Stress at Work

Anyone can experience stress at work; it isn’t restricted to only those with the most high powered jobs or busiest schedules.

Work related stress – what are the causes?

• Demands of the job – level of workload and impossible deadlines
• Under-utilisation of skills
• High uncertainty in workplace - for instance poorly defined roles and targets, lack of job security
• Conditions of workplace
• Low interpersonal support
• Individual susceptibility
• Factors outside of the workplace

Stress tends to build over time, so no single factor is likely to be the cause of someone becoming stressed at work.

Early intervention is a crucial step in dealing with any stress related problem to prevent it from becoming more serious. It can be really helpful to look out for the following signs and take action should you see them.

Common signs that someone is stressed at work:

• Increased absenteeism
• Poor performance
• Poor timekeeping
• Increased consumption of nicotine, caffeine, alcohol or drugs
• Frequent headaches and backaches
• Withdrawing from social contact
• Poor judgement
• Low energy and constant lethargy
• Irritability, tearfulness or outbursts

What can Clinical Partners do to help work related stress?

At Clinical Partners we offer a tailor made approach to helping an organisation manage any stress at work issues they may have. The most common and often most helpful areas we can help with are:

Assist individuals who are experiencing the effects of stress
Our qualified senior occupational health lead will assess the individual either face to face or via the telephone and write a full report with recommendations.

We can refer on to an occupational health physician where needed, as well as utilising our nationwide team of psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists.

We can then review the employee’s progress and advise you further, for instance advice on the effectiveness of adjustments.

Help eliminate the source of stress
We have experience of assessing what might be causing a problem in your organisation and advise on how to deal with it. Redesigning jobs, working conditions and personnel policies can all be effective in reducing your organisation’s stress related problems.

Embed a sustainable education and management strategy into your organisation to deal with the sources of stress and minimise reoccurrences.
Equipping managers and staff with knowledge regarding the signs of stress can really help prevent problems in the future and encourage a healthy culture.

Please click here to read more about training for staff and managers.