The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has launched a free stress management tool, developed with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), designed to help equip managers with the skills to manage positively and prevent stress in their staff.
CIPD research identified stress as the number one cause of long-term sickness absence, and poor management is one of the top causes of work-related stress.
The tool, available on the CIPD website, is designed to hold up a mirror to managers so they understand how their behaviour impacts on the people they manage – and provides on-line learning materials to help them improve their management style.
Ben Willmott, CIPD head of public policy, commented: “It is in employers’ interests to ensure managers have the necessary people management skills to manage and prevent stress. Stress is a major cause of sickness absence and lost productivity and is linked to a higher risk of accidents at work. Prolonged exposure to stress is also linked to conditions such as depression, anxiety and an increased risk of heart disease.
“Managers can either cause or exacerbate stress or help prevent and manage it. This tool enables managers to understand how their management style impacts on others and can help them change their behaviour over time.”
The tool contains online resources for managers to help them manage their staff in ways that prevent and reduce stress within the team; and learning materials to help HR practitioners to support managers to manage their staff in ways that prevent and reduce stress in their teams.
Peter Brown, Head of the HSE Stress Team, added: “This tool is designed to help people become better managers that manage stress rather than add to it. Poor management can cause stress for both staff and the manager; relieving that stress makes work a more positive place and delivers benefits for both staff and employers.”
Dr Mark Winwood, clinical director for psychological health at Axa PPP healthcare, said: “The online tool takes line manager training and competency in managing stress at work to another level. Constructive and supportive, it will help managers to look at how their behaviours and actions affect others and encourage even experienced managers to take a positive approach to supporting employees with mental health issues. These easy-to-use resources will benefit people managers in organisations of all sizes.”
