Managing Stress and Promoting Wellbeing

Neil Shah

The Stress Management Society

What is stress?

The Stress Management Society’s definition:

• Stress (noun)

a situation where demand on a person exceeds that person’s resources or ability to cope

What is the scale of the problem?

• 13.5 million working days are lost to stress at a cost of £3.7 billion a year

• Our recent survey suggests that:

• 60% say it damages staff retention.

• 83% say it is harming productivity.

• 78% of people say stress is affecting their mood, health and sleep

• yet 61% have not taken any steps to get professional advice.

Understand the true impact of Stress

• In 2008/09 an estimated 415 000 individuals in Britain believed that they were experiencing work-related stress at a level that was making them ill, according to the Labour Force Survey.

• The 2009 Psychosocial Working Conditions (PWC) survey indicated that around 16.7% of all working individuals thought their job was very or extremely stressful.

• The annual incidence of work-related mental health problems in Britain in 2008, as estimated from the THOR surveillance schemes, was approximately 5,126 new cases per year. However, this almost certainly underestimates the true incidence of these conditions in the British workforce.

• According to self-reports from the LFS an estimated 230 000 people, who worked in the last 12 months, first became aware of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2008/09, giving an annual incidence rate of 760 cases per 100 000 workers.

• Estimates from the LFS indicate that self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 11.4 million lost working days in Britain in 2008/09.

• THOR surveillance data from General Practitioners indicates that 30.9% of all diagnoses of work-related ill-health are cases of mental ill-health, with an average length of sickness absence per certified case of 26.8 working days.

Is stress the main cause of sickness absence?

• Workplace stress is directly responsible for 25% of sickness absence

• Up to 70% of visits to a doctor are triggered by stress,

• Stress is linked to heart disease, diabetes, several cancers and many other serious health conditions. As much as 85% of all serious illnesses could be caused by stress.

What is the link between stress and absenteeism?

• The human body is not designed to live in a state of stress

• The immune system becomes suppressed

• People are therefore much more susceptible to illness

How to recognise the impact of stress on your organisation

• Low morale, low self-expectations and consequentially, low productivity

• High sickness absence, with adverse consequences for colleagues that pick up the work of those absent

• High staff turnover

Know your responsibilities

Under current legislation, employers have two duties:

1. To risk-assess whether work activities cause stress-related ill health (under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999)

2. To take measures to control that risk (under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974)

3. Certain offences can now be tried in a Crown Court,

of two year jail sentences and an unlimited fine.

(under The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008)

Do you know:

• The cultural & commercial cost of stress and absence in your business?

• How you compare against your peers in stress and its management?

• From a risk-management point of view, how much you are exposed?

• What practical actions have you taken that have made a difference?

The stress management standards

• The Health and Safety Executive’s Stress Management Standards set out a structure for employers to follow

• They cover several areas:– the demands made on employees

– the level of control employees have over their work

– the support employees receive from managers and colleagues

– the clarity of an employee's role within the organisation

– the nature of relationships at work

– and the way that change is managed

What action can we take?

Follow our approach:

1. Understand the financial impact of stress

2. Conduct a stress audit

3. Write (or amend) a stress/mental health policy

4. Train your people

5. Put support systems in place

6. Incorporate wellbeing activities in your culture

7. Review and evaluate

Stress Testing days for your office:

• 20 minute health and lifestyle evaluation to understand impact of stress and lifestyle issues.

• Equipment used:

- Stress Thermometer – a biofeedback device

- RESPeRATE – measures resperation rate (breaths per minute) which can be impacted by stress

- Blood Pressure Monitor

- Freeze- Framer – Reads Heart Rate Variability

- Body Analysis Test - Calculates body weight, body mass index, body fat and body water

Wellbeing Workshops

• Incorporate a ‘lunch and learn’ wellbeing training workshop into the day.

• 2 hour, half day or full day workshop options.

• Group sizes of approx 25 people (max of 35 people).

Wellbeing Workshops

• Understanding Stress – What is stress? What does it mean?– How does it affect us?– What is the purpose of stress?– When is it beneficial/appropriate?

• Stress Evaluation Exercise • Desk Yoga techniques – Breathing and stretching exercises• Self Massage techniques• Creative Visualisation• 10 Step stress reduction guide• Questions and Feedback

Case study - EDF Energy

What was the impact of addressing workplace health issues?

• From 2003 to 2006, 1191 employees with psychological health difficulties were treated by ESP. In line with the objectives of the programme, significant improvements included:

A reduction in overall sickness absence from 3.9% in 2004 to 3.6% in 2006•

A drop in working days lost per employee due to psychological ill health from 1.76 in 2004 to 1.35 in 2006 affecting a cost saving in sickness absence alone of approximately £1.3m

•A decrease in psychological ill health caused by work. In 2003, 52.6% of people who used the programme were classified as having psychological difficulties related to work circumstances. By 2006 this figure had dropped to 35%

• A reduction of more than 50% in the number of people off work at the time of referral

Case studies from www.workingforhealth.gov.uk

Case study – Bradford and Bingley

What was the impact of addressing workplace health issues?

• Staff turnover is down from 30.1% in 2005 to 23.3% in 2006.The staff survey result for recommending Bradford & Bingley as a place to work has increased from 45% in 2005 to 72% in 2006

• Two thirds of those who attended the smoking cessation coarse and had their progress monitored have quit smoking

• An increased number of staff have taken part in the pilatessessions and have purchased bicycles through the company scheme

• Bradford & Bingley's stress absence rate is down 80%, which is estimated to have saved £250k in lost wages alone. There has also been about a 1% increase in productivity at no cost

Case studies from www.workingforhealth.gov.uk

www.stress.org.uk 0844 357 8629

info@stress.org.uk