By: Mohd Zaini Othman
THE problem of pressure needs to be addressed as well as possible because it can affect the performance and productivity of an organization in the short and long term. Based on the facts issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), pressure in the workplace can be one of the causes of human health problems.
In the increasingly competitive and demanding world of work, this indirectly leads to pressure in the workplace. If left unchecked and ignored, stress at work can lead to more serious mental health issues. Everyone, including the author, is generally at risk of experiencing mental health problems because stress at work is a chronic issue that is often reported in every organization or employer.
According to the Congress of Public Service Workers’ Unions (CUEPACS), in 2018 there were more than 21,000 workers who retired early due to stress problems in the workplace and it showed a pattern of increase after that. In 2022, the National Education Service Association (NUTP) estimates that more than 10,000 teachers will retire early each year.
This early retirement or quitting of work actually applies to all employment sectors, not just lay employees, even the private sector also feels the pressure because pressure in the workplace is something real. Talking about pressure at work, it stems from various factors and one of them may sound a bit strange but that’s the truth, the factor is because the worker is too good at work!
It seems funny, but the irony is that being so good at a place that you can carry out various tasks at one time or another, workers who perform are like being cursed at at work . Being a worker who multitasks also has a ‘bad’ impact in the long term, especially for workers because it will be the cause of stress in the workplace.
Multitasking is a term that is no longer foreign to the world of work and in essence not all workers have this ‘talent’ because the ability to do several jobs at the same time is actually something that is very effective and increases productivity. It cannot be denied that multitasking is one of the skills that is important for entering the world of work, apart from experience and communication skills which are an added value for individuals to attract their prospective employers.
For employers, having workers who multitask is a blessing because these workers can ‘be expected’ to complete the various tasks given within the specified time. However, if the employer and co-workers are recognized and acknowledged as someone who is a multitasker , this is where the seeds of bullying in the workplace unknowingly start and take advantage of the individual’s influence on the fellow co-workers, especially those who are more senior, causing the worker to experience depression.
It becomes more critical if the chairman or supervisor himself also becomes a ‘bully’ for directing work that should be completed by other workers to be ‘thrown over’ to this worker on the grounds that the work will be ready quickly. Taking a careless attitude and not caring about the issue of multitasking workers will actually be detrimental to the employer in the following aspects:
- Decreased worker quality : Workers cannot give full attention to completing work and increase the risk of errors and skipping.
- Increases stress levels: Too many tasks at once will increase a person’s stress and work pressure which in turn affects mental and personal health.
- Decreased productivity: Too many tasks needing to be done at the same time will drag down productivity because having to distribute attention and time to various tasks at one time becomes inefficient.
- Increases safety risks: Multitasking can increase safety risks in the workplace because a person is unable to give full attention to the task at hand. For example, a machine operator who is also carrying out several other tasks may not be able to pay attention (pay attention) to the dangers that exist around the work area which may pose a risk of accidents/misfortunes.
- Reduces creativity: Too many tasks at once can reduce a worker’s creativity because they cannot give full attention to looking for more creative ideas and solutions. This can limit a person’s ability to innovate and create new solutions to complex problems.
Employers must play the best role in managing workers who have multitasking abilities because they are a very valuable human resource asset. Their existence, abilities and contributions should be appreciated and celebrated with appropriate incentives. At the same time, workers also need to improve their own quality and add value.
Mohd Zaini Othman is a Registration Assistant at the Tamhidi Center of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) and Secretary of the USIM Staff Benefits Agency. This writing represents the author’s personal views and does not represent any party or institution
