Stress continues to be an issue within the workplace and does not appear to be reducing. Managers do have difficulty in supporting staff who are under stress and in many instances can make the situation a lot worse.
Currently, there appears to be an increase in bullying, intimidation and harassment and this can be due to uncertainty in the workplace which includes redundancy. It is the staff that are left behind who can suffer from a huge amount of stress as they possibly have a slightly different job and a different manager often. This can cause many problems and instead of trying to improve the situation, it can actually get worse.
As I still have clinical input on a regular basis, I am finding stress and stress-related conditions on the increase and this includes heart disease, stroke, diabetes type 2 and depression to name but a few. There appears to be more complex issues to deal with and I frequently advise that a stress risk assessment should be carried out. Very rarely am I asked for specific advice around carrying one out.
An excellent management tool is the HSE Management Standard approach which can be adapted to an individual organisation and does not require being exactly as the approach laid out. As we work with many different sizes of organisations one size does not fit all. However, they are a great starting point but managers should be trained how to use them and in turn a Stress Risk Assessment. I find them useful as a manager and member of staff tool as well as an organisation-wide tool.
For a proactive and positive approach to managing stress, the Management Standards consider the culture of an organisation where the risks from work related stress are being managed and controlled effectively.
The HSE Management Standards cover six specific areas of work design and if not properly managed, can be linked to ill health and poor well-being, reduced productivity and increased sickness absence and presenteeism. The six Management Standards cover the primary sources of stress at work and they are:
Demands – workload, work patterns and the work environment.
Control – how much control an employee has in the way they do their work.
Support – from the organisation, line manager and colleagues.
Relationships – promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
Change – managing organisational change in large or small organisations.
I have been asked to carry out some more training on the above as I am dealing with stress and stress-related conditions on a daily basis and have a clear insight into what can work effectively in the workplace. The training is on Wednesday 12 February 2014 in Glasgow.
Jessica Smyrl
