Are you protecting your team from Stress and Anxiety?

When Ian walked into the café I barely recognised him. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t wearing his usual sharp suit, he seemed to have shrunk and his usual smile and twinkling eyes had disappeared.

Ian was a member of the board, he managed a team of 5 and budget of millions! He had a beautiful wife, gorgeous children, wore a signet ring, Lived in a NICE part of London – He was posh!

He belonged to a club that I aspired to (at that point in my life!), so even though I’d seen the Dr’s notes and spoken to him on the phone, I wasn’t prepared for the person who turned up in front of me.

Ian had been signed off for stress for the past 3 months, he’d exhausted his company enhanced sick pay and was receiving statutory sick pay that wouldn’t make a dent in his outgoings. So he’d met us to discuss coming back to work, but it was obvious that he wasn’t ready yet. I watched him deflate when I said we’d need a fit note from his doctor and for him to see our occupational health team before he could return.

It turned out that this wasn’t the first time that he’d experienced stress and anxiety at work, and even though he’d felt it coming on, he didn’t mention it to anyone because of the stigma attached to his condition.

We worked with Ian’s doctor and therapist and he returned to work in a phased manner when he was ready ….

But I was angry that we’d failed him as employers, he hadn’t felt comfortable to share his mental health issues and therefore get access to help before he became unable to attend work.

Also, we had a duty of care, was his manager lax in ensuring his workload and external pressures were being monitored? When was the last time he’d had a 1-2-1? 

Did you know that Stress Management is one of your responsibilities as a business owner as part of the health and safety regulations?

This experience led to a series of changes being implemented to ensure that Managers were aware of the warning signs of stress and anxiety in their team members and were having regular 1-2-1 meetings.

Remember the top four reasons for absence due to stress and anxiety in the workplace are:

• Workload: 44%

• Lack of support: 14%

• Changes at work: 8%

• Violence, threats or bullying: 13%

Do you and your managers regularly check on the mental health of your staff?

Here are some tips for dealing with cases of stress:

• Treat stressed employees in the same way as those with a physical health problem.

• Discuss the issue with the employee and demonstrate that you are concerned with their health.

• If their work is being affected, explore the option of a referral to Occupational Health.

• Ask if there is anything as a manager you can do to help/try and identify the stressors.

• Seek advice from the employee on any action that could be taken to alleviate the stress e.g. simple modifications to work for a short period, increase communication etc.

• Advise the employee about sources of help e.g. Employee Assistance Programme.

• Document agreed actions and actively follow up to ensure stress levels have been reduced.

• Review and if necessary modify the work tasks and responsibilities of employees who have had sickness absence due to stress as a result of their work.

• Be aware of the impact of stressed employees on other members of staff.

If you are concerned about stress in the workplace, contact us to discuss how we can assist you.

I couldn't stop the tears falling

I remember a time when every day I would wake up and the thought of going to work would make me cry. If you know me you’ll know I’m not THAT GIRL who cries, I’d rather punch something to vent my frustrations!

Has the thought of work ever reduced you to tears or anger?

I put it down to hormones because I was pregnant when it started happening, but it wasn’t that as when I returned to work after having my baby I felt worse. I was doing really well in my job but the workload was unsustainable and I was learning on the job, so I didn’t have the support of a framework or a mentor to direct me. I worked through the night and weekends to complete work to tight deadlines.

Now if I pull an all-nighter, it’s my choice!

I began to become snappy, less friendly and forgetful – I lost my motivation. It was only my stubbornness to complete at any cost that kept me going, but ultimately it was the beginning of my decision to start Eden Mayers HR Consulting.

Was job dissatisfaction part of your decision to become a business owner?

I’m speaking to more and more businesses who have record numbers of staff signed off with work-related stress, for small businesses this has the potential to be crippling.

The Health and Safety Executives Report for 2017, states that:

• 526,000 workers are suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing)

• 12.5 million working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety

• Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 40% of all work-related ill health cases and 49% of all working days lost due to ill health

The breakdown of the causes of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2017 as follows:

• Workload: 44%

• Lack of support: 14%

• Changes at work: 8%

• Violence, threats or bullying: 13%

• Other: 21%

You can support your employees areas through strong policy, procedures, training, and the use of Employee Benefits and guidance services to help as and when needed. However, you also need to ensure that there is no stigma surrounding Mental Health, so that your employees are comfortable sharing.

A mentally and physically fit workforce is less likely to be absent, and be fully motivated to carry out their role to the best of their ability. Which means productive employees and happy clients for your business.

Let us help you to ensure that your HR policies and process are fit for purpose, contact us for a FREE policy review.

Why I’m so process driven (and you should be too!)

I am a very detailed person, I like to ask questions to ensure that I’m giving the appropriate advice and guidance. I also don’t like not delivering, so the more I know, the more I can be certain of success.

When I started my business, the lack of tangible data scared me, sure I’d done my market research and had a few ‘unofficial’ clients but this was different.

So I put processes and timelines in place for the things that I needed to get done and made sure I was capturing and analysing data, so I’d know what was and was not successful.

Once I’d got established and could see how the business was scaling and growing. The processes meant that I didn’t forget the things that I needed to do, when I got busy. 

It also meant when I needed to hand things over in an emergency, I didn’t need to download my brain as it was already detailed.

Often as entrepreneurs we hold all the cards close to our chest (and in our mental notebook!). This makes it harder to handover work when we reach critical mass. Also, keeping employee and client details in your head is dangerous from a compliance and legislative point of view. Often I have clients that end up spending money to fix an employee issues because they have not documented that they have followed a process.

I keep two journals a business and personal one. They keep my notes, thoughts, ideas and aspirations. Then they become my outcomes, milestones and plans.

Having a process will free you up both mentally and time wise.

Implement a little process in your life and you soon see the benefits.

If you need help with your HR process and planning, contact us for a FREE 30 consultation call here.

Is your working environment inspiring or demotivating you?

The environment in which you and your work is vitally important and it’s not just the colour of the walls, locations of windows or if you have the latest Nespresso machine!

Your work environment consists of your geographical location, physical location and the people around you.

If the mere sight of your working space fills you with dread and overwhelm, it isn’t going to be conductive to creative, effective and efficient working.

When I worked corporately they called me Monica from Friends; stacks of papers, dirty coffee cups and rubbish could not be in my eye line, I often ended up washing up everything in the sink, instead of just my plate and fork at lunchtime!

I also had the same problem when I started out as an entrepreneur, working from my dining table! I had to tidy the house before I could start working, but also I lost quite a bit of time on the phone and WhatsApp, because being home alone all day is lonely.

Now I work from a lovely co-working space at least twice a week. It’s clean, tidy and well lit. I get to be surrounded by entrepreneurs from across London and feel like part of a community.

How does your current working environment inspire you and your team? Here are some tips to help you improve your working environment so that you and your team will be more productive and creative:

Location

Location isn’t just the street that your office is based on and the shops nearby. Sometimes just moving your desk so you can see out of a window and get some natural light makes a big difference.

Furniture

Being flexible about working space is a great way to improve the environment. Think about a section where you can work standing (I often use a standing desk set-up at home), having non-tradition ergonomic chairs (backless chairs/balls) or having a break out space, with comfy chairs or bean bags.

Working Equipment

There are some basic things that should just BE in a workplace. Safe working machinery, no trailing wires or other trip hazards. Ensure your work area is clean, tidy, with ample storage and the provision of a good coffee machine, fresh fruit, water and snacks will always help.

Noise levels

If you have a department or individual that is loud or spends the majority of time on the phone as part of their role. It’s important to organise your office space in a way that contains the sound and providing a separate area for telephone calls, is a good idea if you have the space for it.

You can find the Vlog for this subject here.

Let us know what improvements you’ll be making to your working environment, in the comments section below.

Are you Managing Your Stress or is Your Stress Managing You?

Everyone has Stress in their lives and while there is no universal definition of Stress. Put simply, Stress is the way that your body physically responds to mental or emotional pressure. Your job, relationships, family life, money and other commitments can all contribute to your levels of Stress.

The challenge isn’t removing instances of stress (that would be impossible!), it’s recognising when there is too much pressure and what we do to address it in ourselves and our teams.

I like to say people can be either problem solvers or problem multipliers. I once had a manager who would always up the pressure, when she had a run in with her boss; it was as if her way of dealing with stress, was to stress everyone she came across! It wasn’t an endearing quality in a manager, so soon grievances and sick notes became a common occurrence!

The most important thing you can do for yourself and your team, is to keep the lines of communication open and think out of the box when it comes to how you can support your team at times of stress.

Signs to look for in yourself and your team include:

• Negative or depressive feeling
• Disappointment with yourself
• Increased emotional reactions - more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
• Loneliness, withdrawn
• Loss of motivation commitment and confidence
• Mood swings
• Confusion, indecision
• Can’t concentrate
• Poor memory
• Changes in eating habits
• Increased smoking, drinking or drug taking 'to cope'
• Mood swings effecting your behaviour
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Twitchy, nervous behaviour
• Changes in attendance such as arriving later or taking more time off.

Techniques of stress management include:

• Developing an understanding of Stressor's
• Time management (including delegation)
• Conflict resolution
• Adopting a more Positive attitude
• Talking to others
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Exercise
• Altering your diet
• Taking more regular and effective rest

You can get more information on stress management, from The Health and Safety Executive here

The Vlog on this subject can be found here.