Stress: A lost time nightmare

About 91 million workings days per year-a third of all sick leave-are lost because of stress. Not only is this absenteeism costly to employers in itself, but the negative effects of stress can reduce employee efficiency and motivation. In addition, a trickle of compensation claims relating directly to stress is beginning to appear in the courts. In one high profile case, a social worker has won £175,000 in an out of court settlement from his ex-employer.

Survey

System Concepts has conducted a survey amongst some of our clients to get an idea of the measures they are taking to deal with stress. We asked companies about themselves, and about the initiatives they had either seriously considered or implemented to manage workplace stress.

The stress-busting measures suggested in our questionnaire were:

1. Acknowledgement of the legitimacy of workplace stress as part of company policy
2. Stress education workshops, open to all staff
3. Provision of company-funded fitness facilities
4. Company-funded counselling service - externally staffed
5. Company-funded counselling service - internally staffed
6. Stress awareness training for managers/supervisors
7. Systematic monitoring of the incidence of stress in the workplace
8. Job or role redesign
9. Stress assessment interviews (by a manager with an individual employee)
10. Provision of company occupational health service
11. Systems re-evaluation
12. Systematic post-traumatic stress disorder interventions
13. Employee assistance programme - internally staffed
14. Employee assistance programme - externally staffed
15. Taskforce or committee mandated to manage stress interventions

Of the 12 respondent companies:

• 42% had "policy acknowledgement" of the legitimacy of workplace stress
• 33% had implemented stress education workshops and a further 33% had seriously considered doing so
• 58% provided company funded fitness facilities and a further 25% had seriously considered doing so
• 58% provided company funded, externally staffed, counselling services (compared to only 1 company which had an internally staffed counselling service)
• 42% provided stress awareness training for managers and supervisors
• Just 2 companies (17%) had systematic monitoring of the incidence of stress in the workplace

Interestingly, 67% of the companies had not even considered items 8-15 above as potential stress-busting techniques.

In addition, surprisingly few companies had implemented an anti-harassment programme (25%), or a career development programme (50%). Although the number with a "conflict resolution and teamwork" programme was relatively small (25%), this is perhaps a figure to watch as patterns of work change in the future and new approaches are considered.

What the results show

These results do indicate that companies are beginning to take work-related stress more seriously. However the measures to control stress seem in no way proportional to the huge amount of working time lost to stress-related conditions.

Further information about the causes of stress, and what employers can do about it can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive booklet, "Stress at work: A guide for employers". 

System Concepts can help you to reduce the negative effects of stress in your workplace. We can give practical advice on improving the physical working environment (lighting, temperature, ventilation, noise), on workstation and work area redesign, and on aspects such as job design, all of which can reduce stress and improve morale. More "conventional" ergonomics such as the reduction of risk from manual handling and from repetitive tasks can also help to reduce mental and physical pressure on employees, which in turn lowers their experience of stress. If you have a specific need, please tell us about it.

Ansgar Kupper

First published 2004

Last reviewed Jan 2008