By now, many of you will be aware, because of the increasing number of
employees suing their employers, of the alleged increase in stress at work.
It would appear that the stress management industry has succeeded in
convincing the public and employers that such a concept exists. For some
employees it has become a magnificent opportunity to take revenge on what
they see as exploitative practices and tactics by employers. The result is
that ever increasing litigation and claims will take commerce and industry
towards financial ruin and reduction of financial investment.
This has potentially serious implications for future employment. While the
Trade Unions are assisting members to pursue claims on another
non-evidence based condition, they have little need or incentive to
challenge concepts they suggest are hazardous to the work force. It would
appear the Trade Union movement is as complicit as others in upholding the
theory of stress at work. If they truly believe in this concept, which they
appear to do, then they must surely recognise that the implications for the
employment market are damaging, to say the least. Some high-risk occupations
could face prohibitive financial constraints if the trend towards claims and
litigation continues.
It is incumbent on employers and Trade Unionist alike to tackle and
challenge the concept of stress at work. Financial ruin, and debilitating
and restrictive practices will finally give way to the erosion and reduction
of jobs.
For twenty years the concept of stress at work has crept into commercial
consciousness. Employers gave way to the concept and started consulting and
recruiting stress management gurus and practitioners without challenging the
authority or evidence for this alleged condition. In essence, the theory
that they thought would solve all their problems has in fact created more
than they could ever have imagined.
To this end, I am involved in an independent piece of research work that has
been commissioned to examine the whole concept of stress at work and whether
it is really a condition or just a convenient label that employers,
employees, therapists, counsellors, management gurus and some human resource
practitioners have consistently used, particularly over the past decade.
If you have doubts or concerns about the rise of stress at work then you
might consider being involved in the research study.
A survey has been developed that we hope will assist organisations to find
out what individual and organisational issues may lead to their employees
claiming that they have become stressed. We believe stress is the "symptom"
and not the "illness."
As we are based in the UK, it would be preferable to work with UK companies
but we would be happy to explore involvement with companies outside the UK.
The survey cannot be made freely available but we can explore ways of
working with others to use it.
I have no wish to enter into a public debate on this at this stage and will
not respond. This is purely a piece of research so anyone interested please
respond backchannel
Alistair McEwen