Consultant
and Leading
Conference Speaker

Corporate Stress

Less stress — more success!

What is Stress?

Stress is a natural reaction by the body that happens when a part of the brain perceives a threat. The problem with this natural survival reaction is that the brain cannot tell the difference between positive and negative events and is constantly ready for action irrespective of whether the threat is real or imagined.

The body's response to this constant readiness for action creates symptoms of stress. An example is muscular tension resulting from the frequent input of adrenalin. The body is designed to dissipate this adrenalin physically, through fight or flight, but these options are not possible in a work or family situation. No-one can run away from a difficult meeting or an interview with a new boss, however much they might want to.

The result for some people can be significant symptoms of stress which appear over time due to constant exposure to stressful situations and actions.

Why is it a problem for organisations?

Organisations now have a responsibility to protect employees against known factors which cause stress. This is a result of litigation undertaken by employees who, despite breaking down under the strain of their job, were put under the same type of strain again, suggesting that the company knowingly exposed them to renewed stress.

What can organisations do?

Organisations have a responsibility to their employees but equally, employees can be helped to increase their own awareness of the factors that cause stress and take on board suggestions that will help them manage their personal level of stress. There are several ways people can be helped to do this:

Audiotapes/CDs and books

A presentation on ‘Less Stress — More Success' is available on CD from this website. Click on this link to see the price and availability.

Making a CD available to employees can provide important information about stress and its causes and assure people the company cares about their well-being. There is also an audiotape on self-esteem, which can become seriously affected by prolonged stress, and a list of recommended books to build a library resource if an organisation wishes.

Training programmes

My training programmes enable employees to understand stress and help them manage it better for themselves. The programmes can be for one or two day/s.

One day Workshop: ‘Better Management - Less Stress'

The one day programme covers:

• what stress is and how to recognise it
• identifying personal symptoms of stress and adopting a lifestyle to help reduce them
• recognising sources of stress and being proactive to change them because the causes of stress lie with people's attitudes to events and themselves
• managing, controlling and coping with stress to prevent unmanageable levels of stress in the future.

The one day programme is suitable for any level within an organisation but existing workgroups can benefit particularly as the suggestions they make for change can be agreed and actioned at the time.

Cost: £1200/day plus expenses and VAT - maximum of 8 people

Two day Workshop: ‘Less Stress - More Success!'

The two day programme differs in several critical ways. The first day covers similar subjects to the one-day programme in ensuring individuals learn how to recognise and moderate stress in themselves.

However, real attitudinal change is difficult to achieve unless the individual has the time to discuss their personal issues and learns how to apply the theory to achieve lasting change.

The two day programme covers:

• what stress is, what to look for and how to recognise symptoms
• understanding the difference between sources and causes of stress; analysing how to modify the triggers of stress
• the recognition that personality and attitudes towards oneself and others can reduce or exacerbate stress and the importance of learning how to approach something or someone differently

The second day concentrates on the long-term management of stress:

• understanding the importance of self-esteem and how it is affected by stress
• building and maintaining strong self-esteem
• completing an exercise that determines personal strengths
• learning to use strengths to set goals and tackle stress for the long-term.

The two-day programme is suitable for any level in an organisation.

Cost: £1200/ day plus expenses and VAT - maximum of 8 people

Stress Management Coaching

It is often difficult for organisations to run training programmes for a group of people whose role does not easily allow them time to attend workshops. To meet this need, I can provide One-to-One Coaching.

Many organisations wish to help a particular individual but not within the workshop environment. This might be because identifying a candidate for a workshop can be a delicate process where an attendee's reaction might be to feel victimised rather than helped. Coaching overcomes these difficulties by making the individual feel they warrant individual assistance at a mutually suitable time and venue.

What happens?

Stress management coaching begins with an assessment of the needs of the individual. This is achieved through asking a series of questions in order to fully understand the issues the attendee is experiencing. I can then make an initial assessment and determine whether, as an Occupational Psychologist, I am best suited to meet the needs of the individual.

I will continue to meet with the individual for two to three hours per session for a maximum of four sessions. This is in order to teach the essential theory of stress management and to ensure the individual learns how to apply theory to practice during the interim weeks.

Ideally, the fourth session is held a number of weeks after the main meetings in order to act as a follow-up and assess if there are any outstanding issues. I will then undertake a review of the success of the coaching and make recommendations to the organisation if this would be of some benefit.

This type of feedback does not breach the confidentiality of the meetings but takes the form of helpful suggestions to the company in order to prevent the occurrence of similar stress symptoms to other employees.

Cost: £150.00/session plus expenses and VAT.