As another new work year dawns, some of us may be feeling this. Bored.
Yes boredom at work is, in many ways, the most neglected concept of human resource management. A lot of companies- even the top tier ones- do not really look at boredom at work as a real problem, even though many acknowledge that it exists. The reason for this can be attributed to the mentality that boredom is usually a transient and negligible phenomenon. After all, everyone gets bored from time to time. Boredom at work is therefore looked at as a routine part of professional life.
However, the truth is that getting bored at work can be a lot more serious than one believes. Here is a look at what getting bored at work can lead to:
Boredom leads to inefficiency
Boredom at work is imminent at some point when employees are given the same routine jobs on a frequent basis. The occurrence of boredom is not random or casual; it occurs every time the job becomes mundane. Over time, such boredom would lead to a casual attitude towards the job, which leads to silly mistakes and overall inefficiency. This kind of an effect is not sudden- it occurs over a long period of time- usually among senior employees, and as such, mistakes surface without prior warning.
Boredom leads the staff to seek other sources of excitement
It is a commonly understood fact that boredom at work may lead employees seeking excitement from other sources. In recent years, companies have seen employees use the office Internet connection to log onto social networking websites. This has even led to popular websites like Facebook getting banned in offices. Boredom is one of the main reasons for otherwise capable employees to seek excitement somewhere else.
While the immediate result of this is reduced concentration and inefficiency, there can be more serious problems as well. Employees may play pranks, break rules, or resort to other forms of excitement to make up for boredom in the workplace. In fact, boredom can make grown and mature people perform some of the most childish and juvenile acts.
Boredom leads to reduced job satisfaction
As anyone would agree, boredom is unpleasant. An employee who gets bored with work frequently would be dissatisfied with the work he/she is performing, and with the company overall. Most companies look into other negative factors that cause job dissatisfaction, like anger or frustration towards the job, colleagues, or peers. However, many of the best human resources managers fail to look at boredom as one of the factors. In fact, if you look at the criteria used to measure overall job satisfaction, you would see that degree of boredom is hardly, if ever, mentioned.
Boredom leads to increased attrition and absenteeism
Employee turnover is a serious issue, but not many managers look at boredom as one of the possible causes of this problem. Employees who find their work unchallenging would rather look for other options, even though the job at hand is simple. This is because employees need challenges and motivation to stay interested, and a reward becomes very trivial when the task itself is so mundane. As a result, employees often escape work by feigning some excuse or by just leaving the company in search of more rewarding opportunities.
