Stress at Work

According to the Health and Safety Executive, work-related stress must be managed in order to reduce sickness absence and to benefit businesses.   

Indeed, one third of all new cases of ill health can be attributed to work-related stress, with each case leading to an average of 30.2 lost working days.  In total, 13.8 million working days were lost in 2006/07.

Of course, the financial cost of these absences to businesses is huge, with the Confederation of British Industry estimating the cost of lost productivity due to mental illness and stress to be five billion pounds.   

But tackling stress does not simply aim at combating sick days and thus directly improving a business’s bottom line.  It can also have a profound effect on employees’ motivation and determination, leading to increased performance, a reduction in staff turnover, customer satisfaction and thus the overall reputation of the business.

Stressing out?

Are you one of the many employees suffering from work-related stress? Stress has been increasing in the workplace, especially with the advent of the internet, the Blackberry and 24/7 working.  Consistently unreasonable deadlines, high demands, a difficult boss and co-worker laziness are all frequently cited factors for increased stress levels at work.

According to The UK National Work-Stress Network, causes of stress fall into several categories:

Work Practices, including:
• Uncertainty about job security or career prospects;
• Long hours culture;
• No recognition or reward for good performance;
• Inadequate time to complete tasks to personal or company standards;
• Heavy responsibilities with no authority or decision-making discretion.

Pressure, including:
• Management techniques such as Human Resource management, lean production, business process re-engineering and Total Quality management (“management by stress”).

Harassment or Bullying, including:
• Prolonged conflict between individuals;
• Exposure to prejudice.

Environment and Technology, including:
• Unpleasant or hazardous working conditions;
• Technology controlling workers (e.g. power).

In addition, according to lifeConnections, Badenoch & Clark’s online candidate magazine, stressful days can often be attributable to unspoken conflicts between co-workers, resulting in a high levels of irritation and low levels of motivation and productivity.

Surprisingly though, even though 92% of UK office workers are stressed, most workers would never complain to their manager or company HR department about a co-worker’s behaviour. 

Ceridian LifeWorks employee, Paul Avis, thinks this reticence is probably due to the “perceived boundary between work and personal issues” and the fact that employees do not want to offend their co-workers.  And being unwilling to complain at work means that the stress is taken home.

Sorting it out

Surely it must be time to recognise the fine line between the positive pressure that leads to great productivity and unreasonable pressure that can be harmful and lead to stress.

Acas is an employment organisation that recognises stress-related problems in the workplace.  They think that employers need to monitor workers’ levels of pressure, especially now that almost 30% of employees annually will suffer mental health difficulties.  Acas London’s Regional Director, Ken Owen, believes that employer vigilance over employees’ stress levels is extremely important if you want healthy, content and thus productive workers.

For the individual sufferer, stress means a lot more than a decrease in workplace efficiency.  According to Acas, not only does stress contribute to increased levels of depression and anxiety, but, perhaps more surprisingly, has been linked to heart disease, back pain and gastrointestinal illness.

There’s no point avoiding the issue: you need to face up to the causes of your stress.  The answer to your problems could include improving your time management, learning to say no to colleagues when you are already going above and beyond the call of duty, or taking your time to form judgements about stressful situations rather than assuming a negative outcome.  You could even pluck up the courage to talk to your boss about what’s been going on.  After all, they are there to help.

You could help decrease your stress levels by eating well and doing exercise. Try fitting in a walk, a trip to the gym, or some yoga or meditation during your lunch break – and if you usually work through, think about how this may be contributing to your stress levels.  Not only will you give yourself something to look forward to during the morning, you’ll get some time to do something productive for yourself and feel refreshed when you get back to your desk to finish the day.

Comments

[Mark Sims]

I was in a senior finance job for four years but was made redundant at the end of 2007
After being very proactive in the job market I managed to secure another Accountants role in the City of London in February 2008
However the demands put upon me in the role was unreasonable.
I worked on average 3 lunch breaks a week I started work at approx.8.10am everyday and it was frowned upon to leave the office at 17.30pm
I used to go to the gym to help me overcome stress but due to the long hours and work pressure I did not manage to get to the gym and after 3.5 months in the job I walked away.
I do not understand why companies cannot focus on their employees well being and as long as deadlines are being met and you are producing the accounts on a monthly basis why should you need to work your lunch hours and not have a break.
It is much healthier for the company to have an employee fit for work and refreshed rather than someone to whom is mentally exhausted. I now find myself out of work but once again actively looking for my next role.