Micromanagement: Impact of depression in work environment

Dr.N.Maheswari

St.Joseph’s college, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce Computer Application, School of Management Studies, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, (India)

ABSTRACT Enhancing the human resource and entrusting the jobs with the human resources is the responsibility of the human resource department. The human resource manager is expected to control and identify the ways to increase the productivity of the company. Unhealthy work environments create negative consequences on employees’ health. Micro management is a method of managing an individual by closely observing and controlling. Micro management may sometimes turnout to be bad for the health of the employee. The present study is confined to the employees of private institution in Tiruchirappalli city. Tiruchirappalli city is one of the developed and famous cities in India. The findings of the study is concentrated on reasons for micromanaging, employees attitudes toward s depression, reasons for micromanagement, effects of micromanagement. Key words: micro management, depression, human resource.

I.INTRODUCTION Human resource department has the responsibility of controlling, enhancing the human resource and entrusting the jobs with the human resources. Human resource management has been considered as the messiah for the business institutions. Therefore the human resource manager is expected to control and identify the ways to increase the productivity of the company. Hence, there came the need for micro manager. Micro management is a method of managing an individual by closely observing and controlling. The positive management and support can ensure that employees perform to their potential allowing the business to achieve peak performance. But the negative management may create a negative atmosphere in the company causing the employee work mechanically. Micro management may sometimes turnout to be bad for the health of the employee. Highly demanding jobs through micro management are likely to make the employees depressed as employees hate to serve in when micro managed. Depression causing jobs will have negative impact on employees’ health. Micro management sometimes disempowering the employees and ruin their confidence, hurt their performance and frustrate them to the point where they quit. Unhealthy work environments create negative consequences on employees’ health. People in micro managed job will be more stressed and depressed so involve in unhealthy behaviours to cope with the stress.

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Depression is a range of symptoms from a period of low spirits that makes the normal tasks harder, create life- threatening thoughts and behaviours that make it impossible to function. Stress from work can also have impact on the family life of the employees. It may also create an impact on mental health and increase the risks for chronic illnesses and create heart attacks. Micro management will create an unhappy or unhealthy work environment that includes insults, back stabbing and belittling which can erode employees’ morale. Working in unjust can make a person depressed and human bodies react to chronic workplace stress. Depression along with other symptoms lasts at least two consecutive weeks and will sufficiently interrupt daily activities. Depression is considered as a major public health problem and is a treatable medical condition. It has high effects on individuals’ well being and functioning.

1.1 Objectives of the study 1. To study the need for micro management 2. To identify the attitude of employees towards micro management 3. To study the causes creating depression through micro management

1.2 Research methodology An empirical investigation has been done to study the implications of micromanagement using reliable data sources. The data is collected by questionnaire and interview. Data obtained from the convenience sample and literature reviews has been generalized. Young & Middle aged respondents from Tiruchirappalli, working in private offices, self financed colleges and schools are given questionnaire and interviewed personally. The sample size is 120 numbers. Websites, magazines, journals, articles were used widely as a support to secondary data. The study was conducted in Tiruchirappalli. Random sampling method been used to select the data. Percentage method, chi-square test, bar charts and pie charts been used as statistical tools.

1.3 Statement of the problem The globalization had created a rapid economic and social change, resulting in radical shifts in working environment and lifestyle patterns of the working people and their families. With the rushing need of expectation from the society and to satisfy the wants of the economy the private sector management wishes to get the work done by the employees. Employers and employees have to work collaboratively to complete the process of their managerial goal. Hence, came the need for micro management to make the employee complete the work perfectly.

1.4 Scope of the study Pressures in the workplace like fear of redundancy, long hours, dealing with difficult people or situations, or unreasonable targets causes depression. The study aims to study necessity of micro management and its impact as depression on the employees.

1.5 Limitation of the study  The study is limited only to the employees of private institution only. 2 | P a g e

 The study is confined to the employees of private institution in Tiruchirappalli city.  The sample size was limited to 120  Since it is a convenient study , some sort of discrepancies might be there in the data available.

II.PROFILE OF THE STUDY AREA Tiruchirappalli is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli District. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation and the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state. Located 322 kilometers south of Chennai and 379 kilometers north of Kanyakumari, Tiruchirappalli sits almost at the geographic centre of the state. The Kaveri Delta begins 16 kilometers west of the city where the Kaveri River splits into two, forming the island of Srirangam, which is now incorporated into the Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation. Occupying 167.23 square kilometers, the city was home to 916,857 people in 2011.

III.DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table 3.1 Gender of the respondents Sl.No. gender No of respondents 1 Male 76[63%] 2 female 44[37%] Total 120

Table 3.2 Age of the respondents Sl.No. Age No of respondents 1 25-30 36 [30%] 2 31-35 34 [28%] 3. 36-40 27 [23%] 4. 41-45 23 [19%] Total 120 [100%]

Table 3.2 Opinion of the respondents on the reasons for micro anagement

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Sl. Opinion

No. of

responde

nts

Stronglyagree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly disagree 1 Open 2 2 32 26 12 communi 3 7 cation 2 Employe 3 3 16 21 13 e 2 8 accounta bility 3 Reductio 3 3 18 18 13. n of 9 2 idleness 4 Work/Lif 3 2 22 19 `7 e Balance 4 8 5 Clear & 2 2 32 22 16 Positive 3 7 Values 6 To make 2 2 25 28 13 employee 8 6 s work together. 7 New 3 3 18 22 14 employee 2 4 will get trained 8 Culture 3 3 23 20 12 collabora 2 3 tion 9 Employe 2 3 22 23 13

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es need 4 8 attention on doing work 10 Where 3 2 23 22 15 skill and 2 8 competen ce of employee s vary

Table 3.3

Opinion of responds on effects of micro management

Sl. Opinion of

No. respondents

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly disagree 1 Productive 32 34 18 22 14 atmosphere 2 Hold accountability 32 33 23 20 12 3 Reduce idle time of 24 38 22 23 13 worker 4 Relationship with co- 32 28 23 22 15 workers

5 Meaningfulness of 39 27 22 19 13 the job 6 Opportunities to use 28 35 13 26 18 skills/abilities 7 Relationship with 23 37 22 26 12 immediate

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supervisor

8 Encourage people to 32 38 16 21 13 talk 9 Avoid making 39 32 18 18 13. assumptions 10 Respect 34 28 22 19 `7 confidentiality 11 Respond flexibly 23 27 32 22 16 12 Contribution of work 32 38 22 17 11 to organization’s business goals

Table 3.4

Opinion of respondents as reasons of depression through micro management

Sl. Opinion of respondents

No.

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly disagree Company’s dealing with 32 32 26 19 11 the workers who are not doing their job Dis-empower the 26 34 16 27 17 employees. Ruin the employees’ 28 38 15 27 12 confidence Hurt employees’ 17 18 36 32 20 performance frustrate the employees 35 28 22 22 13 Workers are held 27 32 18 22 21 accountable for their job

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Thoughts that the company 26 28 34 17 15 might fire or let go out of the job anytime High hours of working 26 30 18 23 23 Work related stress is more 28 32 19 28 13 Frustration from the job 16 18 38 32 16 causes Non-flexible work 25 30 15 27 23 arrangements Job insecurity 34 35 13 20 18

Table 3.5 There is no significant difference between Opinion of male and female respondents on Employees' Attitudes towards Depression

e

Sl.no Opinion of respondents Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly disagre

square test square

-

male female male female male female male female male female Chi 1 Never 15 10 16 16 12 3 16 9 16 7 The chi- express square their statistic depression is 4.6739.p value is .322427. The result is not

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significa nt 2 Sleeping 19 9 19 8 15 5 17 8 12 8 The chi- too little, square early statistic morning is 1.1086. p value is .892901. The result is not significa nt 3 Awakening 16 10 11 7 15 10 17 11 14 9 The chi- , or square sleeping statistic too much. is 0.0135. p value is .999977. The result is not significa nt 4 Fatigue or 16 12 20 12 13 6 19 9 8 5 The chi- loss of square energy. statistic is 0.9482. p

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value is . .917545. The result is not significa nt 5 Feeling 10 6 12 6 27 11 21 11 10 6 The chi- guilty, square hopeless or statistic worthless. is 0.5946. p value is . 963665. The result is not significa nt 6 Feeling 21 12 19 11 18 8 11 8 8 4 The chi- trapped in square the statistic workplace is 0.6608. p value is .956078. The result is not significa

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nt 7 Frustration 17 9 19 15 10 6 17 10 10 7 The chi- square statistic is 0.6747. p value is .954413. The result is not significa nt 8 Absenteeis 9 3 9 6 27 11 16 11 23 5 The chi- m square statistic is 4.3264. p value is . .363628. The result is not significa nt 9 Work 14 3 11 7 20 10 24 11 12 8 The chi- disability square statistic is 2.5851. p

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value is 629462. The result is not significa nt 10 Low 20 15 16 12 19 7 12 6 9 4 The chi- productivit square y statistic is 2.3834p value is .665628. The result is not significa nt 11 Unaware of 15 12 20 15 12 6 13 6 12 9 The chi- depression square statistic is 4.4978. p value is .342807.. The result is not significa nt

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12 Employees 15 11 18 12 18 14 12 5 10 5 The chi- shift the square working statistic places is 1.2917. p value is .862781. The result is not significa nt

H0 : There is no significant difference between the opinion of male and female respondents on employees' attitudes towards depression

H1 : There is significant difference between the opinion of male and female respondents on employees' attitudes towards depression Result: the null hypothesis is rejected and research hypothesis is accepted

IV.FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The study had 63% of male and 37% of female respondents. Among 120 respondents, 30 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 25 to 30 years, 28 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 31 to 35 years, 23 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 36 to 40 years and 19 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 41 to 45 years. 50% of the respondents opined that creating open communication as the reason for micro management, 70% of the respondents agreed employee accountability as the reason, 71% of the respondents agreed reduction of idleness as the reason, 62% of the respondents accepted work/life balance as the reason, 50% of the respondents agreed on clear and positive values, 54% of the respondents agreed on making employees work together, 66% of the respondents agreed that new employees would get trained, 65% of the respondents agreed on culture collaboration , 62% respondents opinion that employees needed attention on doing work and 60 % of the respondents accepted the variation of skill and competence of the employees as the reasons of micro management by the institution. Micromanagement has the effects that it creates productive atmosphere[66% of the respondents], holds accountability of the employees[65% of the respondents], inculcates relationship with co-workers[58% of the

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respondents], meaningfulness of the job [66% of the respondents], opportunities to skill and abilities [60% of the respondents],relationship with immediate supervisor [60% of the respondents], encourage people to talk[70% of the respondents], avoid making assumptions[71% of the respondents], respect confidentiality [62% of the respondents], respond flexibly [50% of the respondents] and contribution of work to organization’s business goals [ 70% of the respondents]. Micro management makes the company deal with the workers who were not doing their job [64% of the respondents], dis-empower the employees[60% of the respondents], ruins the employees’ confidence[66% of the respondents], frustrates the employees[63% of the respondents], workers are held accountable for their job[59% of the respondents], and creates thoughts that the company might fire or let go out of the job anytime [54% of the respondents], High hours of working [56% of the respondents], creates more work related stress [60% of the respondents], non-flexible work arrangements [55% of the respondents], creates job insecurity [69% of the respondents]. The respondents considered the above as the causes for depression created by micromanagement. 57% of the respondents agreed that employees never express their depression, 55% of the respondents agreed that they sleep too little and have early morning because of the depression, 51% of the respondents disagreed that they are awakening or sleeping too much because of micromanagement ,60% of the respondents agreed that they had fatigue or loss of energy due to work, 48 % of respondents disagreed and 38% of the respondents were neutral about that they were feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless due to their job, 63% of the respondents agreed that they felt trapped in the workplace, 60% of the respondents agreed that they were frustrated due to micromanagement, 57% of the respondents disagreed that there was absentism,55% of the respondents disagreed that they had work disability, 63% of the respondents agreed that low productivity was shown due to micro management, 62% of the respondents agreed that they were unaware of the depression caused, 56% of the respondents agreed that employees shift their working place often due to micro management. As per the chi-square test, there is significant difference between the opinion of the gender on the employees' attitudes towards depression

V.REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1. Collins SK and Collins KS, Micromanagement can be advantageous in certain short-term situations, such as while training new employees, increasing productivity of underperforming employees, controlling high-risk issues, and when there can be no question of who is in charge. However, the costs associated with long-term micromanagement can be exorbitant. Symptoms such as low employee morale, high staff turnover, reduction of productivity and patient dissatisfaction can be associated with micromanagement. The negative impacts are so intense that it is labeled among the top three reasons employees resign. Ultimately, micromanagement leads to decreased growth potential in a department. Managers who put too much emphasis on daily operational details can miss the broader picture and fail to plan for departmental expansion. Eventually, many micromanagers find themselves at considerable risk of burnout. Changing behavior associated with micromanagement can be a lengthy and difficult process. As with most problems, the first step is to realize that there is behavior that needs

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to be changed and to understand how it negatively impacts the department. Conducting a self-assessment of one's leadership style can be advantageous in this process. The true task is to find a balance between effectively performing daily obligations and strategically planning for the future. This task typically involves proper delegation of duties, and that in itself is a difficult challenge. Proper delegation of tasks may be the primary key to combating micromanaging behavior, however, some other suggestions include: 1. Develop a vision of what the department will look like in the future. 2. Hire people with the right skills for the job. 3. Develop a policy and procedures manual. 4. Develop solid lines of communication between managers and subordinates. 5. Expect some employee errors. Mistakes are an important process in the learning experience and should be viewed as a training expense. Employees who are allowed to be self-directed will be motivated to be more productive. Staffing issues such as low morale and high turnover will decrease; patient satisfaction will increase simultaneously. 2. Richard D.White, Micromanagement now commonly refers to the control of an enterprise in every particular and to the smallest detail, with the effect of obstructing progress and neglecting broader, higher-level policy issues. Micromanagement has been practiced and recognized well before we labeled it as an organizational pathology. In 1946, Peter Drucker called for a "democracy of management" whereby organizations need to decentralize and delegate more decision making authority to employees.3 In 1960, Douglas McGregor described a Theory X manager as one possessing many of the characteristics of the modern micromanager, one who is poor at proper delegating but one who believes he delegates well.4 While micromanagement has always disrupted organizational life, it only recently has entered the workplace vocabulary, with the first mention of the term appearing in 1975 in an article in the Economist.5 Since then, increasing concern has been focused on the impact of picayune bosses.3.Robert F. Wright, There are many different management philosophies. Micro Management is a form that is generally negatively perceived, because of its impact on employee autonomy. There has been little research on the causes of micro management and its impact on employees' job satisfaction and productivity. This study seeks to determine how competitive pressure and a manager's Growth, Needs and Strength (GNS) affect the degree to which a company micro manages its sales force. The degree of micro management may impact a person's autonomy, which interacts with his GNS, to determine his job satisfaction and productivity. The results of a study on fifty-six medical sales representatives, located in the north eastern United States, suggested a strong correlation between the degree of micro managing and autonomy, manager's GNS and autonomy and degree of micro managing and manager's GNS and a weak correlation between autonomy and job satisfaction, with the representative's GNS as an interactor. There was no correlation between competitive pressure and the degree of micro managing or productivity and autonomy, with the representative's GNS as an interactor.

4. Kathleen S. Mackie, Carole K. Holahan, , Nell H. Gottlieb in this article tests a theoretically driven model of the relationship between work environment, specifically, management practices, and employee mental health, specifically depression. It draws on theoretical perspectives connecting work environment and stress, and on others linking stress and depression. It also examines sense of coherence as a possible mediator of the relationships among work environment, work stress, and depression. Results showed that perceived exposure to

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employee involvement management practices was related to perceived work stress, sense of coherence, and depression. A model was specified to assess potential causal relationships using LISREL. Results suggested that increased exposure to employee involvement practices was indirectly associated with lower levels of depression through both perceived work stress and sense of coherence. The implications of these findings for management practice are discussed.

5.Andrea H1, Bültmann U, van Amelsvoort LG, Kant Y 2009, Anxiety and depression are prevalent among employees and are associated with functional disability and work impairment. To date, little is known about the incidence and possible risk factors for developing anxiety and depression in the working population. Study aims were to (a) determine the incidence of subclinical anxiety and depression in a general working population and (b) identify the psychosocial work characteristics associated with the onset of subclinical anxiety and depression. Methods: This prospective study is based on 3,707 employees participating in the Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work. Psychosocial work characteristics were measured in May 2000; anxiety and depression were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in April 2002. Results: The cumulative 23-month incidence for subclinical anxiety and depression was 4.6 and 3.3%, respectively. High psychological job demands increased the risk for both subsequent anxiety and depression. Moreover, low social support was predictive for the onset of anxiety, whereas job insecurity increased the risk for the onset of depression. These prospective associations were independent of potential confounding variables and the other psychosocial work characteristics. Conclusions: Adverse psychosocial work characteristics are significant predictors for the onset of subclinical anxiety and depression in the general working population. These findings encourage intervention studies testing whether modifying the psychosocial work environment reduces both anxiety and depressive symptoms among employees

VI.CONCLUSION By positively managing and supporting employees’ mental wellbeing, employers can ensure that staffs perform to their potential – allowing the business to achieve peak performance. A healthy workplace is one where individuals feel valued and supported, provides a positive workspace, and shows respect for other aspects of a person’s life.

REFERENCES [1.] Collins SK and Collins KS, Micromanagement-a costly management style, Radiology Management, 2002 Nov-Dec;24(6):32-5. [2.] Richard D.White, Jr.,PhD, Public PersonnelManagement , Volume 39, No.1, Spring 2010 [3.] Robert F. Wright, Effect of Micro Management on Job Satisfaction & Productivity: A Case Study , Volume: 3 issue: 1, page(s): 51-61 [4.] Kathleen S. Mackie,Carole K. Holahan, , Nell H. Gottlieb, Employee Involvement Management Practices, Work Stress, and Depression in Employees of a Human Services Residential Care Facility , Sage journals, Volume: 54 issue: 8, page(s): 1065-1092

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[10.] 5. Andrea H1, Bültmann U, van Amelsvoort LG, Kant Y. The incidence of anxiety and depression among employees--the role of psychosocial work characteristics. Depress Anxiety. 2009;26(11):1040-8. doi: 10.1002/da.20516. [11.] www.google.com

Author Profile

Dr.N.Maheswari has received PG degrees in Commerce and English , UG degrees in Commerce and Education, M.phil and Phd in Commerce and also has passed UGC-NET in the year 2005. She is serving as vice-principal and Assistant Professor in Commerce Computer Application in St.Joseph’s college, Trichirappalli, Tamilnadu.

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