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Stress management "poor" among UK firms

Most UK companies have a poor record when it comes to dealing with employee stress, according to new research.

A recent survey conducted by HR Gateway, an online news and information source for human resources professionals, revealed that nearly 60 per cent of 274 respondents said their own organisations were "poor" at dealing with staff stress.

This compared with just 16 per cent responding with the answer "average", 15 per cent with "good" and 11 per cent with "excellent"

The findings follow a recent improvement notice served by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on Dorset West General Hospital NHS Trust to deal with excessive stress levels among staff.

According to the HSE, around 13.4 million working days were lost to stress, anxiety and depression over the 2001-2002 period.

Commenting on the latest findings, a spokesperson for the Trades Union Congress said they were not surprising given the intensity of work now placed on employees.

"Bad organisation of work and the intensity of work appears to be teaching HR a sharp lesson in the limits of special management techniques. The basic cure is more autonomy and better workloads," he told HR Gateway.

However, Mike Emmott of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, added that the fact that over a quarter of respondents rated their organisation as "good" or "excellent" in managing staff stress gave grounds for optimism.

"So it shows that there are some good employers out there taking stress seriously," he said.

© HMG Worldwide Ltd 2003