Workplace Counselling :

Organisational Interventions

Overview

The concept of employee assistance

Stressors in the Workplace
Stress-related absence
Organisational responsibility for stress
management
Creating a healthy workplace

The Concept of Employee Assistance

early 1900s : welfare provision

1920s : industrial psychiatry
Mayo (1936) a happy worker is a productive worker
1940s : Employee Assistance :
Characteristics of early Employee Assistance
aim : employee regulation
welfare team : psychiatrists, social workers,
occupational psychologists and personnel officers
peripheral
curative medical model

Characteristics of Contemporary Approaches

to Employee Assistance
Political pressure + legislation (Health & Safety
Executive, 1995) + happy = productive has led to ....

Employee Assistance as a philosophy (Carroll, 1994)

Mental Health Counselling ~ EAPs
US : litigation for cases of emotional damage,
stress-related illness (Carroll, 1996)
prevention better than cure

Stress in the Workplace

How bad is it ?...

Economic health ~ employee ill-health (-ve correlation)

Dutch Bureau for Social Statistics (SCP), 2000 : 5-15% pop. of Western
European countries receive social security benefits (UK : approx. 10%)
1 in 3 unable to work due to mental grounds (90% suffering exogenous
reaction)
30-60% of all sickness from work in UK due to some form of
mental/emotional disturbance (Health & Safety Executive,1998); 40
million working days per year.
Mental Health Foundation (2000)
4 billion pounds lost annually
line mgrs : 75% felt anyone could suffer from stress at some time
Most common = musculoskeletal disorders (back-problems) then
work-related stress

What is Stress ?
stress as an outside stimulus (traditional/early view)
stress as an internal response
Cannon (1930s) : first to link stress to
disease/physiological responses (animal, human lab
studies)
Selyle (1946) first to look at the process of development of
illness through stress : 3 stages :- alarm
reaction(lowered resistance & counter-shock =>
defense mechanisms) ... resistance (coping
strategies) ... exhaustion (adaptive mechanisms
collapse)

Causes of Stress : Theory

Cumming & Cooper (1979) : type of P x E model :

individuals try to keep their world steady
each factor of a persons emotional and physical world
has a range in which that person feels comfortable
the individuals behaviour which is aimed at maintaining
this state = coping strategies
Smith et al (1978) : stress occurs in all occupations
NB. occupational differences (caring professions, medics,
PSYCHIATRISTS!!); gender differences (men affected 2x
women, although women increasing)

Burnout
Adams (1963) Equity Theory

High/systemic imbalance between employee investments (time +

effort) ~ employee rewards
External vs Internal Investments
External vs Internal Rewards
Burnout <<< high external effort + low internal reward (Bosma et al,
1998; Evans & Fisher,1993; Siegrist, 1996)

Roe & Zijlstra (2000)

increasing intensification of the working day

work demands + life demands
N.B. Individual differences in peoples interpretations of events hardy
personality

Causes of Stress : Research

Cooper et al (1988) : 5 categories of work stress :
1. Factors Intrinsic to Job :
hours of work (long hours, shift work); working conditions (heat, light,
noise); risk and danger; new technology; work overload & work
underload
2. Role in the Organisation:
role ambiguity (more stress when high ambiguity), role conflict (job role
~ job role, job role ~ other), level of responsibility (for people or
things : Wardwell (64) for people is more stressful than for things)
3. Relationships at Work
the importance of social support (Lazarus, 66; Cartwright & Cooper,
97)

Cooper et al (1988), continued...

4. Career Development :
- job security & development (high nAch)
- retirement (role transition i.e. roleless role)
- job performance and appraisal
- unemployment (e.g. Fryer & Payne, 86 : low happiness, low
self esteem and poor psychological well-being; Eisenberg
38 : Model of reaction to unemployment : stage one =
shock, stage two = optimism, stage three = pessimism)
5. Organisational Structure & Climate :
Lack of autonomy and freedom (Career Anchors)

Consequences of Stress
Individual
physical : coronary heart disease, backache, migraine, skin
complaints, respiratory disorders, stomach ulcers etc.etc.!
psychological : decrease in job performance (Yerkes-Dodson Law);
depression; panic attacks; etc etc.
Organisational
Quick & Quick (1984) : absenteeism and turnover :
$ loss to organisations = almost half of lost employees salary
By 1970s absenteeism cost more to industry than strikes and work
stoppages
Litigation and Health Care Costs
Societal : economic and social consequences

Indicators of Individual Stress

Increase in unexplained absences or sick leave
Poor performance
Poor timekeeping
Increased consumption of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine (drug taking)
Headaches/Backaches
Withdrawal from social contact
Poor judgement/indecisiveness
Constant fatigue
Unusual displays of emotion
Indicators of Group Stress : increased bickering, high staff
turnover, increased grievances and complaints

N.B. The Criterion Problem : Diagnosing

stress-related illness

Relevant information is not registered

Differences in procedures/legislation
Unclear diagnostic criteria (International
Classification of Impairments, Diseases and
Handicaps - no international definition of
stress as a medical condition)

Stress-Related Absence

Absence figures : absence due to - own illness, injury, medical problems,

childcare problems, family/personal obligations, civil/military duty,
maternity/paternity leave.
Not included : vacation, personal development days, industrial action - and
anything else not given above.
N.B. Multiple job-holders
Absence Rate = No. workers with absences : No. workers in full-time
employment (e.g. 25 : 100 = 1 in 4)
Absenteeism Rate = Total no. lost working days / no. workers in workforce x no.
working days)] x 100
CBI survey : 1996 - 187 million lost days (12bn)
static among manual staff, increased by 2 days (on average) in non-manual
workers (N.B. manual staff more)
public sector vs private sector (although gap narrowing)

How organisations perceive

stress-related
absence
98% said sickness absence genuine
20% increase in orgs using sickness record as a selection
criteria for redundancy
Traditionally, orgs responded to prolonged absence by
disciplinary process/termination. Now - employee legislation
prevents termination.
Organisations as Ostriches!
Organisational costs of stress-related absences
overtime payments, training efforts, insurance premiums,
admin. responsibilities, salary paid for no work performance,
disruption in normal workflow
morale, safety risks, productivity, quality of service

Organisational & Economic correlates of

employee absenteeism

low unemployment
growing organisation
high employee turnover
unionized organisation
overtime pay available
low wages
employees have short tenure

Creating a Healthy Workplace

The individual and the organisation need to:
be aware and accept a problem exists (individual is not
incompetent, org. must monitor sick/turnover rates)
identify and isolate the problem (stress diaries, stress
audits - employee satisfaction surveys)
attempt to change the problem in a way that is mutually
beneficial - or find appropriate coping strategy
monitor and review the outcome of the strategy
adopted

Cures for Stress

Employee Assistance Programmes :
Are employee rather than org. directed - focus on changing
individuals behaviour (not stressors in the work environment)
Feldman (1991) : 75% of Fortune 5000 organisations use
EAPs
Content of EAPs : on-site fitness facilities, relaxation classes,
counselling....
Evaluation of EAPs : Organisations like them as : lead to
significant financial benefits (due to decreased absenteeism);
do not disrupt business; present a high profile means
whereby org. is seen to be doing something about stress

Stress Management Training : Content

Behaviour Modification techniques
Health promotion (e.g. gym membership)
Counselling
Cognitive Approach : maladaptive thinking
e.g. Rational Emotive Therapy - challenge irrational thoughts
Humanistic-Phenomenological Approach :
e.g. Q-Sort : piles describing ideal vs current self.
Encounter Groups : hug me, man
Erhard Seminars training : 250 people in a field shouting
at each other

Evaluation of Employee Assistance

Reynolds et al (1993) : SMT => decreased self-report

of stress, and psychological indices of strain - no
improvement in job satisfaction, work stress, blood
pressure
Allison et al (1988) : Counselling = > improved mental
health - no improvement in job satisfaction or
organisational commitment
Ivancevitch et al (1988) : Fitness Programmes =>
70% failed to maintain the programme after initiation

Changing the sources of workplace stress :

prevention rather than cure
Elkin & Rosch (1990) : 10 strategies : include....
Redesign -task, -work environment; establish flexible
working; encourage participative management and
employee development; provide social support and
feedback; share rewards; have fair employment policies
Evidence
Guzzo et al (1985) : increased empowerment =>
increased productivity
Dale et al (1998) :Quality Circle Programmes selfmonitoring, autonomous work units - have significant
positive impact on productivity and employee attitudes.

Characteristics of the Healthy Organisation

Cartwright & Cooper (1994)
Levels of stress are low
org. commitment and job satisfaction are high
sickness, absenteeism and turnover are below the
national average
industrial relations are good - strikes are infrequent
safety and accident records are good
fear of litigation is absent