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"Stress and Absenteeism - Stop the spread of sick-note syndrome!"

Article to appear in the Public Service Review – April 2006

As consultants with a large number of Public Service clients over the past 25 years; all too often these days we hear that the single most significant issue ‘keeping our senior public service clients awake at night’ is the prevalence of absenteeism within their organisations - including at key senior levels. This contrasts markedly with the private sector when we often hear that the thing which most keeps senior HR people awake at night is key talent retention. In the case of the latter, this represents a significant but positive challenge. In the case of the former, this often represents a significant and depressing mountain to climb.

According to Geoffrey Podger, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), "Stress is the main cause of sickness absence in the public sector.’’  

Absenteeism is endemic in the public service, and is increasingly associated with stress – the ‘new lower back syndrome’.  Whilst we recognise that levels of employee stress are likely to have increased over recent years across most organisations, with exponential increases in organisational complexity and performance demands, (eg. due to the impact of e-mail, outsourcing of key support services, the blurring of public and private sector activities, competition for key roles amidst increased job insecurity, etc), we also believe that ‘stress’ is all too easily blamed for workplace absence.

We also believe that the link between these two can be better controlled via effective workplace stress education and expectation-setting.

A good starting point is to educate people that long term absence is not a solution to workplace stress. In fact, it provides the time to cultivate worry, shame and guilt for burdening colleagues and neglecting workload and a burgeoning dread of going back. Each time the day of return draws near, heightened anxiety precipitates another extended sick-note.

GPs and employers have to work together to limit time off to a short recovery period and to actively encourage people back to employment with proper, effective support and resources.

Jacqui Hartas, chartered occupational psychologist with HDA, believes that long term sickness absence can lead to reduced self-efficacy and eventual incapacity – not good news for the individual, the employer or the State.

‘Presenteeism’; ineffective overworking, is another symptom of mismanaged stress in organisations, leading to excessive, unproductive hours and increased risk of serious health problems, including heart disease. A culture of self-affirmation amid insecurity and competition; sometimes propped up by stimulants or alcohol, damages individuals and organisations alike.

Skills and strategies for coping with pressure and balancing lifestyle can be trained. Belief in one’s capacity to manage a heavy workload can be restored through coaching. Ideally, employers should provide pre-emptive training or coaching and not wait for symptoms to appear. Studies show that properly supported employees can manage significantly higher workloads and demonstrate increased productivity and motivation in a healthy work environment.

The thing about managing workplace stress is that 'one man's meat is another man's poison' - what is highly stressful to some is less so to others. More importantly, what is stressful to some is invigorating and highly attractive to others. In short, establishing what is stressful across workplaces is complex, and ensuring that staff understand how they can take responsibility for managing their own reactions to stress is key to managing the reaction of individuals to stress, and the prevalence of stress-related absenteeism.

From a ''managing stress'' best-practice perspective, the most successful organisations take a pragmatic and commercially-focused approach to auditing and managing levels of workplace stress and promoting ‘’wellness’’. They also carefully avoid creating a ''self-fulfilling prophecy'' situation where employees are led to believe that being stressed is the norm in that environment. They show evidence of concrete attempts to take meaningful measurements across the organisation, they ask the right questions and critically assess responses against the HSE’s very sensible stress guidelines.

Authors:

1. Jacqui Hartas is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with HDA

2. Clayton Glen is a Director with HDA

 

For further information: call 08452 60 95 40 or email info@hda.co.uk

To discuss potential HDA contributions, please contact us at email: info@hda.co.uk