Work Stress: More Needs to be Done!

A recent survey by health charity Mind has found that only one in five (22%) of employees felt that their employer took active steps to help them manage their stress. That’s leaving a lot of unhappy and unsupported workers. If you want to know what can be done about it, read on.

I’ve previously written about workplace CBT and hypnotherapy as a preventative measure (click here). The modern working world being what it is, it’s no surprise that work stress is the number one cause of staff sickness and absenteeism and the Mind survey, which polled over 2,000 workers found out several rather interesting things:

• Around a third (36%) believed that looking after staff mental health was an organisational priority
• However, 45% felt they were expected to cope without mentioning stress at work at all
• Sadly, 35% said the would not be able to talk openly with their line manager about their stress
• Sadder still, 42% said that, in their workplace, stress was seen as a sign of weakness or as an inability to cope
• Finally, while 32% said time off for stress was taken as seriously as time off for a physical illness, 42% believed that time off for stress was seen as an excuse for something else

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: “These figures show that stress remains the elephant in the room in many workplaces.”

But, with results from surveys like these, it really is time for it to be discussed openly. Employers need to bring support (be it in the form of therapy or workshops) into the workplace.

If an organisation neglects mental health, it has huge implications, not only for staff wellbeing, but also for productivity, motivation, sickness and absence.

Both CBT and hypnotherapy are excellent therapies for staff suffering from stress. However, they are also excellent tools to bring into the workplace in the form of workshops and one-to-one stress management sessions.

So, if you are reading this and you are a company director, a CEO or a HR manager, ask yourself this: In the long run, just how much money could you save by developing a stress management strategy?