We, the
customers, are giving us as employees a hard time. This thought crossed my mind
during the closing event of our Business & Society seminar at the
University of Zurich. This year, the students conducted qualitative
research projects on corporate health management. Besides discussing the
benefits a company can attain by keeping employees healthy (achieving a return on investment), the discussion also addressed the limits of
such measures. On the one hand, employees have to take responsibility for their
own health, thus the influence of the organization on their health is
limited. On the other hand, another issue was raised: The closer a department
is to the customers, the more pressure there is and the smaller the possibility
of reducing the workload (an often mentioned stressor). The customers, in a
competitive environment, determine their expectations towards a company. These
expectations can be quite high and are only rarely met with a normal volume of
work. As a consequence, corporate health management faces resistance as well.
