This week, on 3rd November, is the 12th annual National Stress Awareness Day in Britain, with companies and organisations across the country set to mark the day with events and stress awareness campaigns.
According to a recent survey1, stress levels in Britain have doubled in the last four years, so it has never been more important to address the issue of stress, particularly amongst employees in the workplace.
According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), which promotes employment relations and HR excellence, stress in the workplace can have many different triggers. For example, a change in the working environment can lead to insecurity or additional responsibilities can put too much pressure on employees and make them anxious about whether they can live up to expectations.
The theme of the 2010 National Stress Awareness Day is “Start Living – Stop Stressing”, and as part of their commitment to this year’s event, here are a list of useful hints and tips of how you can tackle incidences of stress in your workplace3:
• Make sure your employees understand what they have to do, and how they have to do it. Keep them informed about what is going on within the company, and plan ahead so that any changes can be clearly signposted, and all employees are prepared for it.
• Consult your employees about important decisions and prospective changes within the company, so as to give them an input and enable them to work with you to solve problems. Consider ways in which to make employees’ demands more manageable, such as flexible working hours.
• Carry out a thorough induction with new employees, with a checklist of all the important thing they need to know. Provide them with a written statement of the particulars of their employment, make sure their job descriptions are clear and concise, and be prepared to meet their training needs.
• Have clear procedures for handling misconduct and poor performance, and for employees to raise grievances. Tackle all incidences of bullying and harassment, and make it perfectly clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated in your workplace.
• Review your employees’ performances regularly, in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Build effective teams within your employee base, awarding each team its own set of responsibilities, while at the same time maintaining a close link between individual objectives and company goals.
Mental distress and ill health affect every organisation in Britain. At any one time, one worker in six will be experiencing depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress, costing the UK economy £26 billion each year2. In order to keep your employees healthy and motivated, it pays to take care of their health interests. A corporate cash plan from UK Healthcare is an affordable solution that can easily be introduced across the workforce. With a 24-hour confidential counselling helpline included within the plan this can help form part of an employee assistance programme (EAP) for the prevention and early identification of problems.
A subsidiary of Bolton and District Hospital Saturday Council, UK Healthcare Limited provide affordable healthcare insurance for companies from £1 per employee per week. With a UK Healthcare cash plan, costs incurred by a visit to the pharmacy, dentist or opticians, as well as cover for consultant referrals and hospital stays can be claimed back up to policy limits.
For more information about UK Healthcare and their range of group health insurance plans and services, and how these make great employee benefits visit the UK Healthcare website at http://www.ukhealthcare.org.uk/for-companies.
Ref: UKH-HS-291010
1 AXA Money Sickness Syndrome Report
2 The Sainsbury Medical Centre for Mental Health Policy Paper 8
3 www.acas.org.uk - October 2010
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