One day interactive workshop in Lincolnshire for HR professionals, senior managers from large corporates and owner-founders from SMEs

1. Tackling stress by Fluid February 2010

2. Page 2 Contents 3-4 Introduction to Fluid 5-6 Definitions 7-9 Statistics 10-12 Causes of stress 13-14 Impact of stress 15-17 Coping with stress 18-21 Managing the stress of others 22-23 Exercise A 24-32 How a caring employer can reduce stress 33-34 Stress test 35-36 Two schools of thought 37-40 How does stress manifest itself? 41-42 Health & wellbeing 43-44 Exercise B 45-46 Case studies 47-48 Exercise C 49-50 Conclusion and questions

3. Page 3 Introduction

5. Selection- Attraction - Remuneration & Reward - Outplacement - Training & HR consultancy

6. Page 5 Definitions

9. 64% of respondents said employees signed off with stress in the past 12 months have returned to work

10. 53% of respondents consider stress to be more of a problem than it was a year ago

11. 47% of respondents deal with employees suffering from stress by referring them to their GP

13. 33% of organisations have a policy in place for managing workplace stress

14. 27% of employers with turnover of less than £5M have stress management policies in place

15. 20% of HR professionals in manufacturing say their organisations have policies today, but 37% are developing policies

16. 18% of organisations have undertaken stress audits to identify causes of the problem in the workplace

17. 12% of employers had been forced to dismiss employees signed off with stress in the past yearStatistics 2 of 2

18. Page 10 Causes of stress

20. Too much pressure to meet targets or deadlines

21. Feeling that efforts are not recognised

22. Having an unsatisfactory work-life balance

23. Insufficiently challenging work

24. Lack of clarity about the role

26. Organisational change or restructuring

27. Working environment

28. Relationship with manager

29. Relationship with direct reports

32. Reduced performance

33. Absence

34. Team conflict

35. Increased staff turnover

38. I spend more time planning tasks, projects and activities

39. I take time out to myself

40. I discuss the stressful situation with my friends and family

41. I delegate more

43. I develop solutions with my colleagues

44. I throw myself into leisure activities to take my mind off stress at work

45. I develop solutions with my manager

46. I ignore it

47. I develop solutions with my friends and family

48. I avoid tasks

49. I take more holiday time

52. Regularly discuss their work pressures with them

53. Allow flexible working

54. Help them understand how to manage their own stress

55. Give discretionary time off

56. Recommend external sources of professional help

58. Being able to clarify the factors that may lead to stress for individual direct reports

59. Skills in discussing issues that lead to stress with direct reports

60. Understanding why people react in the ways they do

62. Respect and responsibility

63. Managing and communicating existing and future work

64. Managing the individual in the team

66. Page 23 Exercise A

67. Page 24 How a caring employer can reduce stress

69. Support

70. Control

71. Relationships

73. Appreciate people’s differences

74. Recognise the signs of stress

75. Resolve issues as they arise

76. Consider teambuilding

77. Enable autonomy

78. Remember remote workers

80. Offering a phased return to work

81. Referring employees who were absent for stress-related reasons to an occupational health advisor

82. Offering flexible working options

83. Offering redeployment to another job or location

84. Visiting employees at home during long-term, stress-related absence

86. Access to counselling services or an employee assistance programme

87. Training in tips and techniques for managing one’s own stress

88. Solutions tailored to individual needs

89. Facilitation meetings to resolve issues

91. Do one thing at a time, not piling stress upon stress with numerous deadlines

92. Do not expect too much from an employee

93. Offer the option of being able to talk to someone

94. Try to spend time with employees rather than being critical and judgmental

95. Offer relaxation techniques

96. Make the work environment comfortable

98. Training managers in stress awareness

99. Regular employee appraisals where stress is discussed

100. Risk assessments for compliance with health and safety regulations

101. Cultural change programmes

102. Performance management

103. Employee assistance programmes

104. Counselling services

105. Psycho-social risk assessments

106. Stress policyHow a caring employer can reduce stress 6 of 8

108. Flexible working policy/job sharing/flexitime

109. Policies to encourage employees to take their holiday

110. Occupational health service

111. Health screening

112. Access to a corporate gym membership

113. Mentoring programmes

114. Healthy living advice

115. On-site fitness or relaxation services

116. Behavioural health assessmentHow a caring employer can reduce stress 7 of 8

118. Step 1-Identify the hazards

119. Step 2-Decide who may be harmed and how

120. Step 3-Evaluate the risk

121. Step 4-Record the findings

124. Give yourself a medal

125. Have a break

126. Go on holiday

127. Message in a bottle

128. Call in the professionals

129. Work to live, not live to work

130. Work it out

131. Challenge negative thinking

132. Laugh!Stress test

133. Page 35 Two schools of thought

135. Enlightened

136. INITIATIVES

137. Holiday monitoring

138. Formal relationship with stress counsellors or occupational health professionals

139. On-site gyms or gym sponsorship

140. Duvet daysTwo schools of thought

141. Page 37 How does stress manifest itself?

143. Feeling tearful

144. Loss of motivation and commitment

145. Changes in behaviour

146. Increased sickness absence

147. Reduced performance

148. Excessive smoking, drinking or drug abuse

149. Anxiety and depression

150. Panic attacks How does stress manifest itself? 1 of 3

152. DURING-provide support

153. AFTER-prevent relapsesHow does stress manifest itself? 2 of 3

155. EMOTIONAL-unusual mood swings, tearfulness or aggressive outbursts

156. COGNITIVE-forgetfulness, loss of concentration and/or more mistakes

157. BEHAVIOURAL-reduced eye contact and decreased social interactionHow does stress manifest itself? 3 of 3

158. Page 41 Health & wellbeing

160. Exercise

161. Obesity

162. Smoking

163. Substance abuse

165. Page 44 Exercise B

166. Page 45 Case studies

167. Page 46 Case studies

168. Page 47 Exercise C

169. Page 48 Exercise C

170. Page 49 Conclusion & Questions

171. Page 50 Conclusion Summary Questions