Stress - Are you managing?

After musculoskeletal disorders, stress has become the second biggest cause of work-related ill health in the UK.  Over 12.5 million working days a year are lost due to workplace stress, which means that employees who suffer from stress are likely to take an average of 28.5 days off work.  With an estimated cost of £3.7 billion, stress has a large impact not only on business, but also on the UK economy as a whole.
Employers have a duty to ensure that they control risks arising from work.  So how much is your business doing to control stress levels?

The HSE recognises that stress is a growing issue in workplace health and in response to this has developed the Management Standards for Stress, in conjunction with businesses, unions and key stakeholders.  These standards are intended to help employers assess stress levels in their workplace and identify solutions.  They also allow for benchmarking between organisations. Their purpose is to reduce levels of stress suffered by British workers and to reduce the number of sick days taken because of stress.

Practical steps for managing stress at work

There are a number of practical steps that organisations can take to manage stress at work:
1. Write a policy on how your organisation manages stress and make it available to all employees.
2. Complete an employee survey to identify stressors in your organisation.  Talk to employees about stress issues.
3. Complete a stress risk assessment which covers the management standards.
4. Keep records of stress complaints, analyse them and find out if you can do anything to reduce them.
5. Agree an action plan for improvements, and set some long term targets.
6. Provide training for managers on how to identify employees suffering from stress and training for employees on how to manage the pace.
7. Provide information to employees on support services that are on offer, for example, stress workshops and employee assistance programmes.
8. Raise awareness - hold a stress promotion day which encourages employees to look at how they can help to manage their stress or write an article for the company newsletter on stress reduction techniques.

Management Standards

The Management Standards help employers assess their workplace culture by identifying six areas of work design that, if not managed properly, can cause stress. 

The Management Standards cover:
Demands - Employees must be able to cope with the demands of their jobs.  Do you analyse workloads, the environment employees work in and patterns of work (for instance shifts, working long hours and working over lunch breaks)?
Control - Employees must be able to have their say about the way they work.  Do you consider how much autonomy a person has in their work and how much input they have into making their job enjoyable?
Support – Employees must receive adequate information and support from their colleagues and managers.  Do your employees receive the right amount of support and encouragement an employee from their colleagues and managers? Do you provide enough resources for your employees to carry out their role effectively?
Relationships – Employees must not be subjected to unacceptable behaviour.  Do you have systems in place for dealing with unacceptable behaviour and conflict management?
Role – Employees must understand their role.  Do your employees know  how their role fits into the organisation and how to manage conflicting roles?
Change – Employees must be consulted when the organisation changes.  How does your organisation manage and communicate change?

All of these factors need adequate management systems, to minimise the risk that they will cause stress.

Once you have identified the primary sources of stress within your organisation, it is important to work with your employees to find ways of reducing stress and find practical solutions.  By consulting with staff using a staff survey or one to one discussions you will be able to identify how many of them are suffering from stress and the reasons why.   You will then be able to compare the results to the Management Standards and find out where there are gaps in your organisation.  By benchmarking against the Management Standards you can make real and lasting improvements.

Tips for improving your organisation's stress levels

You can improve your organisation's stress levels by:
1. Providing employees with adequate and achievable physical and mental demands and ensuring people's skills and abilities are matched to these job demands.
2. Making sure the job employees do is interesting and challenging in a positive way.
3. Quickly addressing any concerns that employees have.
4. Encouraging training and skills development.
5. Consulting with staff on change and work patterns.
6. Ensuring policies and procedures are in place to support employees adequately.
7. Ensure employees know what support is available and how to access it.
8. Ensure employees receive frequent feedback and that a positive, constructive and open dialogue is maintained between the employee and their line manager.
9. Promoting fairness and positive behaviour and having systems in place to deal with bullying and unacceptable behaviour.
10. Ensuring that the different requirements placed on employees are compatible.

More information on the Management Standards for Stress and National Stress Awareness Day can be found on www.hse.gov.uk.
System Concepts can also help you to reduce stress in your workplace. We can give practical advice on improving the working environment, on workstation and job design and training in completing risk assessments.  If you have a specific need, please contact Liz Skelton.