The Arinite Stress Matrix - where does your company stand?

Would you say London based employees are under more stress than people working in Yorkshire/Humberside? Arinite’s Managing Director Robert Winsloe appeared on London Live TV and gave an insight to this topic based on recent statistics from the HSE which we showcased in our February 2015 blog. In our lives most of the stress we experience comes from one of two places. Either our “working life” or our life outside of work, our “home life”. Stresses at work all have their roots in poor management. At Arinite we help companies understand how stress may be affecting the performance of individuals and the company as a whole.   Good companies and good managers find ways to ensure that pressure to deliver results at work does not lead to unsustainable levels of stress. The great companies however are also able to recognise when, and understand why, stresses from an individual’s home life may be affecting their work life. As part of the Arinite Stress Audit we use the Arinite Stress Matrix to highlight the results of that audit for an organisation as a whole, and for departments and for individuals: The Arinite Stress Matrix looks at the stresses in our working life and our home life. Are the stress levels at home or at work “good” or “bad” (low or high)? So looking at the top right quadrant of the matrix you have people whose working life and home life are both good. The chances are these people feel little if any stress on a sustained basis and are generally leading happy balanced lives. Conversely, if stress levels at both home and work are high, then you are likely to be in the red danger zone at the doctors in the bottom left hand quadrant. But what if you’re in the top left quadrant where your work life is good and the stresses you experience are coming largely from what is happening outside of work? A logical consequence of this is that you’re staying away from home and working overtime in the office. In the final bottom right hand quadrant you have great life outside the office but a very stressful working life. In this case you may be motivated to take “sick” days to help alleviate the stress, and what better way to that than by simply spending time at home (or on the golf course). So where does your company as whole, your managers, your staff fit within the Arinite Stress Matrix? In the Times annual survey of the best companies to work for they ask survey respondents to consider 8 different factors. All of these are related directly or indirectly to stress and/or good management systems:

• Leadership: How employees feel about the head of the company and its senior managers
• Wellbeing: How staff feel about the stress, pressure and the balance between their work and home duties
• Giving something back: How much companies are thought by their staff to put back into society generally and the local community
• Personal growth: To what extent staff feel they are stretched and challenged by their job
• My manager: How staff feel towards their immediate boss and day-to-day managers
• My company: Feelings about the company people work for as opposed to the people they work with
• My team: How staff feel about their immediate colleagues
• Fair deal: How happy the workforce is with their pay and benefits

In a recent blog we discussed the reporting of stress related illnesses and highlighted the fact that London is the least stressed workforce in the country and that Yorkshire/Humberside is the most stressed. In the Times annual survey for 2015, London has 30 companies in the Top 100 Best Companies to work for, whereas Yorkshire and Humberside has just 2. Is London a better place for a work/life balance or are the companies in London simply better managed, or is it a combination of both? Whichever way you look at this, the better managed the company the lower the levels of stress in the workplace and the greater the chances you can sustain the growth and success of your company.

Key Management Advice

Do you want to merely comply with minimum health and safety requirements or do you want establish a low stress working environment which gives you a business advantage?

How Arinite can help

If you’re concerned about stress levels at your company or would just like an independent view on where your company, managers or individuals fall on the Arinite Stress Matrix then contact us to arrange for an Arinite Stress Audit. [contact_us] Arinite clients appreciate we provide practical, no-nonsense advice about what you need to do to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment. My team of health and safety consultants take pride in keeping health and safety simple. If you need to call upon our expert assistance, or just for an informal chat, please call me on: mobile 0780 361 2948, office 0207 947 9581, or drop me a line at [email protected]. Bryan Richards 26^th March 2015 Arinite Ltd, Warnford Court, 29 Throgmorton Street, London EC2N 2AT