CASE INCIDENT 2 When the Going Gets Boring We've all been there whether your job itself is unful commission of CWBs, especially psychologically withdraw filling or if it's a particularly slow day at work, boredoming from the job, sabotaging work equipment, and abusing srikes the best of us in the workplace. It is not a pleasant other coworkers. Fourth, if work is central to an employee's feeling. As Andreas Elpidorou, a researcher at the Univer-life and if employees are not getting their needs met in their sy of Louisville notes, "Boredom is an aversive state char personal and work lives, boredom can lead to depression. xterized by dissatisfaction, restlessness, and weariness... Finally, some people just tend to be more bored than oth- Being in a state of boredom feels like being emotionally ers-the boredom-prone experience a variety of undesirable trapped." Boredom can hit organizations hard. A study by outcomes, such as receiving less support from their organiza- Udemy, an online teaching and learning organization, foundtions underemployment, and lower performance ratings that employees who are bored tend to be twice as likely to So how can you get on track if you're bored in the lewe their organizations within the next three to six months. workplace? One of the keys to tackling boredom is to take Young millennial employees were especially prone to becom-control and be proactive. Research on over 1,500 emplos ing bored at work and were twice as likely to become bored ces in Finland (tracked over three years) suggests that tak- than their baby boomer counterparts. In another study by ing control of your job and setting challenges for yourself. the Intelligence Group, 64 percent of millennials would pres along with acquiring the resources you need to do the fer to forego a $100.000 salaried position that they think is job well, reduce boredom gradually over time. Part of this boring for a $10,000 position that they love. involves forcing yourself to be more curious and looking Being bored at work can have unacceptable conse outside your own responsibilities. When we become over quences that can cause you a lot of trouble if you are not whelmed by the monotony of familiar work, it is time to careful. For one, you can let your coworkers down when find new insights , perspectives, and ways of approaching you're unresponsive and they need you, especially when they our tasks. Others suggest that offering learning opportu- can't move forward without you. Second, boredom can at nities and reducing consistent hours worked, especially times lead to complaining, although this may seem com for millennials, may be effective in reducing boredom at noe in organizations (due to media portrayals on TV and work. Notably, the Udemy survey found that 80 percent of movies of complaining employees), it can be irritating to employees would become more interested in their tasks many employees, especially those who are happy with their if they were given the opportunity to learn more skills wek. Third, research shows that boredom can lead to the These results echo calls for the gamification of the workplace PART 2 The Individual in which everyday tisks can be altered to include game mechanics, potentially leading to a reduction in boredom and an increase in cognitive control. Questions 6-17. Who is responsible for reducing boredom in the workplace and why? Is it the employer? The one who is bored? 6-18. Do you think certain tasks are inherently boring and thus cannot be changed? If yes, what are they? If there are tasks that cannot be made more interesting, how can the negative effects of boredom be mitigated for the employees who must perform those tas? 6-19. Which emotion regulation technique do you think would be the most successful in mitigating boredom and why