When work becomes criminal
Submitted by Mike.
on 2010-04-07 02:27 PM.
“When work becomes criminal” was the headline Mark Borchers and Megan Euston-Brown chose to highlight the human cost of work.
If the purpose of work is to contribute generously to happiness then we are not only lacking or failing hopelessly but our failure is criminal!
Apparently economist E.F. Schumacher said: “To organise work in such a manner that it becomes meaningless, boring, stultifying or nerve-racking for the worker would be little short of criminal; it would indicate a greater concern with goods than with people.”
The authors say the consequences are “a rising trend of stress, ill-health, lower life satisfaction, substance abuse, relationship and community breakdown and, of particular concern, juvenile delinquency and violence as parenting breaks down.
In the South African mining industry a death caused in the course of work requires that the work place be closed for at least a day for a full “post mortem.” Imagine closing a branch of a bank or financial institution, a business, a municipal or state office or a school each time an employee succumbed to a heart attack or cancer caused by work related stress!
Yet what is the difference in our culpability as employers or managers?
