Page 166 - IGC BOOK

• Role – for example: lack of clarity about an individuals’ role, what responsibilities and
authority they have, and how they fit into the larger organisational structure, no clear job
descriptions or systems to enable employees to raise concerns about their role and
responsibilities.

• Change – for example: the threat of change and the change process itself, lack of
consultation, communication, and support during periods of change.

Dealing with Home-Related Stress

People do bring home-related stress into the workplace. Although you are not legally responsible
for stress that originates in the home, well-managed organisations will have arrangements that
allow them to address it. This might include such things as access to counselling services,
adaptations to the work or changes to working hours.

Managers often say it is difficult to identify what stress is caused by problems at home and what
is caused by work. Using the Management Standards can help to tease this out.

Control Measures

It is always not reasonably practicable to remove pressure from the work activities, prevention
strategies are focused on the management standards which is based on the six causes of stress:

Demands

Issues like workload, work patterns, and the work environment.

The organisation provides employees with adequate and achievable demands in relation to the
agreed hours of work.

Control

How much say the person has in the way they do their work?

Employees indicate that they are able to have a say about the way they do their work.

Support

The encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management
and colleagues.

Relationships

Promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.

Role

Whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation
ensures that the person does not have conflicting roles.

ENSIGN | Unit IG2 – Element 5 – Physical and Psychological 26
Health