Stress - How much are you prepared to pay?
!!The Ambulance chasing Lawyers are out there; just waiting to pounce!!
Stress related sickness accounts for forty million lost man-hours annually; the cost to industry is a staggering seven billion pounds (£7bn). 12 million adults see their GP with mental health problems every year. Most of these suffer from anxiety and depression, much of it stress-related.
It is only a matter of time before an employee successfully sues their employer for creating the stress, opening the flood gates for further litigation. But need it happen? Industry has focused its attention on stress management companies to little or no effect. Illnesses related to stress have continued to rise over the years proving that these fashionable and expensive ideas are not the answer.
Stress caused by work is the second biggest occupational health problem in the UK (after back problems). Research suggests that a moderate amount of pressure can be positive, making us more alert, helping to keep us motivated, and making us perform better. However, too much pressure, or prolonged pressure, can lead to stress. Stress can cause illness and physical and emotional problems.
Why do some of us fall by the wayside whilst others claim they thrive on stress?
Each individual's ability to cope with stress varies it all depends upon their own initial, internal threshold. People already stressed to a point where they are showing signs require little to push them into a state of collapse
The symptoms of stress are fatigue, irritability, worry, anxiety, obsessions, depression, sleep problems, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, phobias and unexplained aches or pains. Your employees are assets. The right people are becoming harder to find, no company can afford paying salaries to people who are not there due to long term absence. Equally covering for absent colleagues can add to the stress levels of those that have to cover for them?
Recent evidence shows more and more people are working longer unpaid hours. This places an additional strain on family life, which in turn will create tension at work - it becomes a downward spiral where the employee may lose their ability to function, then their job, family and health.
So what can be done? Being told to pull your self together is not the answer, because the real cause of the problem is out of their control. Psychotherapy or counselling; can prove expensive and long term, years of therapy can produce little as they are looking at effects not the causes. This is true of the practice of medical practitioners who freely prescribe antidepressants. The pills are only addressing the symptom and not the cause of it.
I practice a special kind of hypnotherapy - Hypnoanalysis - A therapeutic technique in which a client is relaxed into conscious hypnosis, and using free-association, sets out to release and resolve bottled-up emotions, conflicts and anxieties. It is one of the most effective therapies in the world for treating emotional and anxiety and stress related problems. It is a very natural process to discover the root cause of the problem rather than merely just treating/controlling the symptom. A course can take between seven and ten weekly sessions, costing about five hundred pounds.
What do you get for that money? You get an employee back at work, productive, more efficient and having a much lower internal stress level. They are more able to cope because the cause of their health problems has been removed, permanently & completely.
Having a duty of care for employees will come to have greater meaning as time goes by. How does your business look after its long term sick?
Do you have a policy for protecting your employees before they become to sick to work?
Will you be the 'test case' in court?
Because there's still a stigma attached to mental health problems, employees are often reluctant to seek help in case they're seen as unable to cope.
So how can you demonstrate that you are a caring company with the best interests of your employees at heart?
I am an accredited professional Life Coach & Hypnotherapist - and I could work closely with your HR department offering my services to your employees that might need to discuss their concerns & problems in a caring, non-judgmental, confidential environment.
My presence within your company will send out a strong message and demonstrate that you are indeed a caring company; not just words but action.
As Maslow and more recent research has again highlighted 'Respect & Recognition' are the two greatest people motivators! When people feel 'valued' then their motivation and productivity increases.
I trust that you can see the benefits to your company; of incorporating my services into your Duty of Care / Health & Safety Policy.
I would be very happy to meet and discuss in more detail my therapy/services and the benefits to your business. Perhaps you have someone on long term sick now - perhaps you could refer them to me - at no cost to you - as a demonstration of my therapy - all I need is their commitment to want to get better and to complete the therapy.