One of the essential factors in successfully managing work–life balance is the ability to reduce and control stress. Stress is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems faced by the modern workforce. It is also becoming an increasingly worrying problem for employers. In this article we review stress in the workplace, and what individuals and employers can do to minimise stress and its damaging consequences.
Stress and the workplace
Stress is on the increase across the world. In the US, survey data by the American Psychological Association indicates that 77% of adults regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress while between 60-80% of visits to a doctor are stress-related.
In the UK there are nearly 170,000 claims for stress-related illness and injury every year. Having a stressful job is also associated with a 48% higher risk of a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation, according to research in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Although workplace-induced stress affects employees first and foremost, employers are beginning to realise how hard the consequences can hit their bottom line. The rise in legal claims is just one reason for this. In the UK, for instance, the Health & Safety Executive calculated that in 2017/18, 15.4 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This acccounts for 57% of all working days lost through ill health.
Positive and negative stress
However, stress, or rather, pressure can also be a positive force. It can stimulate you to work harder and increase your focus for short periods of time. However, negative stress (which occurs when pressure becomes excessive) is more common and can adversely affect your health and performance.
The key then is to find a balance between having enough stress to improve performance and ensuring that the level of stress does not impact negatively on performance and well-being. There is therefore an optimal point on a stress curve as shown in the following diagram.
We can further our understanding by breaking stress into its four most common types:
Survival stress: This may occur in cases where your survival or health is threatened, where you are put under pressure, or where you experience some unpleasant or challenging event. Here adrenaline is released in your body and you experience all the symptoms of your body preparing for 'fight or flight'.
Internally generated stress: This can come from worrying about events beyond your control, from a tense, hurried approach to life, or from relationship problems caused by your own behaviour.
Environmental and job stress: Here your living or working environment causes the stress. It may come from noise, crowding, pollution, untidiness, dirt or other distractions. Alternatively, stress can come from events and pressures at work.
Fatigue and overwork: Here stress builds up over a long period of time. This can occur where you try to achieve too much in too little time, or where you are not using effective time management strategies.
Stress management
Stress management is the ability to recognise the sources of stress and restructure yourself, your work or your life in order to cope with them. This is different from stress reduction which involves eliminating the sources of stress. Stressful situations can be categorised under the following four headings:
Significant life adjustments: This covers any serious changes in your life, which can be both pleasant and unpleasant.
Daily routines: Daily routines such as fighting the rush hour traffic or meeting the deadline on an important project sap your energy. You become accustomed to your daily activities and easily overlook their cumulative effect on you.
Unrealistic self–expectations: While positive self-expectations motivate you to realise your goals, unrealistic expectations can lead to setting yourself up for failure and a lowering of self-esteem.
Interpersonal relationships: Both personal and professional relationships require a significant amount of effort to maintain. Poor communication leads to conflict that can escalate into increased frustration and open hostility. As well as causing stress, poor interpersonal relationships can also be caused by stress.
Common stress factors are:
family problems
mental illness
elderly care issues
childcare issues
financial issues
legal issues
grief and loss
communication difficulties
work
health concerns
balancing work and family
time management problems
change management issues
Stress and the employer
Professor of Organisational Psychology, Cary L Cooper, argues that stress in the workplace presents a serious threat to business. Quite apart from the costs associated with lost working days, a single large payout could potentially cripple a smaller organisation. For larger businesses, the payout cost pales in comparison to the bad publicity and damage done to the brand. Not only does this affect customers, it also hampers the ability to attract potential employees. Stress is a serious issue which always carries serious consequences.
What should employers do to avoid litigation?
Here are some of Cooper’s suggestions:
Consult and follow Health and Safety guidelines.
Encourage managers to be aware of stress in the workplace and take steps to combat this before it gets out of control.
Offer a confidential advice service that has the authority to make referrals for appropriate counselling and treatment.
Consider using guidance material from organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
A stress audit might help to identify potential problems. This typically involves a questionnaire given to all employees.
Setting the standard
The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has devised a set of management standards on workplace stress intervention to help deliver a more informed approach on how to intervene in stress-related workplace problems. These are designed in particular to help organisations to:
demonstrate good practice through a step-by-step risk assessment
promote active discussion and agree practical improvements to be made
help simplify risk assessment for work-related stress
The management standards focus on the following six areas:
Demands - including employee workload, patterns and working environment
Control - the degree to which a person has a say in how they work
Support - the resources and help available from colleagues, management and the organisation
Relationships - including promotion of a positive working culture, and how well conflict and unaceptable behaviour are dealt with
Role - how well employees understand their role within the organisation
Change - how effectively change is managed and communicated within the organisation
Reference: The American Psychological Association 2014 Stress Statistics, cited in 'What is Stress?'. Available at: https://www.stress.org/daily-life
'Corporate Stress Statistics' - originally from www.naturalhealthresearch.co.uk
Cary L Cooper is the author of Stress and Employer Liability,Successful Stress Management in a Week, and Stress Prevention in the Workplace: Assessing Costs and Benefits to Organisations amongst others.
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