Contents - CIPD

What is proactive workplace stress management?Proactive stress management is essentially about the ongoing measurement andmonitoring of stress within organisations, with a view to identifying and then targetingresources at problem areas.Steps to proactive organisational stress managementINTRODUCTIONOrganisational stress management can be thought of as a series of steps:Step 1 is about understanding what stress is, specifically in the context of your organisationor industry, and why your organisation needs to prevent or reduce it (Tools2–6).Step 2 is about developing a business case for stress management within your organisationto secure buy-in and commitment from all key stakeholders who are going to beinvolved in the process (Tool 7).Step 3 is about developing and implementing a comprehensive stress policy, alongwith related procedures and guidelines that will underpin your approach to stressmanagement, and also the importance of creating the right brand with the work thatyou do in this area (Tools 8–9).Step 4 is about establishing an approach to risk assessment and identifying specificareas of the organisation that are likely to be affected by stress and what the particularissues perceived by these groups are (Tools 10–12).Step 5 is about implementing appropriate stress prevention and reduction interventionsand solutions, including training – targeted where they are most needed (Tools13–17).Step 6 is about measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of the interventions put inplace (Tool 18).Step 1: Understanding stressBefore implementing any stress management approach, it is important that thoseresponsible for the area understand the basics. This includes gaining an understandingof what work-related stress actually is, recognising where it can come from, how it canxiiiA free sample chapter from Stress by Robertson Cooper. Published by the CIPD. © 2008 CIPD.All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior writtenpermission of the publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by theCopyright Licensing Agency.If you would like to purchase this product please go to www.cipd.co.uk/bookstore