Ran Blitzer, we showed that Israeli workers with social support in the workplace have a reduced risk of death. In another study, in collaboration with Israeli doctors , We showed that people who reported fear of terrorism during the second intifada developed more insomnia and burnout at work, but among those who received social support - the deterioration in sleep and burnout stopped.
"Many times the connections in the workplace are more significant than the home connections, certainly in terms of the proportion of hours they occupy during the day. People often avoid leaving the workplace because of a social mix. On the other hand, an economically rewarding but negative workplace may experience more departures."
These things are relevant to the issue of abuse at work.
"This is an interesting topic. Abuse at work has many definitions, and a bill initiated by Merav Michaeli, among others, defines for the first time what abuse at work is. Aimed at another person's personal needs; an atmosphere of fear and threats. There is an interesting section there that relates to 'attributing a person's work, achievements and successes to another person, or attributing to a person failures that are not his.' "The work is facing serious upheavals: a bill that addresses proper working conditions, a standard that addresses the psychological side of work, the location of work and more."
Learn from Iceland
Amdocs recently announced that its employees will be able to take an unlimited number of vacation days. Is this a step that is expected to increase productivity?
"It's still unclear. This is a fairly new model, and it's certainly creative. The question is what's going on in the field, especially in cases where an employee took advantage of the days off and returned to a calm and tanned office, while his manager worked harder and might even get him into a crooked face. "Well on the next vacation. The question is always what happens between employee A and manager B. That's where the significant interactions take place."
Amdocs.
High-tech companies continue to succeed and by and large,
Amdocs offices in Raanana, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
So what's really going on between employee A and manager B in this area? To what extent do organizations subconsciously tend to produce an organizational culture whereby vacation is something that has a particular flaw?
"It happens a lot and this is one of the problems. The question is whether they implement what they preach. I also research organizational cynicism - that is, cynicism towards the organization, and one of its significant manifestations is that the employee does not believe in the organization. Distrust is created.Example from above is an important thing.
"When you are hurt during work hours, or alternatively make faces on vacations, there is a sense of threat to resources, to what is important to the employee, and this leads to bookkeeping. One beyond unpaid time. "
Regarding the vacation days, is Israel ready to move to a week of four working days?
"A good question, and also a problematic one. In this matter there is a differentiation between white collar and blue collar. After all, in the case of shortening, the sector responsible for providing services - transportation, shops - will also work some days off. At the level of principle it sounds dreamy, but I do not see how the economy will adapt to it.
"In Iceland there was such a successful experiment, but the population and character there are different. I believe that for a start you can start combining more work from home and not insist on returning to the office. A realistic option is to strive for a shorter and more flexible work week. "Complete tasks, with leisure options. This will be a worthy start to what could eventually lead, perhaps, to a truly shortened work week."
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