The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) today urges employers to focus on work related stress. A recent CIPD survey found that stress related absence is continuing to rise with nearly 40% of employers reporting an increase. This is a costly problem for employers, with CIPD research revealing that the average cost of absence per year is now 601 per employee.
Ben Willmott, CIPD Employee Relations Adviser, says,
ìManaging workplace stress is a growing challenge for employers. Stress has implications in the workplace both in terms of employee wellbeing and business effectiveness. It is important that employers take the problem seriously ñ a written policy can ensure workplace stress is managed consistently across the organisation and also show that the issue is seen as a priority.î
Causes of work related stress
The number one cause of work related stress was workload/ volume of work (58%)
Organisational change/ restructuring (34%) and pressure to meet targets (32%) were other keys factors in work related stress.
Relationships at work and management style are also rated highly as causes of stress.
Managing work-related stress
Three-quarters of employers are taking action to identify and manage workplace stress and over half (52%) of respondents have a written stress policy and/or guidance in place.
51% of respondents use training to increase awareness of issues around work- related stress.
Work-life balance is seen as an important tool to reduce stress with more than half (51%) of respondents providing flexible working options to help employees balance their work and home lives.
National stress day - CIPD
CIPD urges employers to take stress seriously in order to help manage absence
