大象传媒

We all need pressure to motivate us; it is a normal part of daily life. Most people thrive on the right amount of pressure, but when things get too much and we start to struggle, we can experience stress.

Stress is not an illness; it鈥檚 a negative state that can result from unmanageable pressure in all parts of our life - it can arise purely from work or home, but most often it is a combination of the two.

What Can Go Wrong?

• Workplace stress is more than just having too much to do. It depends on clarity of your role, how much control you have over your tasks, what support you get to achieve them, how you work with others and the pace of change and how this is managed and communicated to you See The Health and Safety Executive鈥檚 (HSE) set of management standards for work related stress in the Recommended Links section for more information.
• Normally we can cope with brief periods of stress, but in the longer term, continued stress has the potential to cause psychological and physical ill health.
• Stress might lead to people taking greater risks or cause accidents, ill health, absence and poor work performance.

Legal/大象传媒 Requirements 

• The 大象传媒, like all employers, has a duty of care under the Health & Safety at Work etc Act (1974) to avoid foreseeable harm to employees, which includes psychological harm.
• The 大象传媒 use the biannual staff survey to map certain question responses to the HSE鈥檚 management standards for work related stress to produce an index called the Work Pressure Index (WPI). At present this is prepared only for the overall 大象传媒 results.

Control Measures 

For individuals

Manage the risks

• Understand your own warning signs that indicate pressure may be getting too much 鈥� you may find the Pressure-Performance curve (in Useful Documents) helpful in terms of understanding where you are at the moment
• Identify and raise workplace stressors with your manager
• Have regular conversations about wellbeing at work with your manager and colleagues

Build resilience

Consider lifestyle factors:

• Consider lifestyle factors:
• Be active - it has been shown to be beneficial in counteracting the effects of stress
• Eat a healthy balanced diet
• Get the right amount of sleep and remember that relaxation time is very important 鈥� think about what works for you.
• Utilise the 大象传媒鈥檚 online Wellbeing Portal iWill 鈥� this provides a range of information and resources on various health and wellbeing topics, with the opportunity to set goals and monitor your progress. See Recommended Links for more details
• Try to manage your time effectively 鈥� work smarter not harder
• Keep a sense of perspective - problems that seem pressing today can be less important tomorrow.
• Remember with any problem there are really only three ways you can tackle it; avoid it, learn to accept it, or attempt to change it.
• Think about the 鈥�10 keys to happier living鈥� 鈥� these are a set of evidence based actions that can improve wellbeing and happiness. See Recommended Links for more details. 
• You may find the 鈥楽tress Container鈥� exercise (see Useful Documents section) useful in helping to understand your current pressures and to think about how you may be able to reduce some of the pressure and cope more effectively.

Seek support

• Don鈥檛 ignore signs or symptoms and struggle on without help.
• Talk problems over with someone you trust such as a friend, colleague, or manager. This may be all that is needed to solve a problem.
• Seek professional help if you think you might benefit from it, e.g. from your GP, the 大象传媒鈥檚 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a local support group
• Avoid unhelpful coping strategies - don鈥檛 take refuge in alcohol or un-prescribed drugs.

For managers, producers and anyone in charge of staff schedules

• Consider how you can understand and manage the key workplace factors that can cause stress within your teams (work demands, control, support, role clarity etc) on a day to day basis. See the HSE鈥檚 Management Standards in Recommended Links for more information.
• Always consider pressure and stress when planning work activities, particularly: production schedules, rotas, shifts and working patterns, travel to and from locations, hours of work.
• Build in sufficient rest periods, time off duty and include contingency plans to manage overruns. Monitor schedules and make changes if necessary.
• Keep staff informed about what is required of them, discuss their performance and take feedback about how the workload or work pattern might be improved.
• Psychological safety - consider how the nature of the work your teams are involved in could impact their stress levels, e.g. if a programme involves working with a particularly upsetting topic or content. Build this into the programme / project risk assessment in terms of identifying the issues and control measures alongside physical risks. Speak to your Safety Adviser for support with this.
• Look out for and don鈥檛 ignore signs and changes in those you manage. This can include unusual mood swings & irritability, poor concentration/ memory, increased emotional reactions, fatigue and changes in attendance. Have a conversation if you have noticed any changes.
• Keep mental wellbeing on the agenda 鈥� at a team and 1-2-1 level
• Familiarise yourself with the guidance and support available at the 大象传媒 (below) so you can signpost colleagues appropriately. Attend relevant training as needed.
• Keep an eye on your own stress levels and look after your own wellbeing 鈥� you can鈥檛 support others if you aren鈥檛 well yourself. 

Division Specific Issues

• No division specific issues.

FAQs/Did You Know?

• The 大象传媒 Academy runs a number of courses for both managers and individuals to support various aspects of mental health and wellbeing, including stress. There are courses on psychological resilience, trauma and mental health and wellbeing more generally. See Recommended Links for details
• A model stress risk assessments can be found on myRisks to help when an area of stress has been identified and needs to be controlled. See Recommended Links for details
• Employees can call the 大象传媒鈥檚 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for psychological support. This is available 24/7 and is completely confidential. Whilst the EAP is an employee benefit, it can be made available to freelancers under certain circumstances (contact HR for advice). See Recommended Links for details.
• Your manager can refer you to Occupational Health for advice and guidance on supporting you with stress in the workplace. See Recommended Links for details. 
• The 大象传媒 recently launched the 鈥極pen Up鈥� campaign to encourage staff to open up about mental health and wellbeing at work 鈥� you can find a range of resources and information about mental health and wellbeing on the Open Up Gateway page (see Recommended Links)
• There is health and safety guidance available on the Safety Hub, on all aspects of mental health and wellbeing, from emergency situations to building resilience. See Personal Health & Wellbeing topics links for details.
• Managers can contact the HR Manager Advice Service with queries about managing stress in the workplace. See Recommended Links
• There are over 500 trained Mental Health First Aiders across the 大象传媒 who cian support colleagues in a mental health emergency and provide signposting and guidance.
• See related topics for more information.