This issue and next we are considering Stress in the Workplace, a timely topic given April is Stress Awareness Month. Did you know that Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992?
Whilst this awareness campaign has been going now for 33 years, the challenges and context for workers and employers continues to advance in difficulty year on year with Stress continuing to be a significant factor in workplace absence.
These articles look at some of the key factors for employers to consider when dealing with what is often termed our modern stress epidemic.
Part One Considers:
What is workplace Stress?
The Business, Legal and Moral Case for reducing Stress at Work
And, What are some of the signs of Workplace Stress?
Join us next month for Part Two when we will delve a little deeper considering;
Stress itself is not an illness, but it can affect a person’s physical and mental health. Stress can affect anyone at any level of the business.
Of course some people benefit from a certain amount of pressure as it can keep them motivated, however, when there is too much pressure it can lead to stress.
It is important to note therefore that there is a difference between pressure and stress. Pressure can be positive and a motivating factor. In Fact, it is often essential in a job, it can help us achieve our goals and perform better. Stress occurs when this pressure becomes excessive, stress is a reaction to too much pressure.
The Health & Safety Executive’s formal definition of work-related stress is:
“The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work.”
Recent research shows that work-related stress is widespread and is not confined to particular sectors, jobs or industries. With studies showing 79% of employees are experiencing moderate-to-high stress levels, and a quarter (25%) of UK workers report feeling unable to cope with workplace stress, the challenge remains for organisations to create a motivating work environment, which supports positive pressure without risking the negative effects of Work-Related Stress.
Whilst we know that workplace stress can harm both employee wellbeing and company productivity, the overarching case for reducing workplace stress can be broken down into 3 key areas;
The Business case;
The costs of workplace Stress to the business can include any or all of the following:
Stress can have even greater effect on a small business compared to larger firms as they do not have the same staffing resources to absorb the void left when a member of staff is off on sick leave or leaves the firm altogether.
The Legal Case:
All employers in NI have a legal responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 to ensure the health safety and welfare at work of their employees. This includes minimising the risk of stress-related illness or injury to employees.
Likewise in the UK, employers are bound by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – this puts a ‘duty of care’ on employers to protect their employees from the risk of stress at work as well as the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – this requires all employers to make a ‘suitable and sufficient assessment’ of the risks to the health and safety of their employees at work.
The Moral Case:
Managing the causes of work-related stress prevents ill health. There is now convincing evidence that prolonged periods of stress, including work- related stress, have an adverse effect on health.
Research provides strong links between stress and:
disturbances or various minor illnesses
Stress can also lead to other behaviours that can have an adverse effect on psychological and physical health and well-being, for example:
So now we have clarified what workplace Stress is, and why employer’s should manage it, how might it present in the workplace, what are we looking for?
If an employee is experiencing stress in the workplace, they might notice changes in the ways they work and interact, because of the way their thoughts and feelings affect them, these changes can then be observed by those around them and through their work.
Common emotional changes include:
Common changes to thinking patterns include:
Common behaviour changes:
Therefore, if employers or managers observe workers starting to act differently, it can be a sign that they are stressed.
Employers and managers should also look out for signs of stress in teams, they may observe changes in team dynamic and think about whether the stress could be linked to work pressure.
Signs of stress in a team include:
What is certain is that Workplace Stress continues to be a significant and growing risk factor to business’s, and one which if not managed can impact individuals, teams and organisations.
Join us next month for Part 2 in this Series when we look more at responsibilities for reducing workplace stress and what a proactive approach looks like.