Colin Matthews: Chartered Psychologist

Workplace Stress Management

Stress is now the single biggest cause of sickness absence in the UK, accounting for 14 million lost working days and costing industry in excess of £3.7 billion each year.

While an amount of stress can be healthy and sometimes necessary for peak perfomance, when it is continuous, it can become debilitating. People over-stressed can cease to function at even the most basic levels. A normally outgoing, happy, friendly person can become anxious, frustrated, angry, obstructive and bullying but also passive, compliant and withdrawn. Their mood can drop and their self-confidence and self-esteem might become quite low. At work, their ability to do their job will reduce as their concentration, memory and clarity of thought becomes poorer and their motivation less. The employee is likely to need time off to recover and, if the source of the stress is not addressed, is likely to have repeated absences.

People suffer stress for many reasons. It could be that the employee has a general tendency to over-worry or over-work. It could be that they have personal issues (divorce, bereavement, house move) that are causing specific problems at this time. It might be that there are job-related issues that they are struggling with where training or some other form of additional help might be necessary. From an employment perspective, it could be something in the company culture or workplace environment that makes this employee more susceptible to stress. According to the Department of Health sources of job stress include excessive working hours, poor relationships with colleagues and managers, lack of opportunity to delegate work and isolation.

In order to manage stress effectively therefore, the potential sources of stress at different levels need to be addressed both proactively and reactively. Employers have legal duties to assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work-related issues (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, 1999) and to take measures to control that risk (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, 1974). A survey in 2005 of NHS Employers indicated, however, that "only 27% ... had carried out any risk assessments related to stress. When asked about stress prevention initiatives, most cited counselling and nearly half cited job redesign/restructuring and stress management training, ie they focused on the individual rather than the organisation." (DoH, 2008: Mental and Ill Health in Doctors).

Colin Matthews works with businesses to deliver stress management initiatives. At a basic level, he offers skills workshops to employers on the management of stress with respect to management and organisational styles and to employees on managing their own stress. At the more complex organisational levels, he works with businesses to help them identify stressors in their organisational structures and put in place systematic procedures for reducing workplace stress and monitoring staff stress levels. He will also work with individual employees who are experiencing specific difficulties (at a counselling or coaching level as appropriate) in order to help identify and alleviate stress factors.

Your initial consultation is free. Please contact Colin for further details