NICE Guidance

Key Findings

• Work, both paid and unpaid, is a health-promoting activity and the benefits have been well documented.

• In 2006 and 2007, more than half a million people in Britain believed they were experiencing stress, depression or anxiety due to work at a level that made them ill.

• An estimated 13.7 million working days were lost as a result.

• People in lower paid jobs are more likely to experience poor working conditions, such as a lack of control of their workload, lack of job security, limited support and exposure to physical hazards.

• Employees in public administration, defence, education and health and social work had some of the highest rates of self-reported stress, anxiety and depression.

• Evidence suggests that investment in healthy working practices and the health and wellbeing of employees improves productivity and is cost effective for businesses and wider society.

• Research suggests that successful organisations share the characteristics of a healthy working environment.

Key Recommendations for employers

Recommendation 1: strategic and coordinated approach to promoting employees’ mental wellbeing

• Adopt an organisation-wide approach to promoting the mental wellbeing of all employees, working in partnership with them.

• This approach should integrate the promotion of mental wellbeing into all policies and practices concerned with managing employees.

• Ensure that the approach takes account of the nature of the work, the workforce and the characteristics of the organisation.

• Promote a culture of participation, equality and fairness that is based on open communication and inclusion.

Recommendation 2 : assessing opportunities for promoting employees’ mental wellbeing and managing risks

• Create an awareness and understanding of mental wellbeing and reduce the potential for discrimination and stigma related to mental health problems.

• Ensure that processes for job design, selection, recruitment, training, development and appraisal promote mental wellbeing and reduce the potential for stigma and discrimination.

• Ensure that employees have the necessary skills and support to meet the demands of a job and have opportunities for development and progression.

• Employees should be fully supported throughout organisational change and situations of uncertainty.

• Ensure that all employees who might be exposed to stress, including part-time workers, shift workers and migrant workers are included in the various approaches for promoting mental wellbeing.

• Adopt a structured approach to assessing opportunities for promoting employees’ mental wellbeing and managing risks, involving:
  • Ensuring systems are in place for assessing and monitoring the mental wellbeing of employees so that areas for improvement can be identified and risks caused by work and working conditions addressed
  • This could include using employee attitude surveys and information about absence rates, staff turnover and investment in training and development, and providing feedback and open communication, remember to protect employee confidentiality and address any concerns employees might have about these processes of assessment and monitoring.

• Make employees aware of their legal entitlements regarding quality of work and working conditions, including responsibilities for looking after their own mental wellbeing.

• Use frameworks such as Health and Safety Executive management standards for work-related stress to promote and protect employee mental wellbeing.

• Respond to the needs of employees who may be at particular risk of stress caused by work and working conditions, or who may be experiencing mental health problems for other reasons.

• Support could include counselling or stress management training.

• Interventions for individual employees should be complemented by organisation-wide approaches that encompass all employees.

• Different approaches may be needed by micro, small and medium-sized businesses and organisations for promoting mental wellbeing and managing risks.

Recommendation 3: flexible working

• If reasonably practical, provide employees with opportunities for flexible working according to their needs and aspirations in both their personal and working lives, e.g. part-time working, home-working, job sharing and flexitime.

• Promote a culture within the organisation that supports flexible working and addresses employees’ concerns.

• Managers should respond to and seek to accommodate appropriate requests from employees for flexible working and should ensure consistency and fairness in processing applications.

• Managers' ability to manage teams with flexible working patterns may need to be developed.

• Consider particular models of flexible working that recognise the distinct characteristics of micro, small and medium-sized businesses and organisations.

Recommendation 4: the role of line managers

• Strengthen the role of line managers in promoting the mental wellbeing of employees through supportive leadership style and management practices. This will involve:

 

• promoting a management style that encourages participation, delegation, constructive feedback, mentoring and coaching
• ensuring that policies for the recruitment, selection, training and development of managers recognise and promote these skills
• ensuring that managers are able to motivate employees and provide them with the training and support they need to develop their performance and job satisfaction
• increasing understanding of how management style and practices can help to promote the mental wellbeing of employees and keep their stress to a minimum
• ensuring that managers are able to identify and respond with sensitivity to employees’ emotional concerns, and symptoms of mental health problems
• ensuring that managers understand when it is necessary to refer an employee to occupational health services or other sources of help and support.

 

To download the complete publication go to http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/PH22Guidance.pdf