Yes, eleven billion. Not pesos, dollars. According to a study by Martin Shain for the Mental Health Commision of Canada, eliminating “mental injuries” could save Canadian employers somewhere between $2.97 and $11 billion dollars. Yes, billion. With a “B.”
The first question, of course, is defining what they mean by “mental injury.” I tried to google it, and most of the hits all pointed to children’s mental health, and specifically, bullying. And while Shain acknowledges the previously known effects of harrasment and bullying, this report singles out three things as being all the rage in legal actions brought against bosses:
- Chronic stress caused by work conditions
- Excessive demands from supervisors and management
- Unpaid overtime that can lead to mental harm
In short, pushing your staff to do more and more with less and less. The worrisome part is how much damage this could have caused between the first incident and the courtroom. How much work did the employee do? What was the quality of their work? Most importantly, what connections did they make with customers and clients? Were they enthusiastically meeting the needs of great people? Or were they simply going through the motions, delivering the lowest quality of service, and satisfying the lowest quality of customers?
I won’t mention names, but there is a discount chain whose American operations are known for being a terrible place to work. Meanwhile, a large percentage of their customer base is so low-end that someone started a blog about it. Alternatively, Costco’s Canadian arm has the happiest staff I’ve ever seen. They also have customers driving in with Cadillacs and BMWs to buy a gallon of ketchup for eight bucks.
Bullying staff into short term gains may save a couple of bucks, but you always get what you pay for–especially when it comes to your staff’s productivity.