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News Release from: Chartered Management Institute | Subject: Long-hours culture
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 July 2005
Long hours culture saves 880 million
pounds
Despite calls to end the UK's long-hours culture many managers in the construction sector refuse to stop working.
Despite calls to end the UK's long-hours culture many managers in the construction sector refuse to stop working According to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute the majority of employers now actively encourage staff to take time off, but most employees admit to working during their annual leave and almost one-third fail to take their full holiday entitlement
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 28 Nov 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Chartered Management Institute questioned almost 6,000 managers and found that the number of people with more than 5 weeks holiday entitlement continues to grow (from 56 per cent in 2003 to 66 per cent, this year).
In the construction sector however, managers are fearful about the impact of their absence and more than half (67 per cent) contact their organisation by choice due to work overload.
A majority (69 per cent) will also respond to requests from their employer, whilst on holiday.
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The survey also shows that managers put in extra hours to make up for the time they lose by going on holiday.
For a typical one-week break, the UK's management community works an additional 36 million additional hours, beyond their contractual requirements.
This represents a cost saving to UK organisations of GBP880 million.
Even when they finally go on holiday, managers in the construction sector find it difficult to relax.
Over half (58 per cent) regularly check their work emails and 56 per cent monitor voicemail.
In an effort to keep in touch with colleagues 75 per cent take away their work mobile phones, 14 per cent take their laptops and 19 per cent regularly visit internet cafes.
The respondents from the construction sector were also asked why they work on holiday.
The top three reasons were:.
* Deadline drama: 39 per cent claimed that the need to meet short-term project deadlines means they have had to work at some point during their holiday.
8 per cent added that they lacked confidence in their colleagues' ability to manage during their absence.
* Client care: 33 per cent suggested that meeting customer needs override everything else and that letting clients down is never an option.
One quarter (25 per cent) also said they found it hard to 'let go'.
* Backlog blues: 17 per cent worry about the amount of work they will face on their return.
48 per cent expect to find 100 plus emails waiting for them and 1 in 3 managers admit to dreading returning to a backlog.
Jo Causon, Director of Corporate Marketing and Public Affairs at the Chartered Management Institute, says: "It's long been accepted that the pressure to perform has led to Britain becoming a nation of workaholics".
"However, the hours people put in at work do not always guarantee optimal results, because quantity is not the same as quality".
"Employers are certainly beginning to recognise this and are encouraging staff to take a proper break, but the onus must now be on managers to follow this lead." The signs are that, for those managers in the construction sector who do take their full holiday entitlement, a break is as good as a rest.
89 per cent say that their annual holiday 'fully recharges their batteries' and 67 per cent suggest it makes them question their work-life balance.
They also claim that the hardest part of going on holiday is returning to the regularity of alarm clocks (19 per cent), being stuck indoors (8 per cent) and commuting (6 per cent).
In regional terms, the UK's workaholics are based in the North East, where 76 per cent leave contact details with their employer and 24 per cent contact their organisation at least twice a week, by choice.
The most relaxed Britons can be found in the North West, where less than half (45 per cent) provide contact details and only 4 per cent check in with their employers by choice.
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