By Graeme Wearden, 8 January 2004 14:50
NEWS Managers who send threatening emails to their staff could be doing more harm than good, according to a new study.
Researchers at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College have found evidence that a worker's blood pressure can shoot up if they receive an aggressive email from their boss.
Current medical advice is that raised blood pressure is often damaging to health, and these findings are being cited as evidence that senior staff should never use email for disciplinary issues.
The Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College team unveiled their research at a conference being held this week by the British Psychological Society. It involved almost 50 volunteers, who had their blood pressure repeatedly measured as they read a selection of emails both from senior staff and from colleagues at their own level. Some of these emails were written aggressively, while others were balanced.
The study found that a volunteer's blood pressure rose when they read any threatening email and also when they read any mail from a more senior colleague. The largest increases occurred when reading a threatening message from a superior.
Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College has concluded from these findings that managers who send aggressively worded emails to staff with the intention of improving their performance could actually make things worse. Face-to-face meetings are a much better choice, allowing better dialogue and less chance of misinterpretation.
Research published late last year showed that most people believe IT and mobile communications have helped to make working life easier, but found that some professionals were becoming stressed by the constant distraction of incoming emails.
Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
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1. anonymous
I think your story is valid, but note that it is not just restrcited to e-mail - it's just as bad if you receive a fax or letter from your superior. An example - in the early 1990s, I worked for a large subsidiary of GEC, and my senior manager used to send faxes threatening my job; but guess what, it used to be sent to the general reception fax where anyone passing could see. At that time I had to start taking high blood pressure treatment which lasted for over 2 years. So the point is, e-mail is just the latest way to carry out an age old method of intimidating your staff...
2. anonymous
i find these methods very cowardly on the whole and it doesn't give you confidence in your manager when they behave this way
3. Paul Robertson
What ever happened to senior managers taking staff into an office for disciplinary measures. There are always two sides to every matter, nothing can be achieved by not hearing the member of staffs side before passing judgement. A year ago when working for a multi national super market chain I was on the recieving end of disciplinary hearing letters from my manager posted on the staff board even though I saw him to talk to at least twice a week when he would ask me to work over time. One of them I left there for three weeks, he would have it re typed every couple of days, in the end he asked another manager to give it to me.