Managing Stress

What is it and how can it help me?

Work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill health which can lead to sickness, absence, high staff turnover and poor performance. Wherever possible, minimise avoidable stress during times of organisational change. This guidance will help you identify and respond to stress during the change process. It also outlines the factors which can trigger stress at work.

When does it work best?

Change in itself is a stressful process. The more you are able to minimise any negative impacts arising from change, such as additional stressors at work, the more likely you are to succeed in making the changes you need to bring about. This guidance helps you identify the sources of stress and gives you strategies to reduce them.

How to use it

Identifying stress:
Some of the signs of stress:

Increased irritability
Increased sensitivity to criticism
Signs of tension, like nail-biting
Tiredness due to lack of sleep
Increased use of alcohol or cigarettes
Loss of concentration
Absenteeism
Reduced performance

Employers have a responsibility to ensure that staff are not made ill by their work.

The nine major causes of stress at work have been identified as:

Poorly designed / managed workload
Poorly designed / managed work scheduling
Poorly designed / managed work design
Poorly designed / managed physical environment
Lack of skill discretion
Lack of decision authority
Lack of appropriate proactive support
Lack of appropriate reactive support
Poorly designed / managed procedures for eliminating damaging conflict at individual / team level (bullying / harassment)

Actions:
Things you can do to reduce stress levels at times of change:

Acknowledge that the emotions staff are experiencing are normal
Acknowledge that the majority of staff will progress through these stages at a different pace and react in different ways
Address feelings and fears
Clarify decisions by providing objective, fact-based answers to questions. Do not leave questions hanging in the air
Involve people in the change process
Avoid a blame culture
Prioritise tasks
Communicate and listen
Celebrate early success and acknowledge achievement
Provide a ‘buffer zone' for people to express their feelings and support each other through the changes
Be aware of institutional policies and support

Things your Trust can do:

Undertake surveys or focus groups which ask about stress issues.

Celebrate early success and acknowledge achievement

Provide training on what's required to cope with the change and on change itself (eg conflict management, stress management)

Provide counselling services

Provide change management training so people understand the stages of change. Shock, anger, confusion, regret, disbelief are all normal reactions

These are all ways that you can respond to the stress that emerges from the experience of organisational change. However, you should also bear in mind that there are particular aspects of work itself that can lead to people feeling stressed.

What next

If you are planning to redesign any jobs as part of the change process, (see role redesign) you should consider these tips - you may even wish to think about redesigning existing jobs to minimise the stressors.

Other useful tools and techniques on this website:

These issues are all influenced by how change is managed. There are a range of tools that will help you to engage people when managing change:

Stakeholder analysis
Building trust
Brainstorming
Bullet proofing
Art of listening
Sustaining momentum
Reviving a stalled effort
Clinical engagement
Commitment enrolment and compliance
That's impossible

Additional resources

Books:
Rick J, Thomson L, Briner R, O'Regan S and Daniels K (2002) ‘Review of Existing Scientific Knowledge to Underpin Standards of Good Practice for Key Work-related Stressors - Phase 1' Sudbury: HSE Books (PDF version is also available from the Health and Safety Executive)

Websites:
HSE Standards for work-related stress

Journals/Resources:
Cousins R, Mackay C J, Clarke S D, Kelly C, Kelly P J and McCaig R H (2004) ‘Management Standards and Work-related Stress in the UK: Practical Development' ‘Work and Stress' 18 (2), pp 113 - 136. Also available at Stress.

Background

Research on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified the best available evidence on the ways in which these nine stressors affect individuals at work. Using this information, the HSE developed management standards to help managers minimise the impact of work-related stress on workplace activities and manage stress at work. The HSE suggest that their standards might even help you improve organisational performance. For the standards and more information, visit the website shown in the link to more comprehensive information.

Acknowledgements / sources

Source: ‘Effecting Change in the Health and Safety Executive' University of Bedfordshire