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Workplace Gender Issues Linked to Health Risks
"WILMINGTON, Del. -- One in three Americans may be making themselves sick just by going to work each day. Results from a study commissioned by LLuminari show that differences in the way men and women are managed -- fueled by the differences in what they value most at work -- puts both genders at risk for cardiovascular problems, depression and a higher susceptibility to infectious diseases.Gender-based differences in workplace values can create a company culture of underlying stress and conflict that affects the physical and emotional health of both men and women, the study found. The study also shows that females are at a higher health risk from workplace stress than males.Elizabeth Browning, chief executive officer of LLuminari, says the findings are significant because they link gender-based medicine with a healthy workplace. "All companies are looking for solutions to reduce healthcare costs," she notes. "The answer isn't just about gyms and healthier choices in the cafeterias. The study shows that a complete solution must include addressing corporate workplace culture and its link to a healthy work force."Top Three Gender Based Values at Work"Men and women emphasized entirely different values as important in the workplace," says Marianne Legato, M.D., founder and director of the Partnership for Gender-Based Medicine, Columbia University and one of the study's lead advisers.The study, she adds, reveals the three values in the workplace most important to men are pay and benefits, achievement and success, and status and authority. While these values also are important to women, ranking higher in importance were friends at work and relationships, recognition and respect, and communication and collaboration."Women emphasized the congeniality of coworkers and the friendliness and relationships that surrounded them," Legato says. "Men emphasized how much they were making and how much control or power they had over what they were doing.""Organizations that seek to understand their own workplace cultures and recognize that women and men are fundamentally different in ways that impact their health, will have a distinct advantage." Browning says. "Male and female managers who are sensitive to gender differences will have the ability to bring out the best of both genders toward achieving results. The health of the organization depends on the health of the individual. Since women now represent half of the workforce, we need to understand how corporate cultures that have evolved largely based on male models can become healthy for both genders.""It's important that managers understand what men value as opposed to what women value in a healthy workplace environment," says P. Michael Peterson, professor of health promotion at the University of Delaware who conducted the study. "Knowing and managing the differences helps to not only effectively motivate employees and generate consistent, quality results, but also to foster loyalty and overall physical and emotional health."Unmanaged Gender Differences Create Health RisksDisconnection between these gender-based values that creates on-the-job stress which can lead to subsequent health issues for employees. "The incidence of cardiovascular disease almost doubles, as does the use of potentially addictive substances like alcohol, tranquilizers and mood elevators, if an employee is uncomfortable or not really at ease in a workplace and if he or she feels stressed in a workplace," Legato says.Corporate culture -- the values, beliefs, and attitudes that drive the behaviors, systems and structures of the organization -- have a major impact on organizational health and the quality of work life for employees. Workers feel stressed when their values are not addressed by the culture of the organization. "The study reveals that 62% of respondents don't think employers try to minimize stress and half felt their employer didn't care about their well being," Petersen says. "In addition, the study indicated that women reported nearly 40% more health problems than their male counterparts and noticeably higher stress."Additional study findings include:20% of respondents said that work regularly interfered with responsibilities at home and kept them from spending time with their families.54% of respondents said they "often to always" come home from work in a state of fatigue and almost 50% come into work already in a state of fatigue.40% of respondents said they experienced distress due to too much pressure or mental fatigue at work.Almost 50% of respondents do not take their allotted vacation time."Lack of communication and lack of decision-making authority, along with effort-reward imbalances were significant problems mentioned by survey respondents," Petersen says. "The conditions of fatigue and stress noted in the study are fueled in part by the differences in how men and women manage people."According to Peterson, the top five work related causes of stress and ill health identified by respondents in the study are mentally tiring work, time pressure, too many changes within the job, not getting enough feedback and not having enough influence on their job and how it is done.Conclusions made from the study include:Men and women value similar things at work but in a very different order of priority.Women understand what men value much better than men understand what women value.Workplaces may not be equally healthy for men and women.Employees do not believe that corporate leaders understand the relationship between their own health and an organization's health.Corporations can better assess the impact of work and work culture on employee health outcomes or a culture's influence on health care costs by examining gender differences.The study uncovered some key health findings that should be of concern to employers and companies who value their workers and who are concerned about the ever-increasing costs associated with health care, Legato points out. "Prevention is a more cost effective way of dealing with illness than treating the complications of the illness," she says. "It's an interesting idea to try and reduce stress in the workplace -- especially along gender lines -- as a way of improving employee health and helping to contain health care costs. There's no question that the price we pay for a chronically unpleasant experience at work is a rising bill for the illnesses that result."The trends uncovered in the study contribute to corporations facing higher health care costs for their workers, increased absenteeism and higher workers' compensation claim costs, Peterson says. Employers need to understand that profits gained at the expense of worker health -- and the influence the corporate culture plays in the overall picture -- will cost them in the long run."Managing the work force of today requires an application of organizational self-knowledge to maximize both the health and productivity of workers," Browning adds. "The first step for a corporation is to conduct a thorough assessment of the culture in which their employees operate. Organizations need to understand how men and women respond to that culture. Is it a predominantly male-oriented culture or is it female friendly? Is it an environment where people think presence equals commitment? Are employees comfortable taking their vacation time? If employers allow workers to get up and leave the building to smoke, would they be as comfortable allowing workers to get up and leave the building to take a walk?"Being female-friendly is more than maternity leave or flex time, Browning cautions; an organization that schedules meetings at seven in the morning or at six at night makes it difficult for both female and male employees who want to be successful at work but also are responsible for families. "Every organization wants to be successful and depends upon its employees to make it happen," Browning says. "But success should be viewed over the long term. A healthy organization can go the distance. If we value our people, the best metric of success should be the health of the employees."LLuminari is a health education company comprised of physicians and health experts committed to women's health both in the workplace and with families.Visit LLuminari: www.lluminari.comThis report is new this week in The Business Journal's small business how-to section. To see what else is new, click here or click on the "how-to" tab at the top of The Daily Business Journal Online home page."