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Work Related Stress
Work related stress - where the demands placed on a person are beyond their ability to cope- is a major cause of occupational ill health, leading to sickness absence, poor staff retention and decreased work performance.
Organisations have a legal responsibility to manage work and the workplace so that, amongst other duties, the risk for employees of stress-related illness is minimised. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have published a guide (Work Related Stress: What the Law Says November 2010) to employers' legal obligations to identify and prevent stress at work.
The HSE (Health & Safety Executive) has introduced Management Standards, which represent conditions that have been identified as important for high levels of employee health, well being and organisational performance.
The HSE also publishes useful analysis tools for use in organisational settings.
Managers and their behaviour - a direct source of stress?
ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) points out that 'whatever the size of the organisation you work in, whatever you do, your employees are your most valuable asset. If you are a director, line manager, supervisor, team leader, or head of department, the way you manage can have an important impact on the health and wellbeing of your employees, how well they do their job, and how well your organisation performs.'
In other words, line managers can either directly cause stress or reduce stress for their team, depending on how they behave at work.
ACAS has brought together a wealth of useful resources to help understand the business case for better management skills, as well as offer practical advice and guidance on how to get the best from your staff.'
How can Companies Help?
One way in which many companies partly meet their obligations towards employees is to provide them with free and confidential counselling, often through Employee Assistance contracts and Stress Awareness Seminars (see below).
However, it makes good business sense to ensure that the company and its managers are not a source of avoidable stress to its employees.
- Company procedures and work policies - do they make sense for frontline workers, or do they affect employee wellbeing or the achievement of effective outcomes?
- Managers and how they manage their team - are they fair, consistent and supportive of employee development?
ACAS have identified the need for managers to embody 5 principles in their dealings with employees and a list of practical resources to help managers improve their leadership skills so they can get the most from their team without overlooking employees' wellbeing needs.
Wellbeing - the new Gold Standard
The World Health Organisation defines 'wellbeing' as:
"The positive dimension of mental health [...]: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
In November 2010, the government highlighted the importance of wellbeing as a key focus for people, businesses and the nation.
“From April next year we will start measuring our progress as a country not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving, not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life.
“We’ll continue to measure GDP as we’ve always done, but it is high time we admitted that, taken on its own, GDP is an incomplete way of measuring a country’s progress.” David Cameron, in a speech given on 25/11/10
The National Wellbeing Index
The Office of National Statistics will be looking for new ways of measuring national well-being, including quality of life as well as economic health.
Chaired by Dame Carol Black, the network aims to reinforce understanding of the positive link between health and work amongst employers, employees and the general public. It has working groups in four areas:
- Health and Wellbeing Local Business Partnerships – three pilots where large companies mentor local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) on employee health and wellbeing.
- Engaging SMEs - analysing the most effective ways of engaging SMEs in workplace health and wellbeing, and developing a website that brings together SME-relevant information.
- Managing Chronic Conditions guides – developing guides for employers and employees on managing people with chronic illness in the workplace.
- Occupational health – developing practical guidance to help occupational health services support and encourage employers in safeguarding and improving the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
Following the launch, the network will look at mental ill health - still one of the biggest causes of working days lost. It will also develop proposals for how employers can be supported to offer health-promoting activities to their employees, such as free health checks and smoking-cessation programmes.
Online Forums:
Cutting-edge thinking (and evidence) on the best ways to promote wellbeing at work can be found in Employee Wellness Magazine, an online magazine and professional forum.
Professional and Executive Coaching
Organising one's business systems from the viewpoint of how to deliver what your customer, or user, of your organisation needs makes great sense.
John Seddon, author of Systems Thinking in the Public Sector, gives a thought provoking lecture on Cultural Change in Organisations on how this approach can dramatically increase productivity, reduce costs, improve job satisfaction and deliver a better outcome for customers.
Emotional Intelligence Coaching for Leadership and People Management
An article in the Sunday Times (Appointments 26/4/09) highlighted that 'people get to middle management on their technical skills and business acumen', but 'what really matters ... is emotional intelligence - the ability to identify, assess and manage the emotions of others'.
Roche Martin, specialists in emotional intelligence skills for business leaders, have a reasonably priced online Emotional Capital Inventory which provides an outline of strengths and areas for development.
Managing Change
Managing change within an organisation is a complex task, and supporting employees to adapt to change can be difficult, as many people find change unsettling. An independent consultant can help change to take place with more ease.