Stress accounts for around 40% of long-term absences – and can reduce performance by up to 70%!! If it leads to a high staff turnover that compounds situation, disrupting business, increasing costs (direct and indirect) and reducing profitability. It is estimated that over 270,000 people are absent from work every day due to stress related issues! 1 in 5 report feeling extremely stressed at work. That is 5m people!!

If you are an employer, or a manager, you need to pay attention to what is happening in your workplace regarding stress. It affects people, performance and you! Stress is not an illness, it is a state and can be managed or changed. However, not doing so can result in someone becoming ill.

The other reason for paying attention to this is that there is legislation around it! There is duty of care and responsibility attached to managers as part of Health and Safety legislation. This means undertaking risk assessments, creating a positive environment and managing work activity to reduce stress and pressure at work.

You can use these questions to get an immediate sense of where you are meeting HSE criteria and where issues may occur for your business:

• The culture of your organisation - how does it approach work-related stress?
• Demands on people, such as workload and exposure to physical hazards. Is work sensibly scheduled so that workload levels are right?
• Control over their work and way they do it – how much say do staff have?
• Relationships – how do you deal with issues such as bullying or harassment? (Remember, up to 1 in 5 reports they have been bullied at work.)
• Organisational change – how is it managed and communicated?
• Understanding of role – do individuals understand their role in organisation? Does organisation ensure that individuals do not have conflicting roles or challenges? (Is there a clear definition of roles?)
• Support and training from peers and line managers for person to be able to do core functions of job – do you cater for individual needs and differences?

Look at your organisation, and yourself if necessary and think about what you can do against these factors to vaccinate it against stress! You do not want it becoming an epidemic – it is bad for business!! Make time to avoid pressure turning to stress for you personally and you will be in a better position to look at those around you and spot early warning signs – and support people who may be in danger of becoming stress spreaders to stop them at source!

To keep yourself in right state to avoid becoming stressed or a stress spreader, learn to be reasonable with yourself – and others. Keep things in perspective and set realistic standards and expectations for yourself.

When things are building up ask yourself:

– what will this look like in a year when we look back on it? (Or 3 years or 6 months.) How important will it seem then?

- what will be worst that might happen if I don’t…….?(or do!)

- what am I gaining by always thinking I have to be "Superman" or “Superwoman”? How often do I manage it?

Stress can be contagious – and when it is negative form of stress it spreads quickly and no-one enjoys it or benefits. Prevent it with your attitudes and behaviour to yourself and others.

Graham Yemm a founding partner of Solutions 4 Training Ltd. He has worked with many different organisations around the world conducting both training and consultancy assignments. He is a Master Practitioner of NLP and an accredited trainer for the LAB profile programme – “Words that Change Minds”. Contact,

Why do figures show such an increase in stress related problems in recent years? Has that much changed? In short, yes! There are a number of factors, and these are an indicator and not a comprehensive list.

• Workloads – reductions in headcount yet same or more work expected of people left behind
• The pace of life, hassles with getting around, speed of response to things
• Expectations – of self and others
• Lack of control over aspects of our lives
• Materialism
• Values not being met or having to operate in conflict with our values

What can organisations do to monitor and manage stress risk?

One of first things to acknowledge that there is a risk. Too many managers, especially senior executives, want to hide their heads in sand and deny that there is a problem, or potential problem. They certainly do not want to suggest that they may be a significant contributor to problem! Stress is not a problem confined to executive suite! In fact, a higher percentage of workforce down line will suffer stress-related problems than senior management. Having said that, consequences to organisation and people of an over-stressed senior manager can be horrendous!

The organisation can use a number of factors to assess whether there is problem. As in most forms of good management, gathering data is key. Work from facts and not only conjecture, though do not ignore it.

One of “standards” is to look at absenteeism, both levels and any patterns. Is level static or increasing? Is any area of organisation suffering more than others? What happens when employees return to work, do you have a meeting with them to find out real reasons for absence, and what you can do to prevent them recurring? Also, will organisation offer support to help employee? If there is a pattern in one area, what is being done to address cause? (Is it nature of work, or manager or environment?)

Look at quality information. Is there an increase in errors, customer complaints or, are other standards not being achieved? Before chasing teams or individuals and demanding improvements, explore why things have begun to slip. Talk to people about what is going on and how they feel.

What is happening to staff turnover figures? Any trends apparent? Is organisation using exit interviews to find real reasons behind departure?

To get a proper overview as an organisation, a good starting point is to carry out a simple audit. Questions in these areas will help to get an immediate sense of where organisation is in terms of meeting HSE criteria. It will also highlight where issues may occur.

• The culture of your organisation - how does it approach work-related stress?
• Demands on people, such as workload and exposure to physical hazards. Is work sensibly scheduled so that workload levels are right?
• Control over their work and way they do it – how much say do staff have? Are managers reasonable in their expectations and treatment of their teams?
• Relationships – how do you deal with issues such as bullying or harassment? (Another point, up to 1 in 5 people report they have been bullied at work.)
• Organisational change – how is it managed and communicated?
• Understanding of role – do individuals understand their role in organisation? Does organisation ensure that individuals do not have conflicting roles or challenges? (Is there a clear definition of roles?)
• Support and training from peers and line managers for person to be able to do core functions of job – do you cater for individual needs and differences?

Another thing for management team to do, is to develop an understanding of stress, its causes, symptoms and consequences. They can then begin to operate in a way which will create a healthier organisation. They can monitor “health” using approach above – and then set about managing to maintain a healthy environment. The secret to stress management is not about learning to relax, exercise or other coping strategies, although these do help. It is about getting to cause of problem and dealing with it from there. Good management practices, good communication, and supporting and caring for people will all help to reduce risk of stress. Reduce stress and you reduce risks in many other areas of business.

Graham Yemm a founding partner of Solutions 4 Training Ltd. He has worked with many different organisations around the world conducting both training and consultancy assignments. He is a Master Practitioner of NLP and an accredited trainer for the LAB profile programme – “Words that Change Minds”. Contact, <Back to Page 1