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Infographic: The tell-tale signs of an overworked employee

Surpised this ranked so low. "Use 'em up and spit 'em out" seems to be the new norm. After all, there's a couple hundred unemployed workers to replace anyone who complains. No one would dare just quit, so companies can lay it on as thick as they want to.

I agree with parent, disagree with you. But congratulations for finding a better situation and kudos to your employer for doing it right.

...and should never be expected to express an honest assessment

I would not assume that your experience with your company is like that of everyone on this board. While you might be blessed with a company that has high expectations but rewards hard work with loyalty, there are many people who are not so blessed.

... because regular replacement of worn out employees is essential for the bottom line.

I love the way management training methods are so child-like, it seems to border the line between work and play, adult and infant. Do management personnel really require training with the use of cartoons, silly buzz-words, colourful pens, sweets (candy to our cousins) and desk toys?
Yeah, desk toys. I set-up a meeting room with a management training company and on the table were stress-balls, Legos, sweets, crayons and sketch-pads. To me, that's a cr??che.

"Going forward", why don't we look back at the successes businesses had with serious, mature strategies and start behaving like adults again? How long will Google survive with this attitude? Even Peter Pan grew-up in the end...

Although I think that the scenario you described may have been overkill...
It has been proven that people in general recall Images better than text. The simpler the better. Simple 'cartoons', colourful flow charts and diagrams are more likely to be retained in the targets memory for a longer period of time than bland, text-filled pages of information. Even in the boardroom, you use 'visual aids' along with presentations. Graphs, pie-charts ect. They also usually contain colour.
While 'behaving like adults' and having 'serious, mature strategies' may have worked in the past, it is exactly that. The PAST. In the world we live in today, youth is something that is both fleeting and prolonged in all the wrong ways. Children grow up bombarded by information and all manner of stimuli on a constant basis. Their attention is constantly divided and as a whole the current generation have almost lost the ability to think and work in linear patterns. And with the advancements in AV technology they have also lost a great deal of their imagination. They would rather watch a movie where all the infomation is handed to them, than read a book where it is up to them to 'create' the image in their minds. When designing things like this particular poster, the design team have to take this into account. They need to create a image-based chart that will capture the attention of the target while still prividing the information and getting their point across. Cartoons are the easiest way to do that.

...more like 'hoping', that you and 'Cory' above have absolutely no management responsibilities over people whatsoever...

I'm not a manager but do have charges under my influence. It seems I just have a more old-fashioned approach to training.

What I don't get is why, when I go to Microsoft training and the likes, I'm faced with raw input, lectures and monochrome stimuli. I'm then expected to take it all in and apply my newfound knowledge aptly, yet managers are encouraged (bribed with candy) to attend play-school because it's a "better" way to keep their attention and attendance.

If the case is that these measures are required to focus the attentions or our superiors, it begs the question; "Should an adult who needs to be trained like a child be my manager?"
Or if it's a better way to train across the board, why aren't all vocations taught in the same manner already?

They are intended to make it easier to understand, organize and recall information. It is not always a better way to absorb information. But when it is, why would anyone intentionally make it more difficult and less efficient?

Why aren't all vocations taught in the same manner?
My guess would be that creating these presentations costs more and aren't practical for large amounts or less crucial pieces of information.

Lotta graduates aren't about to have anyone call the comic books they were given in primary, college, and their workplace what they are (and what they say about their readers' attention-spans)! After all, that's how you got your aptly-named 'B.S.', isn't it?! You deserve the world you're inheriting, kids. ("D'oh!").
P.S. You wouldn't want me as your manager, info@; I've always done (and expected) actual work on work-time. I'm betting(!) you're more the 'shop steward' type than the focused, alert worker type....(see, I'm a sole proprietor; not a 'manager' per se. You aren't going to read the funnies on company time at MY joint!).

...it's aimed at management, the "intelligent, hard-working, highly educated and most perceptive, the best and the brightest among us".

and my poorly-recieved comment(s) above were in direct response to Daena2401's post about why cartoon-based presentations work 'at work'. I didn't read any stipulation there as to managers or employees (but I knew that people who need comic-strip visual aids to grasp a number, a demographic, or an idea would react as they did to having their general lack of attention---and how it's engaged---pointed out)!

Let's go back to the good ol' days where our offices included sidebars with crystal decanters for our afternoon highballs.

a terminal, a wall full of policy updates and post-its, and a bugged telephone

oh yeah, chair that the secretary threw out ten years ago

The Art of Living Foundation is working in more than 157 countries and teaching the Art of Breathing to handle stress. The techniques and tools taught in the Art of Living Sessions have changed many lives. Based out of Bengaluru, India the vision of this foundation is to see Stress free and a violence free society. I would suggest all working people to contact their nearest center and breathe free from all the stress. I too am an IT employee and this is not an advertisement it is really a way to change your life for a better tomorrow. Live Stress Free. Many corporates have seen thei employee satisfaction index grow in leaps and bounds and this has resulted in greater productivity. (www.artofliving.org)

Toni, Great article I love the info-graphic.

From what I can see that chart pretty much covers everyone...

Lets face it WORK is stressful, LIFE is stressful, we are all going to suffer from it in some form or fashion during our working lives and to be perfectly honest, seeing a chart like this just makes people look at it, and convince themselves they must be S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D.

Mark my words. You will see more employees replying to this post than employers. I am one of these people. I realized it now because, i have just become to myself lately, as the work packed on, priorities of work changed and ending up doing 5 things at onces, i have now become to myself and just adopted a "Yes Boss i will do it" attitude, i just dont care anymore if other work has not been finished.
I am just waiting for the time it all blows up so i can say, hey i was just doing as i was told. Sorry that all 5 projects arent completed because a person cant do two things at once. I think employers fail to realize giving people more work before the first project has not been completed will just set the employee for failure.

I'm surprised fear of being laid off was so low also. I work in an environment where a majority of the employees are consultants and the as more permanent employees retire they are being replaced with consultants there is no plan to hire any more permanent employees.

isn't very popular in this discussion. (Quick show of hands-----how many had the time ---at work---to read this article and down-vote comments that suggested people do what they're paid for on 'company time'?!)....Right; I thought so.

And when I was at work 6 days a week, 10, 12, 14, 15 hour days, I was working -- not finding online entertainment.

But then people say, "your old" (forbid that they should write "you're old"), indicating that their expectations is that people play at work instead of working, particularly if they are in IT. (That has always been true with IT Management -- we caught the Development Manager making online trades during work... and we're not sure what the other manager, his wife was doing).

I know it's from an old Rock 'n Roll song, but it is still true. "There are none so blind as those who will not see!" Dropping like flies around here, so just replace with multiple offshore workers, who stay for a while then move on. Building resume is only ambition that is recognized and encouraged. D..n you, if you just want to do a good job.

Now that I am unemployed, I would gladly trade places with anyone who is "stressed" at work. Try dealing with looking for a job and support a family, and then see how stressed you get. It is certainly not video games and chore time.
The problem with this article is that it assumes stress is a bad thing. While it can be bad, stress does help us grow, and motivates us. We are responsible for our own stress, and if we are stressed, is it because our wants are different than upper managements? Could the paradigms just be different, and they see a more complete picture? I think workers today have a LOT more rights than years ago. I am sure that women would take the stress over being stuck in "women only" roles. If you want easy, then get a job that you don't have to think, like an assembly line. Otherwise, figure out the stress if it is too much and deal with it.

Nothing would stress me out worse than being out of work and still having a family to support. I do have the benefit of having a manager who actually believes in maintaining a good work-life balance and watches out for us, but we're still expected to nail our performance targets and more, but because she's got her priorities in good nick, we CAN do that.

I should have added "the unemployed" to my brief list of people under stress. Sorry. My oversight. I've been there. It doesn't get better, but it is survivable. Good luck. (P.S., remarkably the mundane jobs can be the most stressful.)

We all know our employees are stressed. What we would like to know is how do we fix it without losing productivity?

Some involve time on the part of management, so is hard to get, especially from management that think that a stressed and fearful employee is a productive, motivated employee. Communicate with them how you think they're doing a good job, and that they're valued. Show their current work level is doing well, and you hope they'll keep up the effort. Avoid adding new responsibilities to them, as this will increase their stress, despite making most think they're feeling better. Also, communicate on where you think they're falling down! To me, the 'Sword of Damocles' is constantly dangling over my head because our managers will smile, pat you on the shoulder, tell you what a good job you're doing and keep involving you in ongoing projects...right up until the moment they say, "You're not working out. There's the door." How do you KNOW where you stand if noone is pointing out what you could be improving on?

Unfortunately, the rest require money, which is even HARDER to get and maintain... Like actively engaging an employee on how they can engage outside consultants or temp agencies to lighten their workload by performing planning or menial tasks? Of course, this is harder in IT because the time needed to make sure the job is done right might as well be time lost over the short term. The other would be hiring an additional employee to lighten the burden. Again of course, this introduces NEW stresses because the employee will think he's being primed for being replaced, and the new hire will start vying for favour and position over the established employee...

Our IT shop bought a ping pong table. We're all overworked, under-staffed, and not really seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The tasks we do are good and rewarding work - it just too much of it. When things get overwhelming a 10-minute game of ping pong actually feels pretty good. Then back to reality with a bit of a fresh mind.

Many moons ago I read an article that was titled something like "You have to catch fire before you can burn out." I don't recall the journal (maybe from SHRM) or the author. I think of stress as the folks who are being shot at in Afghanistan, or the amazing geniuses responsible for launching the space shuttle, or those people who wash those really high windows on really high buildings...on the outside. I do not disagree that some believe we're under this tremendous stress at work; I simply think we could maybe use a nap, a cookie and some additional perspective.

Yes, I work for a POS company who has taken it upon themselves to ignore their employees and take the "disposable employment" model....

Needless to say, I'm looking for another job. I didn't work in IT for 22 years to be treated worse than the janitorial staff...

Looking for another job is the best way to deal with a POS company. Good luck to you!

what is wrong with the janitorial staff?

My job used to be fun and I loved it, until incompetent management took over and wrecked it for everybody.

I put up a sign in the office:

It is impossible to be competent in a dysfunctional enivronment.

The stress went out of sight. My psychiatrist gave me 7 weeks off (with paid leave). My doctor has been afraid I have PTSD. I wasn't the only one. Sick leave for others increased. One guy they hired came, worked 6 days and then quit saying, "You guys are crazy". There have been lawsuits....

That all changed when they RIFfed me. Best thing really: Healthier and happier, retired, lost weight, better living conditions. I still get up early, but not to solve problems caused by carelessness -- My cat wants to be fed. We commune for awhile. It's all good.

Bad management.

Dysfunctional workplaces.

Cause and effect.