|
| CANADIAN RETAIL & HOSPITALITY
EMPLOYEES FACE GROWING STRESS ISSUES, WARNS NEW WARRENSHEPELL
RESEARCH GROUP REPORT
Depression/Personal Stress Widely-Reported
Among Retail and Hospitality Employees
Says New WarrenShepell Research Group Report
|
TORONTO, December 12, 2003... As the holiday season
approaches, Canadian retail and hospitality employees are in distress
and their employers need to pay more attention to their emotional health
if they want to reduce turnover and increase productivity, according
to a Report released today by the WarrenShepell Research Group, subsidiary
of WarrenShepell.
The Report examines the mental health of Canadian employees in the
retail and hospitality industry. The Report reviewed three years of
data - representing 13,100 cases from a total population of 91,000 employees.
According to the Report:
both retail and hospitality employees report greater stress
and depression symptoms than employees in other sectors. Hospitality
employees report higher rates of personal stress (three-year average
11.26 per cent); however, the most rapid increase in personal stress
was found among retail employees (almost 1.5 times since 2000). retail and hospitality employees report higher incidences
of domestic violence (three year average 1.01 per cent vs. national
norm 0.52 per cent); especially in retail where the rate of reporting
is twice the national norm (three year average 1.14 per cent). alcohol, smoking and anxiety present at higher frequencies
in the hospitality industry than in other sectors, signaling a potentially
costly source of absenteeism and presenteeism. Hospitality employees
also report a higher proportion of substance use issues in alcohol (three-year
average 1.90 per cent vs. national norm 1.15 per cent) and smoking (three-year
average 1.48 per cent vs. national norm 0.41 per cent). retail and hospitality employees present a higher proportion
of work relationship and conflict issues (three-year average 4.02 per
cent vs. national norm 3.07 per cent) especially hospitality employees
(4.27 per cent).
“The Report’s findings indicate that job strain and the
apprehension of future events combine to create a challenging environment
in which to manage, motivate and retain healthy retail and hospitality
employees,” said Rod Phillips, WarrenShepell, president and CEO.
“The retail and hospitality industry are already highly-vulnerable
to economic and market fluctuations. Recent history has demonstrated
that both industries can be devastated by unpredictable traumas and
the severity of these events and its impact on employees in the workplace
can no longer be ignored by their employers.
“While Canadians may understand that these sectors have suffered
financially because of
9-11, SARS and the Iraqi war, most are unaware of the serious emotional
toll that faces employees in those industries,” Phillips added.
Retail and hospitality represent a significant portion of the Canadian
economy accounting for over 50 per cent of total consumption in Canadian
households. The growing retail industry employs over seven per cent
of the Canadian population or approximately 1.75 million Canadians.
WarrenShepell is Canada’s leading provider of Employee Assistance
Programs (EAP) and related organizational health and wellness services.
The mandate of the WarrenShepell Research Group is to educate employers
and business leaders on mental health issues as they impact the workplace.
- 30 -
For a copy of the Report contact:
ABOUT WARRENSHEPELL and the WARRENSHEPELL RESEARCH GROUP
WarrenShepell is a leading provider of Employee Assistance Programs
(EAP) and related organizational health and wellness services, offering
services to over 3,000,000 employees and their families in over 2,000
organizations in Canada, the United States and internationally. The
company was founded in 1979 by Dr. WarrenShepell. The WarrenShepell
Research Group is a subsidiary of WarrenShepell. Its mandate is to educate
employers and business leaders on mental health issues as they impact
the workplace. The WarrenShepell Research Group offers a precise understanding
of health and wellness trends by conducting sector and issue-based analysis
www.warrenshepell.com.
|
