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Swedish firm quantifies cost of complaining about the boss

Peter Vinthagen Simpson
Peter Vinthagen Simpson - [email protected]
Swedish firm quantifies cost of complaining about the boss

Office gripes cost Swedish companies an average of 17 million kronor ($2.86 million) in lost revenues each year. A company in Lund has developed a method to measure the cost of slagging off the boss.

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Lund-based Before has developed a model for measuring the financial impact of griping about the boss, reports local newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

Before's model puts a price on the psychosocial time wasted by letting off steam about the boss, colleagues or one's personal situation at work. Lars Andersson at Before underlined that there must be time to let out office frustrations but the aim is to limit this to 1-3 percent of work time.

In the average Swedish firm the psychosocial time wasted can amount to 8-12 percent of work time and this impacts significantly on production, Andersson observed. Before decided to address the problem and the result is a model which measures the amount of time wasted.

"We managed to cut the cost of the time wasted to 6.2 million kronor per year by using our model," Andersson told Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

The model is based on a questionnaire which staff members fill in. Personnel categorize the amount of time they spend each week talking about office relationships, personal problems and other office gripes.

The results are then collated into the language that all businesses understand - money. Thereby the human resources department is given a tool to emphasize and address the problem with the company leadership.

"When you put a price on the problem is can't just be swept under the carpet by management," Andersson told Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

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