The next step

To the health and well-being at work survey

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Better management needed to combat stress

The survey

The 19th annual survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development explored trends and practices in health, wellbeing and absence management in UK workplaces (see The next step ). More than 1,000 human resources professionals were interviewed whose organisations employ more than three million individuals.

Note. This survey naturally only covers large organisations as those are the businesses which can afford their own HR professionals.

What’s working?

The drive to improve mental health amongst staff appears to be hitting home at board level. 61% of respondents agreed that employee wellbeing is on senior leaders’ agendas compared with 55% in the previous year. Most organisations now promote good health, offer a counselling service or some other wellbeing benefit to staff. Respondents tended to agree that it was necessary to proactively evaluate the success of any wellbeing programme, but only a third did so. Where there was an effort to critically assess the quality of the programme and the benefits to participants, it appeared that the employer saw a more obvious positive contribution from its investment, e.g. in reduced sickness absence.

Stressed

Stress-related absence has increased over the last year in nearly 20% of the organisations surveyed. Unmanageable workloads were cited as the most common cause but this year an increased number of respondents blamed management style. Nearly 60% had seen an increase in the number of reported common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, but this may be due to campaigns which encourage greater openness.

Taking time off

The average sickness absence rate is now 5.9% which reflects a reducing trend. Although this appears to be good news, it is partly down to the prevalence of presenteeism which 80% of respondents had observed in their organisation. If left unaddressed, presenteeism can become the cultural norm and will result in the spread of contagious illnesses, loss of productivity and exhaustion.

Line managers were found to be the best means of effectively managing short-term sickness absence using their role to ensure that sick workers take the appropriate amount of time off work.

Tip. Make sure that managers receive information at induction on how they should approach sickness absence management in your organisation.

Note. It was found that occupational health input is particularly effective in the management of long-term absence. Although this costs money, given the financial losses associated with chronic health conditions, it pays dividends.

Tip. Seek out occupational health support early in the period of absence, e.g. after four weeks.

For a link to the health and well-being at work survey, visit http://tipsandadvice-healthandsafety.co.uk/download (HS 17.20.06).