Work Related Stress for Managers
Stress at work costs British Industry £5 billion per year. A recent TUC survey showed stress as the primary workplace hazard in ten out of twelve industry sectors and that stress claims have trebled in the last two years with around 6.5 million working days lost. Although some claims have been overturned recently in the
HSE defines stress as :-
“The reaction that people have to excessive pressure, or other types of demands placed upon them. It arises when they worry that they can’t cope”
Work related stress is experienced when the demands of the work environment exceed the employees’ ability to cope with or control them. This leads to an adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them.
Although stress in itself is not an illness it can lead to psychiatric ill health that can also affect physical well being. It can also lead to other harmful activities such as increased smoking and drinking, missing meals and too much caffeine.
It is important to recognise the difference between the beneficial effects of reasonable challenges and work pressures, which can give a “buzz” and work related stress which is the natural and but distressing reaction to what is perceived to excess demands.
Everyone is vulnerable to work related stress, also it is important to recognise that the ability to cope with pressure changes with circumstances. Work pressures can affect home life, similarly home pressure can affect the ability to cope at work.
Stress can also have a domino effect in a workplace – people who are already quite heavily loaded will be more vulnerable should one of the team be absent due to stress and the work subsequently passed on to the remainder.
The behavioural effects of stress include:
· Increased anxiety
· Irritability
· Increased drug use e.g. alcohol, tobacco
· Poor sleeping pattern
The physical effects of stress include:
· Raised heart rate
· Increased sweating
· Headaches
· Dizziness
· Blurred vision
· Skin rashes
Harmful levels of stress occur where:
· Pressures pile on top of each other or are prolonged
· People feel trapped or not in control of the demands made on them
· People are confused by conflicting demands made on them
As well as its effect on individuals it must be noted that stress also effects the organisation at large. Stressed employees availability for work will be diminished as will their capacity for work and the quality of their work. This will lead to “organisational ill-health”.
Managers attending this practical one-day course will be taught the benefits of preventing stress in their employees and in recognising it's symptoms in order to successfully deal with it in it's early stages therefore saving the organisation, themselves and their employees unnecessary problems, illness and financial losses.