Strategies for dealing with workplace stress

Failure to deal with workplace stress is estimated by the Health and Safety Executive to cost the UK £12 billion each year in lost productivity due to sickness absence – while the mental cost to the quality of our lives must be much higher. Yet, by adopting simple strategies it is possible to at least recognize the symptoms and attempt to deal with them.

Definition

The Health and Safety Executive define stress as “the adverse reaction
people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them”.
This makes an important distinction between pressure, which can be a
positive state if managed correctly, and stress which can be detrimental to
health.

Strategies for assessing stress

The HSE has recommended that companies adopt Management Standards that cover six key areas of work responsible for stress:

These are:

• Demands – such as workload, work patterns and the work environment
• Control – such as how much say the person has in the way they do their work.
• Support – such as the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.
• Relationships – such as promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
• Role – such as whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
• Change – such as how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.

Learn more

To learn more about what your company can do to combat workplace stress visit the following resources:

Visit the TUC website

Visit the HSE website