Stress management is moving up employers agenda's as the recession continues to bite. The economic slowdown is urging employers to increase their attempts to deal and cope with stress levels among their employees.
In a recent IRS survey, the majority of HR professionals surveyed thought that the current economic conditions were having an affect on the way their organisation was dealing with stress management. Many stated that there had been a rising level of absenteeism due to increased stress levels within their organisation. Organisations have had to make a conscious effort to increase their activities to deal with this.
Many organisations are opting to train their employees to cope with stress, and improve their managers knowledge on stress management. Competent line management is key deflating stress levels, and training managers to improve their skills in this area could have a lasting affect on the organisations absenteeism at this time.
Other organisations are implementing different initiatives such as phased returns to work, counselling and one to one consultation to tackle rising stress issues and assist employees in their return to work. Each individual case of stress can be vastly different from the next, and employers need to have sufficiently trained manager and responsive initiatives in place to be better equipped to cope with rising stress levels among their employees.