SDR Relationships between employee happiness, overtime, sick leave and intention to stay or leave WE WERE INTERESTED in the interactions between employees’ general happiness, the amount of overtime they worked, the amount of sick leave they took and their intention to stay or quit, to inform our coaching practice and management practices more generally. Happiness, or subjective well-being of employees has, not surprisingly, been shown to bring benefits to employers as well as employees and evidence suggests that the happiness is a precondition for good work performance and career success (Boehm & Lyubomirsky, 2008). From the employer’s perspective, overtime may appear to be a means of increasing the productivity of employees. However, in the longer term, persistently working long hours may undermine happiness and well-being. Through producing impaired motivation, chronic fatigue and impairment of health it may, in turn, leads to falling productivity and absenteeism. Absenteeism is a major issue, costing the UK economy over £13.2 billion in 2006 (CBI, 2007). Employees’ loss of a sense of well-being through excessive overtime may also lead to them leaving, at great cost to the organisation that loses the benefits of their skill and experience. Past research has investigated overtime or absenteeism, but these have been related to job satisfaction which is a narrower concept than happiness. Most of this research was done from the employers’ perspective and before measures of well-being were developed. Briefly, early research into the relationship between overtime and job satisfaction yielded equivocal findings. Recently, Wegge et al. (2007) found the relationship to be complex as it depended on employee attitudes and levels of job engagement. While high job satisfaction is associated with fewer days taken off sick by individuals(Lyubomirsky et al., 2005) and low job satisfaction indicates a higher probability of
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Laurel Edmunds & Jessica Pryce-Jones employees leaving (Clark, 2001), the literature on the relationship between absenteeism and overtime is sparse and inconclusive (Brown, 1999). The aim here was to explore these relationships with a context free measure of happiness, and find any interactions between these factors, with contemporary employees, that might guide management practices.
Methodology We carried out two different questionnaire surveys with two groups of respondents. Both groups had a similar composition of respondents who were currently employed and mostly were managerial staff or MBA students. Thus our findings may not be generalisable across other working populations. The first group comprised 127 respondents, 66 (52 per cent) of whom were men. The second group included 193 respondent, of whom 126 (65 per cent) were men. Both groups had similar age profiles (e.g. 40 per cent aged 31–40 years) and ethnicity (80 per cent Caucasian, 15 per cent Asian) profiles. The first questionnaire specifically assessed happiness, overtime, sick leave and intention to stay. The second was broader but included the same key questions. This included the General Happiness Scale (validated by Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999; see Table 1). We used the scores on this scale to divide respondents’ into low, medium or high happiness groups (see Table 2) as a basis for investigating differences related to amount of overtime, sick leave and intention to stay. Overtime was assessed in terms of average hours of overtime per week. In the first questionnaire we also asked if the overtime took place at work or at
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home and whether it was paid or unpaid. We also asked respondents to check, on a questionnaire adapted from Tucker and Rutherford (2005), for which of seven reasons overtime was worked (to increase earnings, overtime culture, belief in job, job enjoyment, progress in career, overtime not due to poor time management, work pressure and deadlines). Sick leave was assessed in terms of reported number of days taken between 1 January 2006 and the questionnaire administration (either October, 2006, or July–October, 2007). We relied on self-reported sick leave data for two reasons; firstly Johns (1994) showed that the relationship between self-reported and true absenteeism was reasonably accurate; secondly, this approach avoids privacy and disclosure issues that may have biased the randomness of the sample. Length of time in post and how long they intended to stay in post were requested of respondents using four time periods. Data collection took place between Autumn, 2006, and Spring, 2007, and between the Summer and Autumn of 2007.
Findings and discussion There were no significant differences between the two survey groups in terms of general happiness (t-test: p=0.62), intention to stay (t-test: p=0.063) sick leave (Mann-Whitney: p=0.735). However, respondents in the first survey reported more overtime per se (97 per cent vs. 75 per cent), and more hours of overtime per individual (10.5 vs. 7.3; p<0.001). There was more focus on overtime in this group, which may have caused these respondents to over-report, although the samples were not different in other respects.
Happiness The mean happiness scores, on a scale of 1 to 10, were 6.6 (SD 1.8) in the first survey and 6.5 (SD 1.7) in the second. These were similar to the British Household Panel Survey Life Satisfaction findings for 1997-2003 which reported a modal rating of 6 (means were not given) and our findings in a further sample (Mean rating 6.4, SD 1.8; n = 600+). The three happiness groups we divided our sample into had mean rating ranges of 0-6.0, 6.1-7.0 and 7.1-10 respectively (see Table 2). Overtime Eighty-four per cent of respondents across both survey groups reported doing overtime. In the first group over 80 per cent of individuals working overtime did not receive payment for it. Interestingly, those who were paid did significantly less overtime (predominantly women). Overtime did not vary with location. The reasons for working overtime, given the highest scores were a ‘belief in the job’ and ‘job enjoyment’. ‘Increase in earnings’ was also offered as an option, but this was not rated highly even by the 17 per cent of respondents who received payment for overtime. Intrinsic reasons for doing overtime (belief in job, job enjoyment and career progression) appeared to be more relevant than increased earnings. Perhaps, in addition to reasons in the first survey, those choosing to work overtime do so either because they find it intrinsically rewarding, or to gain recognition, or because they self-select jobs that tend to demand overtime. This may be truer for employees, such as managers, where they have some autonomy and
Table 1: The General Happiness Scale. The General Happiness Scale 1. In General I consider myself:
1 = not a very happy person to 10 = a very happy person.
2. Compared to most of my peers, I consider myself:
1 = less happy to 10 = more happy.
3. Some people are generally very happy. They enjoy life regardless of what is going on, getting the most out of everything. To what extent does this characterisation describe you?
1 = not at all to 10 = a great deal
4. Some people are generally not very happy. Although they are not depressed, they never seem as happy as they might be. To what extent does this characterisation describe you?
1 = a great deal to 10 = not at all
Score = (1 + 2 + 3 + 4)/4
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Table 2: Descriptives for the General Happiness Scale and happiness groups in both surveys. Survey 1 Happiness Group
Survey 2
N
Mean score
N
Mean score
General (total sample)
126
6.6
191
6.5
Low
49
4.8
72
4.7
Medium
37
6.9
72
7.0
High
40
8.5
47
8.5
the possibility of changing their jobs and progressing their careers. Brett and Stroh (2003) also found male managers were motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic (financial) motivations, whereas Tucker and Rutherford (2005) found financial rewards to be more important to train drivers. Therefore the importance of financial rewards is likely to depend on context and may be dependent on perceived career prospects. Sick leave Fifty per cent of respondents in the first survey and 53 per cent in the second reported taking no sick leave in the periods for which information was requested (9–10 and 15–18 months). Three respondents reported long term illnesses (over 90 days) and were omitted from the analyses. The average period of sick leave was just over two days in both surveys. The analyses were carried out with a subset of respondents (Survey 1: N=37; Survey 2: N=85). Inter-relationships (see Table 3) 1. Happiness and overtime In the first survey we found no significant relationship between general happiness and overtime. However there were significant relationships between reasons for overtime and general happiness. The other comparison was reasons for overtime across happiness groups. The main finding here was that low happiness employees rated ‘job enjoyment’ significantly lower than the other two groups. In the second survey there was a weak, but significant positive relationship between happiness and overtime. We also saw a trend for employees with higher happiness scores to do more overtime, but this did not reach significance in this survey. 2. Happiness and sick leave There was no relationship between sick days and general happiness in the first survey, but there 10
was a negative one in the second (–0.243; p=0.001). We found little evidence of any differences between happiness groups in terms of sick days in either study, possible due to the low numbers of respondents. When we combined the surveys (N=317), the least happy reported taking more days off sick. 3. Happiness and intention to stay Both surveys showed a significant relationship between happiness and intention to stay in post. In the first survey the least happy group intended to stay for a shorter period of time than those in the medium and high happiness groups, but group means for time intended to stay were similar across happiness groups in the second study. Intention to stay was not related to overtime variables or sick leave. 4. Overtime and sick leave There was no relationship between these variables in either survey. We also looked for patterns between reasons for overtime and sick leave in the first survey. The well-being of an employee who is happier through gaining intrinsic rewards from their work (e.g. by getting in ‘flow’ see Csikszentmihalyi, 1975)) may actually benefit from doing overtime. Excessive overtime may potentially lead to the negative outcome of more sick leave. Excessive overtime may result in over-tiredness and ‘burnout’ resulting in absence from work. The stress arising from working under a lot of pressure, while lacking job security and autonomy around how they do their job may also lead to an individual experiencing health problems (e.g. see Faragher, Cass & Cooper, 2005). However, this was not apparent in our respondents and so we could not test this further. A summary of findings above and some additional relationships are shown in Table 3.
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Gender and age differences In Survey 1 men (52 per cent) reported significantly more overtime hours and females received more payment for overtime. Overtime impacts on family life, which may explain why women were more likely to be paid in compensation. Also women may be in lower status jobs where payment is more likely. Men reporting more overtime were also evident in Survey 2 (65 per cent), but this did not reach significance.
Reasons for overtime in the first survey did not differ significantly between the sexes with one exception that men rated ‘progress in career’ far higher than women. Typically, in our larger databases, men report significantly more overtime, take fewer sick days and intend to stay longer in their jobs compared with women. Any anomalies here may be due to relatively small survey samples. Location of overtime and intention to stay did not differ between the genders.
Table 3: Summary of significant relationships between happiness, overtime, sick leave and intention to stay for both surveys. Correlation between principle factors in italics. Correlational sub-analyses under factors and results of comparison between happiness sub-groups using ANOVA in regular font.
Happiness
Overtime
Sick leave
Intention to stay
Weak positive R=0.080; p=0.180 2nd survey: p=0.195; p=0.011
Negative R=–0.185; p=0.003
Positive R=0.216; p=0.000
Least happy take more sick leave: F=2.955; p=0.054
Least happy intend to leave sooner: F=6.389; p=0.002
NS
NS
Reasons for working overtime with sick leave: all ns Relationship suggested by pattern of data, but not validated statistically: Individual with high belief in and enjoyment of job and who are good at meeting deadlines and time management, take fewer sick days.
Reasons for working overtime with staying: all ns U-shaped relationship with those intending to stay more than 3 years and less than 6 months doing more overtime (ns)
With reasons for working overtime: job enjoyment: R=0.350; p=0.000 belief in job: R=0.202; p=0.027 work pressure: R=-0.215; p=0.017 Anova comparing happiness groups
Happier work more overtime: F=4.172; p.017
Overtime
Sick leave
NS
Anova comparing ‘intend to stay’ vs. ‘don’t intend to stay’
Those intending to stay take fewer sick days: F=4.702; p=0.005
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There were fewer differences between the age groups. Those reaching significance were older respondents reporting greater ‘belief in job’ and ‘job enjoyment’. They also intended to stay in post longer in the first survey, whereas those less than 21 years old intended to leave sooner in the second, which corresponds with other data (Clark, 2001). One might intuitively expect an interaction between general ‘happiness’, ‘levels of overtime’, ‘sickness absence’ and ‘intention to leave’, which managers should take into account in trying to optimise organisation performance. Surprisingly, we found no other studies that had investigated how these four variables interact. Although the association is quite weak, the positive relationships that we found between ‘happiness’, ‘overtime’ and ‘intention to stay’ and the negative one between happiness and sick leave, together with the close association between ‘belief in the job’ and ‘job enjoyment’, sit comfortably with the findings of Boehm & Lyubormirsky (2008) that ‘happiness’ or ‘well being’ pre-dispose employees to be productive and successful. As well as supporting these results, our findings give some support to the proposition that employees who are happy in and committed to their jobs, may happily work overtime for no extra pay, with no adverse consequences in terms of increase sickness absence or increased likelihood of leaving. However, this requires more investigation, particularly of the boundary conditions beyond which the amount of overtime has adverse consequences, however committed the employee is to start with. It is general unhappiness (probably contributed to by negative feelings about the job) that is likely to lead to increased sickness absence and intention to leave, irrespective of overtime worked. This study adds support to the proposition that managerial practices and work environments that generate positive emotion, a sense of well-being and commitment are beneficial to both employers and employees and allow additional demands to be made on employees at time of need, with minimal cost (there may be some cost in terms of distracting people from commitments outside of work) to either the employees or the organisation.
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References Boehm, J.K. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Does happiness promote career success? Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 101–116. Brett, J.M. & Stroh, L.K. (2003). Working 61 plus hours a week? Why do managers do it? Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 67–78. Brown, S. (1999). Worker absenteeism and overtime bans. Applied Economics, 31, 165–174. CBI (2007). Absence and labour turnover survey 2007. London: Confederation of British Industry. Clark, A.E. (2001). What really matters in a job? Hedonic measurement using quit data. Labour Economics, 8, 223–242. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Faragher, E.B., Cass, M. & Cooper, C.L. (2005). The relationship between job-satisfaction and health: A meta-analysis. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 62, 105–112. Johns, G. (1994). How often were you absent? A review of the use of self-reported absence data. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 574–591. Lyubomirsky, S. & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155. Tucker, P. & Rutherford, C. (2005). Moderators of the relationships between long work hours and health. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 465–476. Wegge, J., Schmidt, k-H., Parkes, C. & van Dyck, R. (2007). ‘Taking a sickie’: Job satisfaction and job involvement as interactive predictors of absenteeism in a public organisation. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, 80, 77–89.
Correspondence
Laurel Edmunds Head of Research, iOpener Ltd, Twining House, 294 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED. Tel 01856 517785 E-mail: laurel.edmunds@iopener.co.uk
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