“Although organisations are placed under a legal duty to provide a safe place of work, there are additional benefits that will be experienced by workplaces that take appropriate and positive steps to manage this issue.” - Pam Molyneux

Understanding Stress

Stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive as “the adverse reaction people can have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them.”

Stress is a natural reaction to life events, and it is understood that a certain level of stress can be a positive factor, encouraging individuals to work harder and put in further effort. It is, however, recognised that high levels of stress can have a significant detrimental impact on an individual's health and wellbeing. In 2016/17, a survey found that over half a million workers suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety and 12.5 million working days were lost due to these areas.

Where it is not managed appropriately, stress can have a significant adverse effect on employees resulting in physical, intellectual, emotional and behavioural issues. Stress can also contribute towards other issues including, but not limited to: 

• increased fatigue

• anxiety

• low self-esteem

• difficulty in thinking rationally

• accidents

• headaches

• depression

• panic attacks

• lack of motivation

• chest pains

• stomach problems

• relationship problems

• cancer

• high blood pressure

• ulcers

• alcoholism

• coronary heart disease.

Due to the potential harmful effects of stress, organisations are encouraged to treat this matter like any other health hazard and take steps to ensure they address any stress-related incidents or concerns.

Understanding the causes of Stress

Stress can be caused by a significant range of factors, both work-related and as a result of situations in an employee’s personal life.

Work-related causes can include the following:

• unrealistic workloads or deadlines, leading to an employee feeling swamped and overwhelmed

• working overly long hours or not taking appropriate rest breaks

• poor internal and management communication

• isolation from colleagues and managers

• failure to provide performance feedback

• uncertainty regarding duties and responsibilities

• aggressive management resulting in job dissatisfaction.

Personal issues which could have an effect on an individual’s wellbeing are also wide-ranging, but may include:

• relationship or family problems

• illness or bereavement

• major life changes, such as having a child or moving house.

The benefits of combatting stress

Although organisations are placed under a legal duty to provide a safe place of work, there are additional benefits that will be experienced by workplaces that take appropriate and positive steps to manage this issue. These include:

• reducing levels of absenteeism

• improving staff retention rates

• lowering recruitment costs

• increasing staff morale and engagement

• creating a positive work environment

• lowering the risk of mistakes and workplace accidents

• improving workplace relationships.

Developing a stress management policy

It is advisable to develop a clear, robust policy which outlines the organisation’s commitment to assisting employees with stress-related issues and their positive approach to tackling such issues. This policy can be developed in collaboration with staff and management, and agreed with staff representatives where appropriate.

The overall aim of the policy should be to set out the actions that will be taken by the organisation to ensure a safe environment for their employees. It should outline who maintains responsibility for this area, alongside the conduct expected from both management and employees themselves.

For more information, please refer to our model stress management policy . 

Workplace support for those experiencing stress

In the first instance, ensure that your managers are confident in supporting employees in this area. It is a difficult area to deal with, so you need to equip your managers with the tools. Check out our introductory online training and also get in contact to talk more about our Wellness & Resilience and Stress Buster management training.

Managers can work together with the employee to develop a wellness action plan that provides a consideration of how the organisation, and the employee themselves, can take steps to reduce the effect of high levels of stress on the employee at work. In many cases, small changes to working arrangements or responsibilities can help to ease pressures affecting the individual, although this will not always be suitable.

Identifying appropriate support which has the required effect may take a period of time and a number of meetings. Some changes may also require authorisation from senior management or HR. Where this is the case, the employee’s manager should explain this to the employee and provide an approximate timeline for this approval to be received.

Where changes are put in place, it can be discussed whether these changes are temporary, for a specific period or permanent. If a permanent change is introduced, it will need to be explained how this change could affect the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. It may also need to be agreed what, if anything, will be communicated to colleagues within the employee’s team or department.

Even if the cause of the stress is not work-related, making changes to the employee’s working arrangements may help to reduce some of the pressure they are experiencing, such as changing their working hours. 

If you want to talk through a particular case that you are managing at the moment, please do join us at our free monthly HR Surgery - the purpose of these sessions is to give you a platform in which you can discuss your people management issue, find a solution to navigate your way forward and collaborate with other people managers to thrive even more. Please do get in contact for the zoom details.