How to prevent stress in the workplace

Stress is at the wrong end of the pressure-strain-stress continuum. Those who suffer from it badly may also suffer some of the most serious physical health problems of all if the initial stress is left untreated. The costs attributed to stress are enormous. Sickness absence and staff turnover represent significant costs, but on top of this is the cost of people staying at work but incapable of performing effectively. Amazingly, few top managers have much interest in dealing with stress, and even less in its prevention.

 

One of the difficulties is that stress is ambiguous. Although the symptoms of stress (such as dizziness, lack of concentration and memory loss) can be measured, there is no clear definition of what stress actually is. This ambiguity feeds straight into the hands of managers many of whom perceive stress sufferers as weak and inadequate, often eroding profits or ripping off the taxpayer.

 

However, various recent government-funded reports have elevated the issues of health and wellbeing at work into the consciousness of working people, including some managers. The focus for many recommendations remains on fixing the stress problem once it has arisen, whilst at the same time recognising that prevention is the way forward in having any major impact. As Dan Olweus, the man behind one of the world’s most effective bullying prevention programmes, said: "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of treatment."