Line management competence: the key to preventing and reducing stress at work
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390810853110 |
| Date | 22 February 2008 |
| Published date | 22 February 2008 |
| Pages | 11-16 |
| Author | Emma Donaldson‐Feilder,Jo Yarker,Rachel Lewis |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Line management competence: the key to
preventing and reducing stress at work
Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Jo Yarker and Rachel Lewis
Abstract
Purpose – Work-related stress is a major concern for employers, and the UK Health and Safety
Executive has introduced Management Standards for employers to support them in managing stress in
the workplace. Managers have a key role to play in minimizing stress-related risks for their staff.
Management behavior has a direct impact on staff well-being – managers can prevent or cause stress
in those they manage. Managers also act as ‘‘gatekeepers’’ to their employees’ exposure to stressful
working conditions and are vital to the identification and tackling of stress in the workplace. This means
that managers need to understand what behaviors theyshould show in order to manage their employees
in a way that minimizes work-related stress. New research has identified management
behavior/competencies that prevent and reduce stress at work and this paper aims to present this.
Design/methodology/approach – The first phase of this research involved interviews with nearly 400
employees and managers, and focus groups with over 50 human resources (HR) professionals. They
were asked for their views on what manager behaviors are important, in terms of behaviors that are
effective and behaviors that are ineffective for managing stress in staff.
Findings – The behaviors identified were grouped into themes to create a framework of 19
management ‘‘competencies’’ for preventing and reducing stress at work.
Originality/value – The resulting competency framework can be incorporated into managers’
management approach, into HR practices such as training, selection and appraisal of managers and
into other stress management activities in order to manage stress at work more effectively.
Keywords Stress, Employees, Health and safety, Human resource management, Competences
Paper type Research paper
Work-related stress is now a major concern for employers. In the UK, Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) figures show that work-related stress, depression or
anxiety account for an estimated 12.8 million lost working days per year. Around
one in seven working individuals think their job is very or extremely stressful and 420,000
individuals in Britain believe that they are experiencing work-related stress at a level that is
making them ill[1]. This means that very few organizations are likely to escape the impact of
stress-related absence and employee stress. Where stress-related problems lead to an
employee being absent from work, an average of 29 working days are lost. In a recent
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) survey, 40 percent of the
responding organizations reported an increase in stress-related absence (CIPD, 2007).
In response to the problem presented by work-related stress, the HSE has established
‘‘Management Standards’’ for stress at work that are designed to help employers tackle the
major sources of work-related stress risk. Published in 2004, these represent a ‘‘set of
conditions that reflect high levels of health, well-being and organizational performance.’’
They cover six key areas, which, if not managed well, put employees at risk of stress-related
ill-health. They are demands, control, support, relationships, role and change[1].
DOI 10.1108/14754390810853110 VOL. 7 NO. 2 2008, pp. 11-16, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398
j
STRATEGIC HR REVIEW
j
PAGE 11
Emma Donaldson-Feilder is
Chartered Occupational
Psychologist, Affinity Health
at Work, New Barnet, UK.
Jo Yarker is Lecturer in
Occupational Psychology
and Rachel Lewis is
Research Associate, both
at the University of London,
London, UK.
The authors have recently been
awarded Practitioner of the Year
by the British Psychological
Society Division of Occupational
Psychology for their work on this
project.
The research findings so far are
the outcome of the first phase of a
continuing research program.
Further research is under way to
refine and validate the
competency framework and to
explore how it can best be used in
practice. For those interested in
learning more about the findings
of this research, the HSE and
CIPD are providing free
downloads as follows: short
guidance leaflets providing the
findings of the research can be
downloaded from the CIPD web
site: www.cipd.co.uk:80/
subjects/health/stress/
_lnmngtstrs.htm; and the full
research report can be
downloaded from the HSE web
site: www.hse.gov.uk/research/
rrhtm/rr553.htm
To continue reading
Request your trial