One in five workers, around five million people in the UK, is suffering from stress, leading to nearly 13.4 million working days a year being lost, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Stress accounts for more than 10 per cent of all sick leave from work, a joint study by the HSE and Personnel Today, the human resources journal, recently found. The Stress in the UK Workplace survey, based on the responses of 700 senior HR practitioners, suggests that stress is crippling UK business, hampering productivity and preventing employers from recruiting and retaining staff.
A further questionnaire of employees found that stress has spiralled to such levels that 42 per cent reported worrying about their job outside working hours; a quarter said these worries affected their sleep and a third said they felt overwhelmed by their work.
Stress is one of those things that everyone can describe but few can define. Some academics have argued that it is an almost meaningless term and does not exist. However, the HSE says numerous research reports have shown that whatever you might choose to call it, there is a clear link between poor work organisation and subsequent ill-health.
As 'stress' is the most popular and commonly used term to describe this experience, the HSE has chosen to retain the term and define it as 'the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them'.
Stress prevention
Pressure in itself is not necessarily bad. Some people thrive on it. But when the pressure on an individual is excessive so that he or she suffers ill health it becomes stress.
Caring for young children is a high- pressure job, as any early years practitioner knows, and the run-up to Christmas is the most fraught time of the year. So what can managers do to keep the setting on an even keel and prevent staff succumbing to stress?
Half the battle is to get people to recognise the symptoms, understand when they need help, empower them to ask for it and accept that to do so is not a sign of weakness, says Nyree Squires, proprietor of the Noah's Ark nurseries in Plymouth. 'This is a very physically straining profession.
People find it very hard to say, "Help. I cannot cope with this child any more". We are running some training sessions on stress and trying to get the staff to recognise the symptoms and see what type of people they are and how they cope with it.'
She tries to ensure staff are not put under overdue pressure by keeping ratios ahead of the legal requirements and by encouraging employees to form friendships at work so everyone has a trusted colleague in whom they can confide.
Staff at the Manor House Nursery, near Banbury, operate a pyramid system for managing children's behaviour which sets clear boundaries and enables them to cope consistently.
'The base of the pyramid represents the foundations of behaviour - things like environment and expectation,' says manager Laura Oliver. 'So, if you were setting out the environment correctly, you would offer duplicate items rather than trying to make one-year-olds share - a concept for which they have no understanding.
'Our children know what the boundaries are and as they get older you offer them choice. If you need them to come inside you offer them the choice of walking in or being carried. They get to make a choice and we get them inside the building.
'We did a training session for parents recently. We did a role play - my deputy was the stroppy two-year-old and I was showing them ways to cope.
They were really glad to have some ideas - nobody wants to be that parent shouting at their child in Tesco's.'
Good teamwork is the key, says Sandra Hutchison, proprietor of the Primley Park Nurseries in Leeds. If a staff member seems to be struggling, the relevant room supervisor will report it to the management. 'If somebody has got problems, I will ask my deputy to mentor them for a bit, go on the same breaks and just see if we can help her in any way.
'If someone is behaving differently, it is important to be aware of the way you speak to them. If you call them into the office, they will stiffen up and become anxious. I just go up to someone very quietly and say, "Can I have a couple of minutes with you?" I ask how things are.
'You have to be aware that home life affects work and work affects home life. Some people blame work for their feelings of stress when the problems are at home.'
Support network
Ms Squires advises staff to build up a strong support network outside work.
'They need ways to unwind in the evenings - preferably not drinking all the time. In our training we tried to help staff focus and identify ways to de-stress.
'At the beginning the feedback was slow, because people do not like to admit they might be stressed. I think it is because we are in a caring profession and people do not like to say that sometimes they do not feel very caring.
'If you are in an office tapping data into a computer, you can walk away and the computer will be fine. I think that many nursery nurses leave the sector because of stress but they do not recognise that this is the reason.'
Effective planning and time management are invaluable weapons in tackling stress, says Childcarer of the Year Jackie Deacon of PJs, Southend-on-Sea. 'I didn't used to believe in time management, but I now allocate myself time each week for my paperwork. We operate as a group of registered childminders and we are all studying for qualifications. We just have to be organised to allow everyone the time to do their work and their studying.
'The build-up to Christmas can be very stressful. We try to keep things as calm as possible. We have everything organised in plenty of time. It is a long term and the children get tired. We usually have more outings to the park in the second half of the term if the weather is fine.
'It is a busy time for the staff too. We timetable things so people can get a day off to go Christmas shopping in the week when it is less frantic.
'We do all our planning of activities two months in advance and have everything ready. We have a brainstorming session and decide what we are going to do and then get all the arts and crafts materials ordered in good time so there is no last minute panic wondering whether things will get held up in the Christmas post.'
Laura Oliver deliberately keeps the run-up to Christmas low-key. 'We don't try to start too early, as it becomes a big hype. The children don't have an understanding of time; they don't have the patience.'
Striving for perfection
Managers need to remember that Christmas is stressful for parents too, says Ms Squires. 'Everyone always wants Christmas to be perfect even if it ends up the same as previous years - you have too much food and too little left in the bank. You have to remember that parents are leading stressful lives, and try to build up an open relationship with them.'
People become stressed when they feel they are not in control, according to the HSE. But planning for the worst-case scenario helps avoid such problems, says Ms Deacon. 'I like to be prepared for the worst. I always have somebody I can call in if someone goes sick. We have someone who does a bit of volunteering for us. She is registered and does our school runs but does not want to commit to more than that regularly, but she will come in if there is an emergency.' NW
Further information
* The survey Stress in the UK Workplace is available from www.personnel.today.com.
* Workstress.Net is a website devoted to raising the profile of work-related stress, its causes and ways it can be eliminated - visit www.workstress.net.
* The HSE's key messages are that work-related stress is a serious problem for organisations, but there are things organisations can do to prevent and control it, and the law requires organisations to take action. To help employers tackle stress in the workplace, HSE has guidance and training materials. Details are available at www.hse.gov.uk/stress.
The HSE is currently conducting a pilot of its management standards on tackling stress. The exercise is due to finish this year and evaluation will continue into 2004.
* The Engineering Employers' Federation has published a practical guide for managers on avoiding and dealing with stress in the workplace. Visit www.eef.org.uk.
