Workplace Stress, Are You Managing?

We recently held a very successful seminar on the latest developments in managing workplace stress and discover how an active stress management programme can improve your business.

The presentations included:

• Developing a robust wellbeing strategy - Liz Skelton, Senior Health and Safety Consultant explained how organisations can effectively communicate about stress to employees and implement the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress Management Standards.
• Putting the HSE Management Standards into practice - Jo Hare, Health and Safety Consultant, presented examples of how the HSE Stress Management Standards can work in practice.
• Discussion and sharing of ideas about best practice in stress management and how it could work in your organisation.

If you weren't able to attend the seminar, but would like more information or copies of the presentations, please contact Liz Skelton on  liz@system-concepts.com

Some background information

Everyone experiences pressure at some point during their working life – it helps to motivate us.  But excessive pressure can lead to stress.  About 13.8 million working days are lost each year due to stress related illnesses, making it the biggest cause of occupational ill health in the UK.    

The law requires employers to find out what the causes of work related stress are in their workplace, assess the risks and work with employees to find positive ways to tackle the issues and prevent stress.

By proactively preventing stress, you can have a positive effect on your:

• employees’ health, wellbeing and commitment to work
• performance and productivity
• turnover, staff recruitment and retention
• customer satisfaction
• organisation’s image and reputation.

But, as an employer, where do you start? 

An active stress management programme can help you to:

• communicate to your employees about stress
• develop a stress policy
• identify the causes of work-related stress and assess the risks
• provide interactive training to help managers to develop more confidence and understanding when talking about stress to employees
• open up the dialogue with employees, for instance by using focus groups to find solutions to workplace stressors
• provide information showing the results of your proactive management.

We have considerable experience in implementing these programmes and are happy to share our experiences with you.