Stress. How is it affecting your business?
The Health and Safety Executive estimates that 12.8 million working days are lost in the UK each year due to stress, with a cost to the UK of around £3.7 billion per year.
At an individual business level, there are many negative effects that stress can have on a company. Some are easily identified, such as 'stress related' absence, reduced individual performance and employment tribunal claims. However, there are many effects that are less easily recognised, for example: sickness absences due to medical conditions aggravated by stress (e.g. heart disease and depression); a loss of customers; an increase in mistakes and accidents; or the deterioration of co-operative and effective working relationships. All of these could have a significant impact on business performance, efficiency and ultimately on the bottom line!
Stress can be described as occurring when an individual 'perceives that the demands placed upon them exceed their capability'. Some visible signs that someone may be experiencing 'stress' include:
- Increased anger, frustration, moodiness, or depression
- Decrease in individual performance
- Being tired due to a lack of sleep
- Impairment of perception, concentration, memory, judgment or decisiveness
- Deterioration of their relationships with people
- Excessive or poor attendance and erratic timekeeping
- An increase in clumsiness and mistakes
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, employers are obliged to provide a safe place to work which includes taking preventative steps to avoid causing employees physical and mental illness. Therefore it is vital that organisations are able to identify and manage stress effectively.
In order to do this, the best organisations:
- Have a company policy that:
o Acknowledges and communicates the need to recognise and manage excessive stress;
o is informative and outlines employee, manager and the organisations responsibilities;
o provides a procedure for handling key critical issues.
- Include stress in Health and Safety Risk Assessments.
- Recognise and effectively manage some of the 'drivers' such as culture, job demands, relationships and change
- Offer an Employee Assitance Programme that offers access to counselling or other support
Your employees can also play a key role in identifying and managing stress: take steps to raise their personal awareness and encourage them to take responsibility for looking after their health and reporting any concerns they may have.
Stress can pose a large risk if it occurs frequently, is prolonged or mismanaged. However, introducing a few preventative measures, recognising the signs and knowing how to manage excessive stress when it occurs will go a long way to protecting both your employees and your business.
HR Advantage Ltd provides practical advice and guidance on stress matters, runs training courses and offers access to Employee Assistance Programmes for employers of all sizes. For more information on Stress Management please contact Jenny Summers on 01404 42359 or email jenny.summers@hradvantage.co.uk.
October 2006
