Healthy working environment key to combating stress
Stress causes 12 million lost working days every year in the UK. It also affects staff performance on a daily basis.
Occupational psychologist, Emma Donaldson-Feilder says there are 6 core sources of stress in the workplace and she says getting to grips with these is key to managing stress at work.
These are - Demands, Control, Support, Relationships, Role and Change.
Emma highlights that the illness itself is not a medical diagnosis; we all experience a reaction to stress and this is perfectly natural. 'What we’re not able to deal with,’ she suggests, ‘is that chronic, ongoing exposure to stress…it’s a health risk essentially to be exposed to stress on a long term basis.' A stress management regime can be particularly useful in helping us avoid the dangers of ongoing stress and, given how much time we spend there, a workplace regime is a useful place to start.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) acknowledges the importance of managing stress in the workplace. After examining its common causes, it has produced a set of management standards establishing the six core areas where workplace stress stems from and suggest that employers address these in order to ensure the health and wellbeing of their staff, ‘and of course, performance,’ adds Emma, because as we are aware, 'there’s a link between whether staff are well and how well they’re performing.’
These six areas are demands, control, support, relationships, role and change (specifically how it is managed). All of the above are important and can apply equally at home and at work. What is vital is achieving a balance between the two and this is highlighted through the area of support: 'If you’ve got a supportive work environment… that perhaps allows a bit of flexibility about your working hours so that you can fulfil a caring role as well as the work role, then that support from the workplace helps you deal with stressful non-work situations and the same is true the other way.’
In the same way, the transitive nature of stress also means that our performance at work is not only shaped by the stress we encounter there but also by that which we experience at home. As workplace stress is becoming more common and more severe it is increasingly important for employers to recognise and understand this, and provide their staff with the continual support that they need.
Related Links -
www.affinityhealthatwork.co.uk
www.nationalstressawarenessday.co.uk
