Insurance Industry - Alleviating Stress

Identifying causes and implementing solutions for a company department plagued by stress.

After six months of delivering sickness and absence management and pre-placement assessments to an insurance company, our occupational health advisor noted a high rate of referrals regarding stress.

Analysis of these trends identified that the cases were manifesting in one particular department of the company. Absence from work was high and work standards were dropping, with individual employees citing work overload, lack of management support and poor team morale as the cause. Further analysis showed that the company was losing a great deal of money on sick pay and retraining costs. Absences were placing further pressure on other employees, which was one of the causes of low morale.

On meeting with relevant managers and staff, our advisors identified that the department’s recruitment process was not efficient enough to select suitable candidates for the roles. Furthermore, it came to light that managers were not outlining the true demands of the roles at the interview stage.

To solve the issue, we worked with the client to devise and implement a new recruitment procedure. Job specifications were re-written where necessary and managers were provided with training to update their interview skills.

For those staff already in place, we delivered a series of stress workshops to help them recognise the signs of stress and take measures to alleviate it. Further support was provided through their staff intranet and with printed leaflets.

The result has been a reduction in stress-related absence and a huge positive effect on morale. Staff members are much happier in their roles and have delivered a significant increase in productivity for the department.

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