Managing Stress in the Workplace

• Stress affects one in five of the working population from the newest recruit in the post room to the board of directors.
• It is now the single biggest cause of sickness in the UK.
• Over 105 million days are lost to stress each year – costing UK employers £1.24 billion.

Stress in the workplace reduces productivity, increases management pressures, and makes people ill in many ways, evidence of which is still increasing. Workplace stress affects the performance of the brain, including functions of work performance; memory, concentration, and learning. In the UK over 13 million working days are lost every year because of stress. Stress is believed to trigger 70% of visits to doctors, and 85% of serious illnesses (UK HSE stress statistics).

Stress at work also provides a serious risk of litigation for all employers and organisations, carrying significant liabilities for damages, bad publicity and loss of reputation. Dealing with stress-related claims also consumes vast amounts of management time. So, there are clearly strong economic and financial reasons for organisations to manage and reduce stress at work, aside from the obvious humanitarian and ethical considerations.

This course offers candidates the opportunity to develop skills in managing stress in the workplace and to deal with these difficult situations. The course also offers candidates the opportunity to implement these skills in a practical working environment.