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Organisations need to proactively manage workplace hazards to reduce the risk of stress for employees. This is a legal requirement.

Stress is a physiological response to stressors, which can be individuals, environments or situations. Stress is the biggest cause of workplace absence, costing economies millions and with no improvement in sight now is the time for organisations to take action. In 2024, work-related stress costs the UK economy £28 billion per year (CEBR, 2024).

Work-related Stress

Work-related stress refers to the physical, emotional, and psychological strain experienced by individuals due to pressures and demands within their work environment. It arises when the demands of a job exceed an individual’s ability to cope effectively.

This stress can be caused by various factors, including heavy workloads, tight deadlines, lack of control over one’s tasks, interpersonal conflicts, job insecurity, and organisational changes.

Work-related stress can lead to a range of negative consequences, such as decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, burnout, physical health problems, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

Organisations can implement strategies to mitigate work-related stress. Examples such as promoting work-life balance, providing employee support programmes, and creating a positive and supportive work culture.

Hazards Risk Causing Stress

A Hazard is something with the potential to cause harm.

In the context of stress, a hazard can be defined as any factor or situation within the work environment that has the potential to cause stress-related harm. These hazards can encompass various aspects of the work environment, including:

Organisational factors (such as high workloads, tight deadlines, lack of control or autonomy)
Physical factors (such as noise, temperature, ergonomic issues)
Interpersonal relationships (such as conflicts with colleagues or supervisors)
Job Security (such as control, awareness, future potential)
Workplace Demands (such as tasks, development, use of skills or strengths)

Hazards related to stress are those elements that, if not effectively managed can lead to increased levels of stress. A hazard only has the potential to cause harm, whether it does or not is down to the risk factor and the individual situation.

If the hazard causes an increase in stress levels this can result in adverse effects on well-being, performance, and health.

Identifying and mitigating these stress-related hazards is essential for promoting a healthier and more supportive work environment.

Managing Risks in the Workplace

A risk is the possibility of a negative impact.

Managing the risks of stress in the workplace is paramount for ensuring the well-being and productivity of employees. Organisations can adopt several strategies to effectively manage these risks.

Firstly, it’s crucial to promote open communication channels where employees feel comfortable expressing their concerns and discussing potential stressors. Prevention is always better than a cure.

Many organisations invest heavily in solutions, as opposed to preventing stress in the first place. Providing training and resources on stress management techniques, such as time management, prioritisation skills, and how to be an effective leader can empower organisations to collectively reduce the risk of stress.

Additionally, implementing policies that promote work-life balance but are tailored to the needs of individuals, and the organisation, can help alleviate stress levels. It is important to understand that this is not just down to the organisation, individuals must take their own responsibility as well.

Most importantly, creating a supportive work culture that values employee well-being, recognises achievements, and fosters positive relationships among colleagues contribute to stress reduction through prevention.

Regularly assessing and addressing potential, and existing, sources of stress within the organisation through surveys, focus groups, or risk assessments allows for targeted interventions.

Ultimately, by proactively managing culture, organisations can help to reduce potential hazards, and decrease the associated risks, to prevent chronic stress becoming endemic to an organisation.

Indicators of Employees Suffering From Stress

Changes in behaviour: Employees may exhibit noticeable changes in behaviour, such as becoming more withdrawn, irritable, or emotional.
Increased absenteeism or lateness: Frequent unexplained absences, arriving late to work, or leaving early could be signs of stress affecting an employee’s ability to cope.
Decreased productivity: A decline in work performance, missed deadlines, or reduced output may indicate that stress is impacting an employee’s ability to concentrate and complete tasks effectively.
Physical symptoms: Employees may experience physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, gastrointestinal issues, or sleep disturbances due to stress.
Emotional signs: Employees may display signs of stress through emotional reactions such as anxiety, frustration, mood swings, or tearfulness.
Withdrawal from social interactions: Employees who begin to isolate themselves from colleagues or avoid social activities within the workplace may be experiencing stress.
Increased mistakes or accidents: Stress can impair cognitive function and attention to detail, leading to an increase in errors or accidents in the workplace.
Changes in eating habits: Stress can affect appetite, leading employees to either overeat or undereat, or make unhealthy food choices.
Substance abuse: Some employees may turn to alcohol, drugs, or other substances as a coping mechanism for stress, which can manifest as changes in behaviour or performance.
Complaints of physical or mental health issues: Employees may report experiencing physical or mental health problems that they attribute to stress, such as chronic pain, anxiety, or depression.

Summary

Leaders need to know and understand their employees, which is where Business Psychology can be so invaluable. Whilst these are signs an employee may be suffering from stress or burnout if these are visible then professional help should be sought.

If multiple employees are suffering then this is an endemic problem and the causes (hazards) need to be identified to prevent stress re-occurring.

Think Performance. Think Excellence. Think Impact.

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Have you ever thought about your childhood experience, and how this experience impacts your thoughts and perceptions of diversity and inclusion today?

This weekend I visited the awesome Arcade Club in Bury, where I time-travelled back to my youth to play Pac-Man, Golden Axe, OutRun, Mortal Kombat, Arachnoid, Gauntlet and many other games my fortysomething brain had only been able to reminisce about in recent years.

As a psychologist, I couldn’t help analysing the messages these games were sending as I laughed and joked with my partner.

For example:

1) scantily-dressed women in OutRun who had a small repertoire of compliments for the male driver (no female or gender neutral options here)

2) the fighting games which had a high proportion of pale-skinned good guys, versus dark-skinned bad guys

3) the general focus on men fighting, with the odd female bystander occasionally added for some variety or as a small character in part of a team

4) magic, strength, agility and speed were the only competencies required for the characters locked in this treasure trove of arcade machines from the 1980s

And it got me thinking, how often do we think about the messages we received when we were young?

A human brain operates on a conscious, subconscious and unconscious level all the time. We digest food without thinking about it. We make judgements based on past experiences. In fact, everyone’s behaviour can be based on thoughts which may or may not be true.

Our brains receive over 11 million bits of information per second, yet we only have the capacity to consciously process 40-50 bits of information, meaning our subconscious mind picks up almost 11 million bits of information we have no recollection of.
MIodinow, 2012

Even if we try to think about what we are missing, we can’t possibly – just as if we try to think about how we digest things, we can’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t observe, learn and improve the processes. It is a fact that culture influences how we see the world and the decisions we make, so why don’t we talk about it more and listen to understand others?

Culture influences how we see the world, especially in terms of diversity and inclusion.

During my childhood, I repeatedly received the following messages which I am conscious of.

G.I. Joe is action-packed for boys
Barbie is for girls
Boys like fighting, being noisy and adventure
Girls like cooking, being creative and art

Think about it.

Even Ken, who was with Barbie, at the time, was very different to G.I. Joe. In fact, despite being the same sort of toy and very similar, his physique and character were very different because he was aimed at a different audience.

This translated into men should be fit, strong and look after the woman whilst women should be skinny, attractive and support the men. This message came across in music, movies, TV programmes and even on breakfast cereal (remember the Mr T cereal?!?). Have a think about the movies, music, TV or radio programmes that you grew up with. What messages did they send to you? What stories did they communicate to you? I dare you to google a few and watch them to see what you notice.

Reflect on the past to change the future of inclusion.

You see, this is where our unconscious biases come into play. There is a huge gap between the 11 million unconscious bits of information we receive and draw conclusions from, often forming stereotypes, compared to the few micro bits of information we may consciously process, albeit often automatically.

But challenge your memories about diversity.

I remember going into school after Christmas one year, extremely excited that I had got a transformer (despite my parents frequently asking are you sure you want one?). But, everyone laughed at me.

Many girls had their new Barbie dream houses, others had a Cindy doll (you seemed to have allegiance to one or the other as far as I recall). I remember a friend saying: “You can’t have a Barbie and a Cindy as they aren’t friends. You get one or the other”.

Even that one statement “everyone laughing at me” is an unhelpful thought as, in reality, it was only two people. I even remember their names, but because of how uncomfortable I felt at the time, I have over-generalised this experience for years. Because this is what it felt like to my young brain – I shouldn’t be playing with transformers as I wasn’t a boy. I felt embarrassed that I hadn’t lived up to people’s expectations.

The reason for this story is in 2024 children are growing up with very different messages about diversity and inclusion.

Today, thankfully, gender neutrality is common, but by no means perfect, and gone are the scantily-clad passenger women in arcade cars whilst the men take charge. Since those messages, I have travelled the world, and learnt and experienced many things but I still have many biases in my thinking because WE ALL DO. I can never understand what it is for a black person to experience the challenges they may have faced, or be someone who has to “come out”. But working with people who have lived experiences such as these make me realise the importance of our childhood experiences, and the subsequent stories we tell ourselves.

We must all listen to others, and seek to understand diversity and inclusion.

The only thing we can all do is listen to others (and I mean really listen, seeking to understand), learn, and keep learning, to ensure we improve our diversity intelligence (Anderson, 2021 ) and continue to make the world a more inclusive place for everyone.

Think Organisation is founded on the premise that work is all about people. Every person thinks differently. Fact. Empowering individuals, bringing diverse teams together, and ensuring organisational cultures are inclusive is what we do, repeatedly, with a wide variety of clients. We do this using our extensive practical experience of human behaviour, underpinned by decades of scientific research.

So, bring on Pac-Woman, Pac-Person and every other individual who wants to join the pack of inclusion.