Stress Management
Stress at work - for employers
Addressing workplace stress makes good business sense. One UK study found on an average day 20% of workers will experience work-related mental distress, which will cause 40% of sick days costing businesses more than $2000 per employee per year.
However, the mere mention of workplace stress can generate fear and trepidation in any employer. Nonetheless, you should manage workplace stress in the same way as you would for any other workplace hazard, by following a process of identifying and then eliminating or alleviating its cause.
Treat complaints of stress as you would for any other complaint from a member of staff.
What the law says
Under New Zealand law employers have an obligation to try to prevent work-related harm among their staff, and this includes excessive stress causing physical or mental ill-health. As such you should watch for signs of stress among employees and instruct supervisors to do likewise, with attention focussed on persistent changes in behaviour that are out of character.
If any signs are observed, or a worker self-reports stress, then you, as employer, are obliged to investigate the cause and try to remedy it. If the source of the stress cannot be identified and alleviated, but the signs of stress persist, the worker should be referred to a GP for a diagnosis of stress. Good employers will pay for this, and it is considered a mitigating step if a Department of Labour investigation is launched.
If a diagnosis of stress is made, the Department of Labour will launch an investigation to determine the cause, taking into account contributory factors outside the workforce that may exonerate you from responsibility.
The investigation will also look for any signs of coercion by the employer, which can include saying things like: “the last person in your position never found the job stressful”, and what solutions the employer came up with and whether these were delivered. Extreme failure to address issues of workplace stress will result in prosecution.
Ways to monitor for stress in your workplace
- keep an eye on absenteeism, hours worked and persistent lateness
- monitor the temper of the tea room for low morale
- walk around the office or shop floor to get a feel for the mood
- tune in to your staff's wellbeing and look for changes in health and behaviour that is persistently out of character as these may well indicate stress is building up
- create an atmosphere where staff feel able to talk about how they are feeling in their work.
| Do |
Don't |
- take employee concerns seriously
- act early to identify the source of the stress and
address it if possible
- realise that responses and tolerance to stress
in the workplace will vary among individual employees
- ensure adequate levels of staffing
- honour commitments and promises made to
employees, particularly those made during the hiring
phase, as an environment of trust will be inherently less stressful
- give workers flexibility in working hours to increase their resilience to stress.
|
- tell an employee reporting stress that you do not believe them
- be afraid of the word 'stress 'or an employee reporting stress.
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Other considerations
Career pathways
Career uncertainty or stagnation is a significant cause of workplace stress and results from a mismatch in skills and job demands, a lack of rewards or a lack of opportunity for advancement. Solving issues of career pathways requires the attention of both the employer and employee. The employer needs to foster an environment in which they encourage and listen to their employees’ ambitions and attempt to meet them wherever possible, through training, giving workers new roles or opportunities and rewarding them appropriately for their skills and experience. The employee needs to be able to learn through their mistakes, contribute to the organisation's goals and accept change and responsibility.
Flexibility
Giving workers both flexibility and a sense of ownership of their work goes a long way to preventing workplace stress. Rigid hierarchies are disempowering and demeaning, making employees feel alienated from their work. Avoid rigid structures by giving employees control over the order in which they do their work and by ensuring there are opportunities for employees to contribute ideas to how the work is done and organised.
Create a healthy workplace
Workplace stress can be caused by environmental factors, too. Make sure the workplace offers a healthy environment with safe and comfortable levels of noise, clean air, good lighting and is not depressingly ugly.
Communicate
Encourage the exchange of ideas about how to make the workplace healthy with your employees. Initiate the conversation as one of making a healthier workplace rather than a less stressful one as this can avoid the stigma that is often attached to staff admitting suffering or being exposed to stress. A healthy workplace is one in which staff feel valued and enjoy their work.