Stress at Work: a simple guide

A little stress at work can actually do you good - helping focus and preparing the body for action. Some studies even suggest that it can improve memory. But prolonged stress can lead to both physical and mental problems, and long-term absence. And that's when it becomes a problem for both the employee and the company they work for.

Recognising and knowing how to tackle stress is something all companies, big or small, need to be prepared for. This guide examines the causes of workplace stress and looks at what businesses can do to help protect their staff and themselves.

The size of the problem

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), stress accounted for over a third (37%) of all work-related illness in 2015-16, with a loss of 11.7 million workings days – almost 24 days per case.¹

This is backed-up by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) Absence Management Report for 2016, which showed that stress is the biggest cause of long-term absence and the second highest cause of short-term absence behind minor illnesses.

And almost a third (31%) of respondents said that stress-related absence increased over the past year.

It's probably no surprise that the CIPD found workload the most common cause of stress in the workplace, with management style third after stresses caused by non-work factors. This ties in with HSE, who identified the top six causes of stress at work as:

• the demands of the job
• the control an employee has over their work
• the support they receive from managers and colleagues
• relationships in the workplace
• the employee's role in the organisation
• organisational change and how it's managed.

As well as the effect stress has on a person's health, it can cause a big drop in morale and productivity. Unchecked, it can soon translate into increased staff turnover.

Research by Capita Employee Benefits found that nearly half (44%) of employees know a colleague who quit work due to stress, and 75% of the UK employees interviewed had been stressed at work in the last year.²

When you look at how many employees seem to be affected by stress at work, and the fact that it appears to be on the increase, it's perhaps surprising to hear that the CIPD found that a third of organisations that included stress among their top five causes of absence aren't bothering to tackle it. Especially when you consider the many ways that stress can wreak havoc on a business, including:

• Absence due to sick days, long-term work-related illness or occupational injury
• Productivity and revenue loss
• A culture of absenteeism or presenteeism (employees coming into work when they're not really well enough to)
• Decreased motivation or strained relations between employees
• Ill colleagues spreading sickness to others
• Poor general health and decreased wellbeing
• Exhaustion and burn-out, leading to long-term sick leave
• Staff turn-over
• Legal action against a business for failing to protect the physical or mental health of an employee while at work³

So, we know what it is, why it happens and the effects it can have, but what are the things businesses can do to better recognise, monitor and help stressed employees to cope?

Recognising the signs

It's vital that employers are tuned in to how their employees are feeling. The symptoms of stress can appear in a number of ways, but here are some typical signs.

Emotional Your employee may seem sensitive to criticism, be irritable, have an uncharacteristic loss of confidence or self-esteem, and be less engaged.

Cognitive You may notice that your employee is making more mistakes than usual, is having problems making decisions, or is not able to concentrate.

Behavioural This could include things like arriving late, not taking lunch breaks, taking unofficial time off, not joining in with the team or office banter, or not hitting deadlines.

Physical Employees who are stressed sometime exhibit physical symptoms such as what seems like a constant cold, being tired at work, looking like they haven't made an effort with their appearance, or rapid weight loss or gain.

Coping with stress at work

Identifying a stressed employee is one thing, but helping them to cope with stress is quite another as they have no obligation to discuss their personal problems with managers. And with manager style and behaviour often cited as a major cause of workplace stress, managers clearly have a massive - and potentially tricky - role to play.

Acknowledging the problem exists is the first step. Understandably, many employers are worried about broaching the subject, being wrong or causing offence. And if the manager's actually the problem, a neutral third party is needed. A company's HR department typically provides an informal and independent sounding board.

Either the line manager or HR professional should ask the employee for a quiet word somewhere private and then let them know that they've noticed they've not been themselves and ask if they'd like to talk about it.

If they are willing, a meeting with HR could then be set up. The meeting should be confidential, non-threatening, open and provide an opportunity for the employee, the line manager and the HR professional to discuss and identify what support the business can offer to better help the employee to cope.

In an ideal world, this scenario wouldn't happen, but with increasingly busy lives it's a situation that employers are more and more likely to see. The good news is that there are things you can do to help reduce the incidence of stress-related problems arising in the workplace:

Effective communication

Effective communication channels between the workforce and managers go a long way to ensure people feel they have someone to talk to if their workload is spiralling out of control or they have other worries.

Ways of setting up good communication could include staff surveys, giving workers the opportunity to anonymously voice concerns about their jobs and even make suggestions as to how they would like to see management cut down on stress.

Short-term options:

When it comes to how you deal with stress in the workplace, it probably goes without saying that a long-term strategy is preferable. That said, there are a number of shorter-term tactics that you can implement that can go a long way in helping you to tackle workplace stress, including:

• offering stress-management workshops which all staff are invited to and which focus on coping with stress at work. This will help ensure your affected employee doesn't feel like they are being singled out
• keeping an eye on staff holiday - if certain employees aren't using their full quota, gently remind them that they still have plenty of days left to take
• ensuring people can relax while on holiday by making sure other people are available to do their work
• being aware of workloads - spotting and intervening if you notice unreasonable demands being placed on any one employee
• making sure managers are reminded that 'thank you' goes a long way in making staff feeling appreciated

Longer-term considerations:

Once you've made a start on tackling stress in your workplace, it's worth considering a longer-term strategy. It'll take more time and effort to set-up than the shorter-term fixes, but the results should be worth it. Suggestions for a longer-term solution, include:

• Work environment: for example, are there distractions that you can remove, or changes that you can make to seating arrangements?
• Training: things like job shadowing, refresher training or a more formal course run externally, can all help employees feel more in control of their working lives.
• Reducing possible pressure: pressure is part and parcel of most jobs at some point, but to make sure it doesn't become a permanent fixture, consider offering flexible working, or working from an office nearer home.
• 3rd party help: if your company has one, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can provide independent, expert help (see Wellbeing section below)
• Self-help strategies: consider offering short courses on relaxation techniques and time management, or maybe introduce the option of an exercise class once a week. You could also advertise (on noticeboards or your intranet) websites that promote healthy eating, how to achieve a good work/life balance, etc.

The boss blues

We've all come across a cross-section of managers and a range of management styles in our careers. Some may be uncaring, inflexible or unsure. Others are nurturing, empathic and supportive. Either way, management style, good or bad has a direct effect on staff wellbeing and morale.

Training newly-appointed managers in man-management techniques can be one way to equip someone stepping into the role. Research⁴ also reveals the key management behaviours that can help reduce stress at work:

• Being responsible and showing respect - managers can understandably get annoyed with their staff, but it's up to them to manage their emotions and conduct all interactions in a considered manner.
• Managing and communicating workloads - let your staff know what's coming up so they can better manage their workloads. It's also good to take an open problem solving approach with employees - that collaborative approach will help empower employees.
• Treating people like individuals within the team - this includes having an open-door policy (we know it's easier said than done when you've got a lot on, but it really will help). Also, where you can, try to empathise with employees and offer flexibility in hours, workload, or location to help employees manage their individual work/life balance.
• Offer support with managing difficult situations: managing conflict is harder for some people than others. Where you see difficult situations arising, offer support and, if needs be, take responsibility for resolving the issue.

Paying attention to staff wellbeing can bring positive results. As well as the possibilities to change working practices, management style and communications, some workplace employee benefits can also have a positive effect on both staff and businesses.

But, if you do offer any employee perks, don't forget to tell staff about them. It sounds obvious, but research from Cass Business School⁵ showed that failing to tell staff about the benefits on offer is costing UK companies £2.7bn every year, through increased staff turnover and sickness absence.

Employee benefits you may want to consider introducing include:

Income Protection insurance - can pay your employees a percentage of their salary if they're ill or injured and unable to work. Importantly, from a stress perspective, it also provides support from rehabilitation experts, often from day one of the employee's absence. Some Income Protection insurers also provide telephone access to their rehab experts so you can give them a call and ask for help if one of your employees is showing signs of stress.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - this benefit offers your employees confidential support and counselling on a range of personal or work-related issues, such as finances, careers, parenting and childcare, caring for the elderly, retirement and disability. If an employee is feeling stressed, they could give the EAP a call to ask for advice or help - which may include CBT or counselling. A lot of Income Protection products include an EAP at no additional cost.

Where can I find out more?

For employees:

Mind have a great section on their website that talks all about stress and how to manage it.

For employers:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a useful section on its website on how to tackle workplace stress, including a risk assessment template and methods you can employ to combat its effect at work.

Or, to help prepare your line managers for recognising and dealing with stress in the workplace, try the Line Manager Competency Tool.

Our Mental Health in the Workplace hub also has many resources that employers, HR professionals and line managers may find useful.

^{1.http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/stress.pdf}

^{2.Capita Employee Insight Report 2016-17}

^{3.The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that employers have a duty to protect employees’ mental and physical health at work by taking measures to avoid or reduce risk in the workplace. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 provides more explicit examples of risk assessment, essential health and safety measures and training for staff.}

^{4 https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/line-management-behaviour-and-stress-at-work_2009-line-managers-framework_tcm18-10442.pdf These behavioural competencies or themes are the result of a four year research project funded by HSE, CIPD and IIP and carried out by a team of Occupational Psychologists from Goldsmiths and Affinity Health at Work.}

^{5.Cass Business School on behalf of Unum: Money Talks: Communicating Employee Benefits, July 2013}