Employers are taking a new approach to stress
1 min read
Research undertaken by EEF South, which represents employers in London and the South East, shows that many companies are now taking a new approach to handling stress in the workplace…and managing absence more effectively.
“There is increasing realisation that mental health issues are not only harmful for individuals, they also have a direct impact on the ability of companies to operate effectively,” says Professor Sayeed Khan, EEF’s chief medical adviser.
“Many businesses now see the benefits of developing a workplace environment that minimises the opportunities for stress, while at the same time implementing strategies that help individuals to return to work at the earliest opportunity.”
Khan encourages companies to look at ‘work organisation’ which is a constructive way of teasing out stresses in the workplace. In collaboration with the University of Nottingham, he has used his experience as a medical professional to help companies develop a structure for a work organisation assessment that focuses attention on critical areas.
“This work organisation analysis provides employers with evidence of where stress is most likely to occur,” he says.
“Where problems exist, we can then suggest interventions that may help, including formulating training programmes that will provide skills to identify and tackle stress-based issues. We have also developed a toolkit to help companies manage sickness absence, including stress absence more constructively.”
Managing Sickness Absence - A toolkit for changing work culture and improving business performance, is available from EEF.
