How to Deal with workforce stress

Citation

Morris, G. (2010), "How to Deal with workforce stress", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2010.37209cab.001

How to Deal with workforce stress

Article Type: How to … From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 9, Issue 3

Practical advice for HR professionals

Stress, anxiety and depression are reaching almost epidemic proportions in the western world and when people begin to suffer with some form of psychological difficulty, their productivity and commitment to work begins to fall. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics reveal that 11 million stress-related sick days are taken each year, which costs British industry around £370 million per year but could cost society as much as £3.75 billion (Health and Safety Executive, 2007/2008). A third of UK workers cannot get to sleep at night through anxiety and three-quarters cannot “switch off” when they leave the office (Samaritans, 2006). In the last 12-18 months we have been collectively shouldering the burden of a global recession and the situation with regards to mental health is worsening.

Employers and managers at all levels need to take heed. A quote from Paul Farmer, the chief executive of MIND, the mental health charity for England and Wales, supports this view. He said: “There has never been a more important time to invest in mental health. The recession is not just affecting people’s bank balances; it is having a huge human cost too. Redundancy and money worries put strain on family relationships, cause sleepless nights, trigger stress and increase the risk of developing depression” (Mind, 2009). Thankfully, HR departments, usually in partnership with their occupational health colleagues, are looking for both solutions and guidance to help address these problems. The following five tips would be a good starting point for any HR professional who wants to make a sustainable intervention and ensure adequate workforce planning.

1. Coaching not counseling

All too often we reach for the expensive clinical option when faced with a stressed or depressed employee by sending them to a counselor or psychotherapist. It’s not unusual for such options to cost between £75 and £120 for a session of between 30 minutes and one hour. This is quite often unnecessary for mild to moderate cases. We often ask HR staff if they would send a colleague to a professor of virology if they were off work for a week with the flu. More and more people are training their occupational health and HR staff in methodologies allowing them to “coach” people to overcome low mood or mild anxiety. This allows the individual needing help prompt access to receiving intervention, which increases their confidence in being able to overcome their low mood. If the individual has to wait, it may mean longer periods of sickness, and thus more time off work and more costs.

2. Stress awareness for managers

Managers are usually the first person an employee will turn to if they feel their work is being affected by their mood or if work is contributing to psychological problems. Properly trained managers can be an extremely valuable resource in the battle against the epidemic. Unfortunately most managers have little knowledge or understanding of the problems and may adversely be affecting the mood of their staff without knowing it. The right training need not be expensive or too time consuming, yet can make all the difference.

3. The right work

All too frequently people find themselves in the wrong job. This might be as a result of over estimating their ability to do something for which they have no natural talent or under estimating their ability to do something at which they could be great. Ignore the mantra that “you can be anything you want to be” – you cannot. We have all seen people who were great at their job and were consequently promoted to a role only to find they were nowhere near as good in the new position. Finding a person’s niche is hugely important to their productivity and sense of control, which in turn has a huge knock on effect for their mood.

4. The right workload

On top of being in the right job, we need to give people the right amount of work. Give them too much and we create a fertile ground for stress and low mood – most of us are familiar with the term “burn-out.” Strangely, giving them too little work has the same effect, and is known as “rust-out.” Balance is the key.

5. A sense of control

Studies have shown time and time again that people who have a greater sense of control over their environment suffer from the least stress, yet we often hear stories of staff working with little or no control. So what can be done to change this? Give staff a chance to engage in two-way communication. Inform them of the direction of the company and their department. This eliminates the feeling that something unpredictable is on the horizon. Afford them the opportunity to raise both concerns and examples of good practice that they have experienced. Improving lines of communication can massively increase the sense of control that they experience.

In summary, while the problem is huge and has the potential to spiral out of control, a proactive company has a lot of tools that it can use to successfully combat the problems in its own backyard. By proactively getting to grips with the problems of stress, anxiety and depression, not only do we promote a healthier workforce, but we also find increased productivity as well.

Glyn Morris and Rick Norrisare based at Mind Health Development.

About the authors

Glyn Morris is a mental health nurse and Co-founder of Mind Health Development. Glyn Morris can be contacted at: glyn@mindhealthdevelopment.co.uk

Rick Norris is a Chartered Psychologist and co-founder of Mind Health Development. He is a former HR director. Rick Norris can be contacted at: rick@mindhealthdevelopment.co.uk