Stress is a particular challenge in all sectors where the sheer amount of major change and restructuring would appear to be the root cause. To a large degree, managing stress is about effective leadership and people management, particularly during periods of major change and uncertainty.
Croft Management Centre has partnered with Premier Life Skills to deliver stress management, organisational wellbeing and the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) accredited Diploma level 5 courses in Wellbeing and Stress Management and Stress Coaching.
This particular programme matches perfectly the Leadership and Management programmes offered by CMC. Good leadership and management training is one of the key drivers to excellent organisational performance and with a backdrop of 20 million working days being lost to stress related absence; training is a must.
Developing wellbeing and maximising performance at work to build a resilient organisation.
The current economic market UK wide.
A total of 20million working days could be lost this year as a result of stress related absence, new research suggests. According to the Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) 10.4 million days were lost as a result of stress between 2012 and 2013. However a survey by workplace consultancy Croner 2014 revealed that 50% of workers feel more stressed now than a year ago which could push the figures up considerably.
The research found that the top three cause of stress for UK employees were work (63%), finances (62%) and the economy (49%) life has changed for many employees.
Workers are putting in a staggering 26 million extra hours in the workplace each day, according to new research from Aviva's latest report on health of the workplace. It shows six in ten employees regularly work beyond their contracted hours, putting in an average of 1.5 hours overtime a day. Nearly one in four claim they work an extra 2-3 hours daily. 79% of these hours are unpaid, which means workers are providing around worth £225 million of ‘free' hours each day for employers.
Aviva October 2013
Stress has become the most common cause of long-term sickness absence for both manual and non-manual employees, according to the CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence Management survey.
CIPD Survey 2014
Psychosocial risks and work-related stress are among the most challenging issues in occupational safety and health. They impact significantly on the health of individuals, organisations and national economies. Around half of European workers consider stress to be common in their workplace, and it contributes to around half of all lost working days.
osha.europa.eu
The National Office of Statistics published figures in February 2014 stating that:
“Stress in the workplace has risen by 28% the in last 3 years”
www.statistics.gov.uk
For change to be successful, managers need to ensure that employees both understand and support the change. It is therefore not surprising that for many managers, communicating change is perhaps the most demanding aspect of their work.
During times of change, employees can become less productive and question their job security. They are likely to go through a whole range of emotions and if the psychological aspect of transition is not planned for and managed, the likelihood of achieving the results may be slim and there is a significant elevation in employee stress levels with a decrease in motivation.
Organisations need to support and use the HSE management standards launched in 2004, these six key areas that have been linked to organisational stress: Demand, Control, Relationship, Role, Support and Change.
Managers need to be supported in creating a healthy organisation, this involves building a culture of trust and respect where recognition, flexibility, control, good communication, purpose and balance are valued, if this happened the workplace thrives. In the current climate culture where every hour must be closely accounted for, managers needs a comprehensive tool kit to help create a team spirit that is strong and where employees support each other. Research has shown that people respond to effective management and it’s the manager’s role to get this out of the team, where peer group support is strong, team spirit will be strong, this approach will help to create a healthy work place culture which is paramount to reduce organisational stress and create an Emotionally Intelligent organisation.
Mental ill-health, such as depression and anxiety, costs British businesses over £1000 per employee every year, or almost £30 billion across the UK economy. This is mostly in lost production through staff being off work or underperforming at work. The wider economic costs of mental illness in England have been estimated at £105.2 billion each year. This includes direct costs of services, lost productivity at work and reduced quality of life.
CIPD 2012, said: “Stress is a particular challenge in all sectors where the sheer amount of major change and restructuring would appear to be the root cause. To a large degree, managing stress is about effective leadership and people management, particularly during periods of major change and uncertainty.
“Line managers need to focus on regaining the trust of their employees and openly communicating throughout the change process to avoid unnecessary stress and potential absences. They also need to be able to spot the early signs of people being under excessive pressure or having difficulty coping at work and to provide appropriate support.”
Currently more and more organisations are being asked by their insurance company to have stress/wellbeing policies and training in place. We can work with you to provide these services.
The business case - Tackling stress brings business benefits
Research has shown work-related stress to have adverse effects for organisations in terms of
- Employee commitment to work
- Staff performance and productivity
- Staff turnover and intention to leave
- Attendance levels
- Staff recruitment and retention
- Customer satisfaction
- Organisational image and reputation
- Potential litigation
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If you would like to know more about our accredited and non accredited leadership & Management programmes or the Diploma in Stress Management and Wellbeing, please contact:-
Peter Collins - [email protected] - 01923 201821
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