Avoidance and Management of Work Related Stress: Guidance for Managers (стр. 2 )

As a manager you should:

·  Give more control to team members – judge when to consult and when to make a decision

·  Enable them to plan their own work and encourage the team to review how the work is organised

·  Allow them to make decisions about how work should be completed and how issues should be tackled

·  Allow flexibility within the working day

5.3 Relationships

Problems can arise when team relationships are not built on good behaviour, respect, equal and fair treatment and trust. This can lead to stress. Within this environment, bullying and harassment can go unchallenged and unchecked.

As a manager you should:

·  Be a good role model

·  Treat all team members with respect

·  Be honest, fair and consistent

·  Be prepared to recognise your own behaviours and how others view you, making changes where necessary

·  Deal with squabbles before they become arguments

·  Challenge disruptive team members and be prepared to work to resolve issues

·  Investigate all allegations of bullying or harassment amongst colleagues in line with YSJ policy

·  Follow up conflicts after resolution

·  Never discuss other team members behind their backs

·  Have regular team meetings and allow all members to contribute

5.4 Change

Most change within the organisation can lead to uncertainty and insecurity.

As a manager, you may also feel uncertain and insecure, but you should ensure that you:

·  Plan ahead

·  Provide timely information to enable your team to appreciate and understand the reason for the change

·  Provide regular updates to ensure that facts displace rumour

·  Provide opportunities for the team members to be involved and have an influence over the change process if this is appropriate

·  Assess whether the changes will require additional training for your team members and involve your team as soon as possible

5.5 Role

Staff can sometimes feel that their role is unclear and they are unsure about what they are expected to do and how they are expected to perform. If your team are confused about what they and the rest of the team are doing and where they fit in, this can lead to stress.

As a manager, you should:

·  Make sure that all members of your team are clear about the job that they are expected to do

·  Make sure that all team members have clearly defined objectives and responsibilities that link into your objectives and in turn into your faculty / department and university objectives

·  Ensure that all team members have an overview of where they fit within the University

·  Make sure that the team understand the roles of the individual members within the team

5.6 Support

If people do not have support from their manager and colleagues, then they can soon become adversely affected by stress. Similarly, if they are unable to balance the demands of work with the demands of life outside of work, a stress reaction can be the result.

As a manager, you should make sure that you

·  Provide regular and constructive feedback

·  Take an interest in individual team members lives outside work

·  Encourage a balance between work and home, by monitoring working hours and encouraging flexible working options

·  Consider working hours when scheduling meetings

·  Consider adjusting working hours and workload if team members have personal or health issues

·  Be available and listen when team members ask for help

·  Speak personally to team members rather than using email and encourage this approach throughout the team

·  Treat all team members with equal importance

·  Regularly ask team members how they are and listen to what they tell you – be prepared to offer support

·  Seek advice from other managers, HR, Occupational Health when necessary

6. Actions to be followed when dealing with an individual who may be adversely affected by stress

It will not always be the member of staff themselves who alerts you to concerns about their stress levels. A member of staff may raise concerns about one of their colleagues with you. However you come to hear about stress concerns, it is important to be pro-active and meet with the member of staff affected in order to discuss the situation and to identify possible causes and possible solutions. Where you meet with a member of staff following information received from one of their colleagues, ensure you explain why you want to discuss the concerns that have been flagged with you and that the purpose of the meeting is to be supportive.

To ensure a comprehensive discussion with members of staff about the causes of stress you should use the ‘Individual Stress Risk Assessment’ as a framework (Appendix A). Ideally, the risk assessment should be completed together, however, the individual can be asked to complete it in the first instance and then a further meeting arranged to discuss their comments.

If it is clear that a member of your staff is not able to discuss the situation with you, for example if you are the cause of the stress, then you should arrange for another member of your management team or your line manager to meet with the individual. In exceptional circumstances, your Human Resources Officer can be asked to see them.

Following the discussion, you may need to discuss the issues with your HR Officer or Occupational Health Advisor for advice on what actions need to be taken.

If, following discussion, it is clear that the stress is principally work related, then you should refer the individual to the Occupational Health Service as per the Attendance Management Policy.

There will be outcomes from the stress risk assessment that you will need to investigate and take action on. There may be other University policies and procedures that you will need to refer to, for example, Dignity at Work, if the individual is alleging that bullying is the cause of their stress.

The member of staff must be involved in this part of the process and in communications about the progress of the actions. You may need to involve other members of the University in order to progress some of the actions.

You should consider that actions taken to resolve the individual team member’s stress may have a knock-on impact for the workload of other members of the team. Actions therefore may also be needed to prevent others being affected by stress.

If, following discussion, the stress felt by the individual is not related to work, you should discuss what options there are for supporting the team member through their personal crisis. The adverse reaction to the personal crisis is more likely to make them less able to cope with their day to day work pressures and thus render them more susceptible to work related stress.

You must agree regular review meetings with the team member to ensure that the identified actions are resolving the situation. If they are not, then further risk assessment should be completed with the individual and your dedicated Human Resources Officer.

If the team member feels that they cannot remain at work, then you should continue to take action as identified in the risk assessment in their absence and keep the individual informed of progress. Agree a form of communication that is acceptable to the individual and continue to keep them updated.

7. Actions to be taken when dealing with an individual who is absent from work due to work related stress

As a manager, if you have already been taking steps to reduce the potential causes of stress within your team and you are maintaining regular communications with all team members, it is unlikely that you will be unaware of a team member who is sufficiently affected by stress to go off sick.

You may however only be informed of the employee’s stress once they have gone on sick leave. If this is the case, you are required to investigate the causes further by having discussion with the employee. Given the nature of the absence, discussions should be handled sensitively. You should conduct an Individual Stress Risk Assessment, ideally with the individual; however, if they are not able to meet with you, then this could be a remote assessment undertaken over the phone. If they do not wish to, or are not fit to, discuss the issues over the phone you could seek their permission to send the assessment form to them and ask them to complete it in order to enable you to begin to take remedial action.

A referral to Occupational health should be made as soon as you are aware of the cause of their absence.

You should make arrangements to stay in contact with the individual – It should be emphasised that the purpose of remaining in contact is to check on their wellbeing and prepare for their return to work. Please refer to the University’s Attendance Management Policy for more information on appropriate contact during absence.

The form of communication should be agreed with the individual. This may be through telephone contact at pre-arranged intervals or by letter if the individual has indicated that they do not wish to have verbal contact. The letter should offer support, asking them to contact you when they feel ready and if they need any information. If you are unsure about how best to maintain contact, you should seek advice from your dedicated HR Officer.

7.1 Managing the return to work

The return of a team member following an absence with work related stress should be managed carefully. This is especially important when the absence has been for a prolonged period.

Other members of the team may be involved in preparing for the return if you feel they will provide a role in providing support for the individual.

Discussing a return to work with the individual should take place whilst the team member is still absent, in order to ensure that the individual has confidence that their return will be managed appropriately and that they will have input into the plan.