The Diploma Course in Organisational Stress Management
A Distance Learning Course
The second course is our Diploma course in Organisational Stress Management. This training course will enable you to take the skills of Stress Management Training into the Company or Organisation. The Organisational course is intended as a companion course to our Diploma in Stress Management Training and is suitable for individuals who have completed the Diploma in Stress Management Training or for experienced practitioners in the field.
Stress in the Workplace
More and more employees are experiencing stress at work. They may be coping with too much pressure, long hours or rapid change. The nature of employment has now changed, and the idea of a job for life has been replaced by an emphasis on performance. More mergers and acquisitions are taking place within the workplace. Such changes may include reorgansiation, relocation, job-redesign and downsizing, all of which can contribute to stress.
Stress Management can reduce the possibility of Litigation
Littigation is on the increase and employers need to be aware of their duties regarding current legislation, under which there have been successful claims. The Health and Safety Eecutive has undertaken a consultation exercise on the need for a legally binding code to enforce measures that reduce workplace stress and to make employer’s responsibilities more explicit. More and more employers are turning to Stress Management to tackle these problems. Stress Management can enable people to improve their own response to stress and enable the organisation to reduce workplace stressors. Our training package addresses the problems of stress with the twofold approach of Stress Auditing and Stress Management Training.
The Stress Audit for the Organisation
We provide the information and materials to enable you to carry out a Stress Audit for the organisation in line with the Management Standards set out by the Health and Safety Executive.. The findings of the audit can be addressed in the Stress Management Training sessions. Master copies of all Stress Audit forms and questionnaires are provided, as is a CD/digital audio with all these forms on for you to edit with your own logo.
The Organisational Stress Management Course
Organisational Stress Management comprises a package of skills which aim to enable the individual employee and the organisation to better manage stress. Our training presents the theory and practice of Organisational Stress Management in a logical and user-friendly way. The Stress Management sessions provide an opportunity to tackle major workplace stressors using techniques from Problem Solving Therapy.
All sessions include master copies of questionnaires, logs, handouts and forms for you to copy for your stress management groups, together with the same on CD/file for you to edit with your own logo.
Who is this stress course aimed at?
The course is intended as a companion to our Diploma in Stress Management Training. It does not encompass the primary skills and techniques of stress management, which are covered thoroughly in our Diploma in Stress Management Training.
Introduction to the Training
The Code of Ethics.
Assessment Procedures.
Course Evaluation.
Setting up as an organisational stress Consultant.
Tutorial I - The Major Causes of Organisational Stress
There is no such thing as a stress-free job. Indeed, we need a certain amount of stress in our lives in order to achieve our goals. However, too much pressure, long hours and unrealistic deadlines can cause stress to individual employees. Individuals differ in their response to stress and to how much stress they can take before it becomes harmful. It is possible for the organisation to act to reduce workplace stressors and for the individual worker to begin working to improve their individual response to stress. The causes of stress at work can come from many sources. These can range from the physical environment, the home/work interface and the psychosocial environment, which includes organisational function and culture, career development, participation, organisational role, interpersonal relationships, task design and work load, pace and schedule.
The Risk of Litigation
Stress is now recognised as a valid health and safety issue at work. Studies show that today 44% of the workforce come home exhausted, while 70% of British employees working over 40 hours a week want to work less hours. The average lunch 'hour' now lasts less than 30 minutes and time off for stress related illnesses has increased by 500%. Litigation is on the increase and compensation claims are likely to increase too, possibly to include the loss of future earnings. It may be the case that UK employers will see an increasing amount of claims in the future as the workforce becomes more aware of the legislation concerning their health and safety rights, and their rights to protection from harassment. Organisations who acknowledge that stress is a problem and who have a written policy on stress and who run regular stress management training will be less at risk of a successful claim against them.
The Health & Safety Executive’s Management Standards for the organisation
The Health and Safety Executive have produced a broad consensus that the “states to be achieved” at the heart of their management standards are achievable in most work places. The standards, informed by research linking job design to ill health, consist of six main factors that contribute to work-related stress. They are; demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. The process outlined by the HSE is not enshrined in the law, but following it can help organisations to meet their legal duties.
The Stress Audit
The Health and Safety Executive expects every employer to conduct risk assessments for work-related stress. They recommend the following: Look for the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risk and decide what needs to be done, record your findings, and monitor and review them. It is important that this assessment includes consultation with employees and their representatives to identify problem areas and a commitment to take action to address these problems. A stress audit involves looking at those factors within the organisation which indicate stress, and at the individual employee’s response to stress. To be effective, interventions must be based on correct evaluations. Evaluations should be of both the individual and the organisation and should demonstrate to employers that they are worth doing and have a purpose.
Tutorial II - Strategic intervention at the organisational level
Organisational Stress Management is largely about the management of change. Change affects people on many different levels, individually, within the team and at the divisional or organisational level. Mergers and acquisitions are increasing in frequency and can have an immense effect on the individual employee and some have likened the individual response to a merger as similar to that of a personal bereavement. During a merger communication is likely to be poor and it will take time for any actual changes to take place, often up to a year. During this period workers are likely to fear the worst and the uncertainty created is very stressful, affecting every area of their lives. Anticipation of change being more stressful than change itself. Employees can respond to change by focusing on its dangerous implications or on its opportunities. Stress Management Training will facilitate the latter response.
Tutorial III - Strategic Intervention at the individual level in the workplace
Stress management and prevention in the organisational setting must take place at both the organisational and the individual level. Some types of work are inherently stressful and some individuals are more likely to be stressed by some work situations than others. It is important to note that organisational stress management should not support organisations in laying stress at the door of the individual but should rather help organisations to become more dynamic by empowering the individual employee. Thus, we assess stress at the organisational level as well as the individual level and use insights on managing change to enable the organisation better to manage stress. Here there is indeed a role for individual Stress Management interventions which can be run for both groups and individuals based on information gathered in the Stress Audit. There are more specific interventions that can be useful for the individual in the organisation and these can be taught either individually or in groups. We outline interventions for organisational time management, managing meetings, goal setting and managing presentations. We also assess the role of the personality within the organisation, analyse the individual stress response and look at increasing stress resistance.
The Diploma
The Diploma in Organisational Stress Management is an award made by The Stress Management Institute to trainees who have completed the course and submitted three set essays, to the required standard, of 1,000 words each, within twelve months of enrolment. In the event of failure, resubmission under tutorial advice is allowed. Holders of the Diploma may use the form ‘Dip. Org. Stress Management’ after their names.
Professional Liability Insurance
Trainees on either of our training courses can obtain a Certificate of Professional Liability Insurance from an independent Insurer. This insurance includes cover for Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, Product Liability and Libel and Slander Insurance.