Week commencing 13th May 2019 is Mental Health Awareness Week.  ACAS has published the results of a new poll on workplace stress and anxiety. 

Here are some key findings:

  • 60% of employees who have felt stressed or anxious in the last year attribute this to their workload
  • 42% said it was due to how they are managed
  • 35% said that balancing work and home life was responsible

The poll found the solutions named by the employees very much mirror the causes:

  • 33% think that a reduced workload would help them feel less stressed
  • 26% pointed to better flexible working opportunities
  • 23%  said that more clarity around what is required would help

What can be done?

Reducing workloads and increasing flexible working may be easier said than done in some workplaces.

So what’s the answer, and whose responsibility is it to deliver?

Employers

  • less than 1 in 10 employees say that their organisation is ‘very good’ at preventing employees from feeling stressed and/or anxious about work
  • consider setting a mental health strategy and visibly committing to positive mental health at work

Managers

  • the large majority of employees believe that it is a manager’s role to recognise and address stress and anxiety, but less than half would talk to their own manager if they had a problem 
  • many are taking time out to cope (eg having a cup of tea), or talking to someone, such as a colleague; but more than one in four ‘don’t do anything’ 

Employees

Contact Totally HR today to find out more about developing line management skills and confidence and introducing strategies to help individuals to cope better in the workplace.

Mental Health Awareness Week