If my employee is suffering from stress

 

Understanding stress

Recognising stress is key to ensuring effective team working and to preventing long term sickness and it can occur at individual or team level.

Stress is defined as 'the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them.' HSE

The impact of stress and the symptoms experienced may differ between individuals and so are often difficult to recognise. Symptoms can range from anxiety and depression to effects on physical health including back pain, heart disease, headaches and alcohol and drug dependency.

Feeling stressed can affect how we think, feel and behave

 

Some tips for discussing stress

Try to have an open and honest discussion about the stress an individual or team may be experiencing.

It will be helpful to ask questions in order to assess the causes and extent of work related stress.

The causes of stress can be different for us all and it will be helpful to stay focussed on what the employee is experiencing.

 

Resources available for managers and employees

 

Employee Assistance Programme Managerial Advice Line

CIC the University of Reading Employee Assistance Programme has a managerial advice line. This is a service managers can use to discuss concerns in confidence. The call is answered by a psychologist and they will listen to your concerns and explore options to empower you to take appropriate steps to resolve the concern.

There is help available  by calling 0800 085 3805, Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, excluding Bank Holidays.

Talking Tool Kit

The Talking Tool Kit can be a useful tool for managers to use to discuss the cause and extent of work related stress. This toolkit is designed to help line managers hold initial conversations with employees as part of an employer’s journey towards preventing work-related stress.

The toolkit has six templates for six different conversations around the Stress management Standards the six primary sources of stress at work.

Each of these has a different theme designed to get line managers and employees talking about issues which may be causing work-related stress or issues which could have the potential to become future causes if not managed properly.

Wellness Action Plan

This is a plan that an individual can develop to help them understand what keeps them mentally healthy in work, what causes us to become unwell, and how to address a mental health problem at work should you be experiencing one. They don’t have to share this plan but they may wish to share some parts of it with their manager.

Mind (the mental health charity), have put together the following action plans:

• Wellness action plan for hybrid working
• Wellness action plan for remote working
• Wellness action plan for the workplace

Occupational Health

Occupational Health looks at the impact of work on health and vice versa and this can include assessing the impact of workplace stress on an employee and advising on any adjustments.

A referral should be considered if an employee is experiencing workplace stress but may not always be necessary.

It would be prudent to discuss this with the HR Advisor or Partner for your area.

The following may be useful to consider:

Are any of the following out of balance?

• Demands (is workload unmanageable, has work pattern changed)
• Control (how much say do they have about how they do their work)
• Support (how are they supported at work)
• Relationships (are relationships at work strained . is their conflict at work)
• Role (does the employee understand their role in the organisation)
• Change (is organisational or local change a cause for concern)

Wellbeing Peer Support Network

Wellbeing Peer Support is a network of trained University staff who volunteer to be a first point of contact if you are experiencing a mental health issue, poor wellbeing or emotional distress.

UORLearn

Learning resources around stress management can be accessed here. These are short courses to raise awareness about the HSE Stress Management Standards.

HSE Stress Management - Part 1 covering Demands and Support

HSE Stress Management - Part 2 covering Control, Relationships, Role and Change