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A NEW NATIONAL STANDARD MAKES EMPLOYERS MORE
RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING WORKPLACE STRESS
The economic meltdown, the tech
revolution, the overwhelmed caregiver,
the nightly news: the topic
of every elevator conversation, it
seems, is related to our spiralling stress
levels. How should HR respond?
“Stress is part of life,” said Antoinette
Blunt, CHRP, SHRP, FCHRP, president
of Ironside Consulting Services Inc. in
Sault Ste. Marie. “The issue is how much
is reasonable, how do we manage it and
when does stress become unmanageable?”
Indeed, stress can be positive before it
becomes overwhelming.
“There is good stress; there is a level of
stress that’s a motivator, that helps push
you forward with deadlines,” explained
Andrea Binnington, CHRP, based
in Milton, Ont. “Different people are
stressed by totally different things; what
stresses one person out would be totally
manageable for other people.”
Jennifer Lee is the project manager for
Work With Us, a workplace-based support
program for Canadians living with
depression or arthritis run jointly by The
Arthritis Society and Mood Disorders
Society of Canada. Her program defines
stress as “the emotional and physical
strain caused by our response to pressure
from the outside world.” The 2013
Statistics Canada Health Profile reports
that “23.4 per cent of Canadians have
perceived stress in their lives”; according
to the Canadian Community Health
Survey, “most days in their life were quite
a bit or extremely stressful.”
In 2011, the Sun Life Wellness Institute’s
Buffett National Wellness Survey
reported that 56 per cent of senior HR
respondents considered stress to be the
top risk to workforce health.
“Stress is top ranked for good reason,”
said Dr. Richard Earle, managing director
of the Canadian Institute of Stress.
“Higher stress levels elevate absence costs
by up to 19 per cent, all disability costs
by up to 30 per cent and turnover costs
by up to 40 per cent. Also, according to
Towers-Watson, stress-based mental
health issues are the drivers behind 85
per cent of long-term disability claims.”
Stress, according to Earle, “is the mechanism
whereby we rev up the energy to
deal with problems or opportunities; it’s
the main thing that companies pay for.”
He defines problematic stress in terms of
return on investment (ROI). “What are
you getting back from what you’re putting
in? That’s the core question that HR
needs to address,” he said.
When people feel great satisfaction
and reward for their efforts, they don’t
suffer from stress; when they feel overused,
unappreciated and undercompensated,
they do.
“You have to work foot-to-the-floor for
about two years before you see the signs
of burnout,” Earle said. This happens
when the body is over-stimulated with
“upper” hormones like adrenalin for so
long that it eventually tries to exert balance
by flooding the system with the depressing
hormone cortisol.
CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS
Stress causes numerous health problems,
says Lee.
“Poor concentration, low productivity,
feeling unfulfilled, feeling very tired
and not being able to step out of a work
mindset at home are symptoms of ongoing
stress,” she said. “It has been shown
that long-term chronic stress is associated
with depression and difficulties with
sleeping.”
Furthermore, Binnington noted,
“You’re looking at impacts to the company,
WHEN PEOPLE FEEL
GREAT SATISFACTION
AND REWARD FOR
THEIR EFFORTS, THEY
DON’T SUFFER FROM
STRESS; WHEN THEY
FEEL OVERUSED,
UNAPPRECIATED AND
UNDERCOMPENSATED,
THEY DO.
like having people off on sick leave.
The stress can cause discord within the
climate of the company; potentially, your
overall morale starts to drop.”
Stressed workers can have a big impact
on an organization, overall.
“Turnover of key talent goes up and the
reputation of the company goes down,”
said Earle. “People are less creative in
problem-solving; they’re less committed.”
It’s a fine line to walk for employers,
who need to find a proper balance for
their workers.
“We need a certain amount of stimulation,
interest and agitation to keep us
on the ball and engaged,” said Dr. Martin
Shain, principal with The Neighbour
at Work Centre. “But it’s very important
for supervisors to know when they’re
pushing too hard.” While some cases of
unhealthy stress originate outside the
workplace, he continued, “We can estimate
that somewhere between one-quarter
and one-third are due to workplace
events – people behaving towards one
another in a way that causes what is increasingly
called ‘mental injury.’”
By Sarah B. Hood
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JANUARY 2014 ❚ 33